Success
UPDATE AND ENCOURAGEMENT
Stem cell collection went well today. It was much better than we had expected and hoped for. Prior to the mobilization and collection the medical team involved in the procedure had told us to plan for a long day, by which they meant that we would be lucky to go home by 10:00pm. Ethen's C34 stem cells were present in such high concentration in his blood that they had enough stem cells by around 2:00pm. After collection Ethen received a transfusion of platelets, which had been scheduled prior to collection (a 30 minute process). We left at 5:30pm after lingering in the room for half an hour or so.
For those who read the blog yesterday and prayed, thank you. We know that it is not normal to collect sufficient stem cells in the amount of time they were collected today (the doctor called Ethen his "star," meaning his was the quickest stem cell collection he'd seen), and we are thankful to God for his kindness in answering this specific request. Quite frankly, although I didn't expect to leave the hospital before 10:00pm (or even tonight at all), I asked you to pray for high concentration of stem cells in Ethen's blood because it was something tangible that I could think of to pray for. Don't get me wrong, we believe that God is a good father and cares for our smallest concerns, but in our experience we know that many prayers have not been answered in such specific ways. It is encouraging to see such a specific answer to prayer!
WHAT'S NEXT
From here we move forward with chemotherapy. This is scheduled for next week. Ethen will receive two new chemo drugs (Cisplatin and Etoposide). Pray that his body can handle the new drugs well. The new drugs are designed to "trick" the cancer cells so that we can keep killing them without them developing a resistance to the initial drugs. For this week, please pray that Ethen can eat well and gain strength for next week.
Stem cell collection went well today. It was much better than we had expected and hoped for. Prior to the mobilization and collection the medical team involved in the procedure had told us to plan for a long day, by which they meant that we would be lucky to go home by 10:00pm. Ethen's C34 stem cells were present in such high concentration in his blood that they had enough stem cells by around 2:00pm. After collection Ethen received a transfusion of platelets, which had been scheduled prior to collection (a 30 minute process). We left at 5:30pm after lingering in the room for half an hour or so.
For those who read the blog yesterday and prayed, thank you. We know that it is not normal to collect sufficient stem cells in the amount of time they were collected today (the doctor called Ethen his "star," meaning his was the quickest stem cell collection he'd seen), and we are thankful to God for his kindness in answering this specific request. Quite frankly, although I didn't expect to leave the hospital before 10:00pm (or even tonight at all), I asked you to pray for high concentration of stem cells in Ethen's blood because it was something tangible that I could think of to pray for. Don't get me wrong, we believe that God is a good father and cares for our smallest concerns, but in our experience we know that many prayers have not been answered in such specific ways. It is encouraging to see such a specific answer to prayer!
WHAT'S NEXT
From here we move forward with chemotherapy. This is scheduled for next week. Ethen will receive two new chemo drugs (Cisplatin and Etoposide). Pray that his body can handle the new drugs well. The new drugs are designed to "trick" the cancer cells so that we can keep killing them without them developing a resistance to the initial drugs. For this week, please pray that Ethen can eat well and gain strength for next week.
Praise God! Rockstar Ethen!
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