Why Hello Winter Break

Browsing through my pictures,

Uploading them from my camera,

1,476 of them to be exact.

All from April until now,

4x6 reminders of everything that I am grateful for.

Easter, the circus, New York, summer, birthdays, cancer…

It’s in the pictures, the memories, that I am reminded of the many blessings that occur.

Understanding… that I count those blessings daily.

While on a very short break from all of the craziness of my school schedule, this is what I envision:

A house full of family. Friends… laughing at each other. Enjoying each and every moment of it

Chilling.

Printing 1, 476 pictures and then some…

An elf that gets moved nightly. I do not know how much longer my children will believe that the elf- “Peter”, hangs out in the tree, because that is where he gets his best view, and that he really likes it there.

My favorite new place in my house- the family room upstairs. That clearly, doesn’t get used enough, but will now.

Bags dropped at the door, shoes everywhere, a dumped diaper bag emptied in the floor… because there will be less worry about a “clean house”. More gathering, enjoying.

A kitchen table that will be gathered around. Prayed around.

My hope for this holiday season: to bond. To share. To love.

And, yes, I am truly blessed!

Here is a slight update on Daniel. We made the bi-weekly appointment to St. Louis, first with the lab, and then with the Nurse Practitioner. Things seem to be going great. Daniel’s platelet and hematocrit levels were still not rising in the direction that they should be, so Dr. DiPersio decided that lowering his immunosuppressant would possibly solve some these issues. Lab values indicated that the change in the mg was in fact, helping. However, with the lower immunosuppressant, he is at an increased risk of developing GVHD. With that being said, he has an increased dryness issue in his left eye. This is an issue that he has been dealing with since transplant and most likely is the GVHD. We are visiting with another eye specialist next Monday. If the physician cannot get this under better control, the immunosuppressant will have to be increased as well as the steroids. The steroids are a big contribution to the increased muscle deterioration that Daniel has had. He is very weak, but getting stronger each day. It seems that we will be taking quite a few steps backwards, should this occur. If all seems to check out good on Monday, Daniel will graduate to tri-weekly appointments.

Enjoy your week folks! XOXO Kristin