Settling In

Dear Team Boyd,

All is quiet on the Athens' front. We are slowly finding our summer routine complete with doctors' visits, platelet counts, and swim team practice. We had a bit of a rough start, and I take full responsibility for that. I finally hit the proverbial wall and succumbed to lying in the fetal position with the covers over my head. With a lot of help from ALL of YOU, including my number 1 list maker Monica Huff, I have bent over, grabbed my ears, and pulled my head out of my . . . well, you know. As I keep telling Izzy, it's NOT time to cry yet.

David, on the other hand, is doing awesome! He looks great, is still exercising daily, and is eating well. He is using the weight loss as an excuse to eat a daily helping of Turtle Tracks ice cream. Yeah, I know, ladies, it must be nice.  

David must still have his blood counts checked every other day, as well as have his PICC line flushed daily. His platelet counts have been low and he has received platelets twice over the last week, but that is to be expected at this point in his post chemo cycle. As for the PICC line flushing, the nurses taught me how to do it, so just add "nurse" to my list of winning attributes.

As for the next step in this journey, we get to spend one more week in Athens and then it is back to Northside Hospital on July 18 for a bone marrow biopsy and CT scan. Once we have the results, we will make the next set of treatment plans. We will also be meeting with David's team of doctors to discuss the bone marrow transplant. We received more good news when we found out that he not only has one bone marrow match but two! Philip, along with Wesley, is a perfect 10 match. How blessed are we! As for whose bone marrow we use, well, they can wrestle for it! Thank you guys for your selfless acts of brotherly love. Don't worry, Steven. We still love you, too!

As most of you know, Captain was born with spontaneous Hirschsprung's Disease and underwent major surgery in his first month of life. The healing process is slow and we still must do daily "management" until his body completely adjusts to having a portion of his intestines removed. Captain had a check up with his wonderful surgeons today, and they could not believe their eyes. My little nugget is not just managing but flourishing. In fact, he is doing so well that we get to start weaning him off of the daily "management" routine.  Believe me when I say that is one stinky phase I will not miss.

As for Izzy, she is holding strong. However, she is starting to crack a little under the stress I know she senses even though we try so hard to shield her. Please say an extra prayer for her to have strength and courage. With our two high maintenance Boyd boys, I need her to stand strong with me:)

Lastly, I want to send a shout out to Philip Boyd, the owners and employees of South, and our West Coast family. There are no words to express how honored, humbled, and touched we are by your generous donations of time, talents, and gifts. If I could, I would hug you all. Thank you so much.

Until next time, assume no news is good news. We are resting up before the next big push.

Love and peace to you all,
Lisa