Very Good News

Some more good news came yesterday when we got the preliminary results of Parker's three month bone marrow aspiration. Yesterday morning we decided to take a trip to the hospital so they could take a look at a rash on Parker stomach and chest. To be honest, the rash was not something we were worried about and by the time we got to the hospital it had already dissipated. Our main intention was to try and obtain some results of the aspiration.

When one of the doctors had finished looking at Parker we asked if there were any results to the bone marrow aspiration and she responded with yes. That she would let our main doctor give us the “very good speech”. Normally, we have difficulty getting positive information from other doctors so the fact that she had said this made us feel extremely confident about the results.

We arrived at the hospital that afternoon at quarter to four, fifteen minutes early for our meeting. It did not surprise us that it was not until five that the meeting began but to be honest we did not mind so much this time.

Only the first portion of the results were available, those being the ones letting us know the percentage of the different gene corrected cells in both the peripheral blood and the bone marrow. Recall, the last month the peripheral blood showed that there were pretty much no gene corrected cells in the peripheral blood. This month's results were much more positive. Parker is currently no longer the worst patient they have had in the study and is pretty much where they want him to be at this point based on the number of cells that engrafted.

We are still waiting to see if Parker is removing the metabolites on his own. In theory, the results we received yesterday would indicate that he is capable of doing so, but we will know until the test results show this in the next few days.

Tomorrow, Parker will give blood to check his peripheral blood to see if the antibodies that were destroying neutrophils are know under control in addition to the blood tests he normally has performed on his blood. We should also have the rest of the results of the bone marrow aspiration tomorrow.

It is nice to think that we can start to think about coming back to Canada soon. My parents wanted us back for the anniversary in late September and to be honest, I think it is a definite possibility.

Check back in a couple of days to find out how tomorrow went. Also, I know that we are not out of the woods yet but I wanted to thank everyone who has supported us during these times. All of your thoughts and prayers have helped Parker and us tremendously.