Bone Marrow Transplant

So some of you may have heard that the bone marrow transplant is definitely going to happen. We had hoped that he wouldn't need it, however, the two rounds of cytarabine and cladrabine... two heavy chemo's, didn't work. So we have to do the bone marrow transplant. As scary as that may seem I want you all to know that I am at peace with the decision. We were in the Doctor's office and there were about four nurses and the Doctor, trying to hook Henry up to the IV pump because he was dehydrated, got a bug of some sort... in the midst of that commotion the Doctor was explaining to me that he needed the bmt or the LCH would eventually kill him. And with all the noise and business going on around me I felt good about the decision. Along with that, there is a bmt Doctor that specializes in LCH transplants; there is a national study going on right now showing very promising results, even curing the LCH in some. After talking to the Doc I looked it up online and found a story of a child same age as Henry who went through the bmt and it cured his LCH. The Lord has flooded my life with tender mercies to let me know that he loves me and is watching over us and that he definately has a plan for Henry. He will get better and if this is what it takes... so be it.
They have found two definite donor matches and one possible, and a few cord blood donors. They prefer the adult donors, so we'll use the donor matches. We will begin meeting with the Bone marrow team on the 29th and then go through evaluations for a few weeks. Starting conditioning, or chemo, on the 13th and hopefully transplant on the 24th of July. After the transplant they will watch him for 100 days, provided there are no complications. However, there are tons of risks and possible side effects to deal with, so it may not be complete smooth sailing. There is even a chance that he won't survive the transplant, but with out it, the LCH will take him. So we move forward with great hope and expectations that Henry will be able to kick the LCH finally. Interesting side note, the donor is out of country, which they say is quite usual, so he'll have some foreign bone marrow.. he may have been born in AK but he's got a bit of everywhere inside him. I am soooo grateful for the technology we have and the advanced medical knowledge we have today. The Lord is so kind and loving!
So if you could continue to keep little Henry in your prayers for a while longer... pray that he'll make it through this bone marrow transplant and that it will be a great success! Sorry I've been slacking on keeping up to date but we were in patient for a while because Henry had a bug for a bit. He's doing better today. As you can see in the pictures, he's happy and handsome.