Thursday Update

Yesterday was another long and tiring day.
It didn't start off very well, but thankfully ended happily!

While driving to Scottish Rite, we received news of Elena's bone marrow test results. It was still positive for leukemia cells.  So, Elena will be the first patient on the new MRD positive study at Egleston. It will use a drug to "mobilize" the cancer that is resistant and "stuck". The drug will move the cancer out of the nooks and crannies of the bone marrow so that it can be killed by the high dose chemo and radiation that Elena will receive in the days immediately before her transplant. We will share more details about transplant later.

After we arrived at Scottish Rite for Elena's test, there were issues that delayed the procedure for an hour and a half. We did our best to keep our cool and find joy in the craziness of it all. Finally at noon, Elena had a fluoroscopy.

A new word for us, fluoroscopy.  It is a type of medical imaging that shows a continuous x-ray image on a monitor. It was like an x-ray movie. Imagine an x-ray coming to life -breathing lungs, a beating heart, and moving bones on one x-ray image! Pretty cool! The doctor injected contrast into Elena's line while watching it all on the monitor. He was wonderful! He clearly explained everything he was doing and what he was looking for.  After several minutes, he determined that there was a small clot at the end of the line. It dissipated and you could then see the line working clearly. We immediately thanked God that the procedure identified and solved the problem.

Then, over to the clinic we went for labs.  It took a while, but soon after labs were drawn, we were off for a late lunch.  We were happy to finally begin our "Five Fabulous Days"!! Today was "Shopping Day".  We went shopping for comfy hospital clothes, fun hospital room decorations, and other more practical items.  Not exactly your dream shopping trip, but it's where we are right now.  No matter what we think of it, no matter how much we wish it was different, this is our life right now.

Thank you for your prayers! Thank you for letting us know you care!

We love this prayer from a friend -
Praying for the next days to go by slowly!

In Him,
The Tates

"With God we will gain the victory, and He will trample down our enemies (leukemia)."
Psalm 60:12