Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving (a smidge early)! I hope everyone has all their preparations done and is able to have a wonderful day. We'll actually be busier than we used to be. We always spend holidays at hubbs parents since they have plenty of space (compared to our tiny 1000 sqft townhouse) and they only live 5 miles away so it's not too much of a pain to pack the kids up to travel there. We will be joined this year by hubbs sister and brother in law and their 2 boys and hubbs grandparents and uncle. Even with a big house it does feel a bit cramped with 9 adults, 5 kids, 3 dogs and a cat. But back to why we'll be busier - this year we've been asked to make all the veggies for our meal. Every year I make mashed potatoes (they are my father in laws favorite) but we're also gonna do mac and cheese, green beans and corn. I'll post the potato recipe soon (it's so very yummy). The in laws are doing the turkey and stuffing and everyone else is bringing bread and sweets. This is the first year they have delegated tasks out and I'm glad they did. Now they can enjoy more time with everyone (outside of the kitchen that is).

And now for a little update on Gideon. He had his fourth transfusion on Friday  He did well with it. The few tests they ran came back with nothing new. We did run an antibody titer on him and his Anti-D came back at 1:256. That explains why his transfusions aren't lasting very long. We're looking at doing some IVIG transfusions to try and dilute the concentration of antibodies in his blood so his transfusions last longer and we can give his bone marrow time to start working on it's own. His retic is up to 0.3 now. It's only a 10th of a point but I'll take any increase no matter how small.

On Monday we had to go back to the hematologist for a follow up CBC and while in the waiting room a sweet young girl asked to talk to Gideon and wanted to hold his hand. I was happy to say yes. While the kids were "talking" her mom and I shared with each other why we were there. Her sweet little girl was there for chemo. When we ended our brief conversation I had tears in my eyes. I feel very humbled. I had been feeling like Gideon's struggle was as bad as it gets. And while it is bad for the condition he has - it's nothing compared to what other children are faced with every day. I'm grateful to that little girl for sharing her joy with my little boy and thankful to her mom for showing me that even when faced with something devastating you can still have joy and peace and love in your heart.

I'm so very thankful for the love I have to share and the love that is shared with me every day.
I hope you all have something wonderful to be thankful for today.

Prayers for Gideon

So Gideon's hematocrit was down to 24 on Friday and his hemogloben was down to 7 but his reticulocyte is up to 0.2. It's still a far cry from the 3-5 he should be at but at this point I'll take any increase no matter how small. We go today to Vanderbilt Childrens Hospital to meet with a pediatric hematologist. He wants to run some tests to make sure we're not dealing with any other illnesses that can slow or stop bone marrow production. He will also run his crit again and if it's down any more we'll be checking in to the hospital for another blood transfusion. He even said during our phone consult to pack our overnight bag because we probably wouldn't be leaving for a bit.

Please add Gideon to your prayers. We're praying that it is anemia that he is dealing with and not the C word. We're praying that this next transfusion is his last and that his bone marrow will start to function and work as it should and that our sweet baby boy can finally start to heal.

Thank you.