Day 28 - Remission!!

This morning Courtney had bone marrow biopsy #2. The first one was done almost four weeks ago to help us determine what type of AML Courtney has. Today's was done to tell us whether or not the chemotherapy put Courtney into remission. We found out earlier this evening that it did!!

The pathologist had actually told us that we probably wouldn’t have results until tomorrow, but Dr. Jordan’s partner came in with the results this evening. The timing of this news came as a big surprise – one we welcomed with open arms.

The biopsy, while obviously painful for Courtney, went quite smoothly. She was able to get some rest afterward. Later in the afternoon, Courtney had her Hickman catheter removed. The doctor was going to numb the area a little before pulling it out, but after seeing that it might come out easily, he just gave it a good tug and out it came. So, for the first time in four weeks, Courtney is sleeping tube free. She has absolutely nothing attached to or hanging from her body. After weeks of trying to sleep through nights with incessantly beeping IV pumps, I’m sure Courtney is relishing the thought of a restful night free of disturbance. I’m sure her sister, Tracy, is too.

Speaking of Tracy, she went to the bone marrow transplant clinic in Dallas to have blood drawn to check to see if she is a match for Courtney. Since Courtney hasn’t been to the clinic, Tracy took four vials of Courtney’s blood with her. She was told the process of determining whether or not her marrow is a match to Courtney’s could take a full week. It’s nice to finally of the process of finding a donor moving forward. Thank you Tracy!!

Truly amazing. After one simple phone call last night, 10 women from our church showed up at 11:00 this morning to help clean and sanitize our house. They did a tremendous job in just a little over an hour. The house acutally smelled like a swimming pool (I love that smell) when I got home! Once again we are grateful beyond description for the love and support we’ve received these past four weeks.

Four weeks!! Exactly four weeks ago today, Courtney was diagnosed with Leukemia. Today she found out she is in remission. We can’t believe it’s actually been that long. While each day has been rather lengthy, the weeks have seemingly flown by. Though we are along way from being done with this, we feel like we’ve taken a giant step forward in the right direction! Thank you for answered prayers!!

After some discussion with her Doctor, it was decided that Courtney would wait until Monday to go home. Courtney is actually relieved to have a couple of extra days to recover before going home. These two days will give her a chance to gain more strength physically and emotionally before being removed from awesome care of the doctors and nurses. After four weeks, we can wait a couple of extra days. Especially days without beeping IV machines.