Sarah continues to do great despite low counts. Her marrow appears to be recovering although very s-l-o-w-l-y. The last couple of days she has been full of energy and even a little naughty. Even as I type this up Sarah and Christopher are outside playing in the Pink Playhouse.

Ben and I are still trying to figure out which hospital we should to take Sarah to. It seems that both places have some positives. St. Jude in Memphis is much closer to our families, about 4 hours, while housing possibilities may be opening in Bethesda, Maryland. What to do? We don't know but we are definitely praying for wisdom and for the right doors to open.

Specific things to pray for:

Wisdom to choose the best hospital for Sarah

Housing for all of us near that hospital

and of course Sarah's blast count to stay low

If any of you have thoughts, ideas, or solutions to our housing dilemma please let us know.

Susan

3-24-09: Sarah Qualifies for the CAT-8015 Trial

Sarah went into the hospital today for red blood cells and platelets. It was a long day. We left the house at 8:30am and got home at 8:30pm. Her WBC’s were at 0.20 and her blast count is 6%. We think she is all set at least until Friday.

My mother, sister and nephew flew home today. They were visiting us this past week. Sarah enjoyed the time she spent with them reading and playing. Sarah has felt pretty good the last few days.

Susan and I on the other hand have been trying to keep our stress levels in check. We have been waiting to hear if Sarah qualifies for a clinical trial the oncologists are investigating for us. The oncology team told us her blood checked positive for a marker (CD22) needed for the study and was added to the list of participants. We hear that it will take about 1 month before Sarah will visit the facility conducting the clinical trial. We will learn more over the next couple of weeks. Sarah may need one more round of chemotherapy before beginning the study to keep her blast count low. We also need to firm up which facility to take Sarah to for the study. It’s either the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in Maryland or St. Judes Hospital in Tennessee. Either facility will provide excellent care and are part of the same study, so it’s more of a logistics decision.

We are very grateful that Sarah feels OK and for God opening the door for additional treatment options for Sarah. Our objective for Sarah is still to cure her of leukemia. We see this as a possible avenue for her 2nd BMT and will be discussing this with Dana-Farber in more detail over the next few days.

Please continue to pray for Sarah’s recovery and gratitude for what he has done for her and in our lives.
-Ben