Gabey D. is our wonderful firstborn son. He was diagnosed with A.L.L (Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia) in May 2007, and has been going through a 3 1/2 year chemo treatment. We are trusting God, and believe He will show Himself Mighty.

Tuesday, May 8, 2007

The Beginning

last Sunday Gabey woke up just crappy. he said his leg hurt, and he didn't want to eat or drink. all day, he just was just laying around like a slug on the couch. i assumed he had a flu. by Monday, he still wasn't feeling well, and still wouldn't drink. that was what made us decide to take him in. i thought he might have to get on an iv to get re hydrated or something.we went to a PEDs urgicare at Fairview, at about 4pm and when we mentioned his leg, they took x-rays, and then took some blood, to check for infection.after a long time of waiting, they came in and said they were moving us to Cleveland Clinic, because they found that his blood had some abnormalities in it, that he was anemic.we totally were still thinking infection. so Gabey and i rode in the ambulance to Cleveland Clinic Ped's. Monday night at about 8:30.test.... test... test....it was horrible to see him. they had to take blood a lot, and he was on an IV. what a mess. then they came in on Tuesday, and broke the news that they had found blasts in his blood, which pointed to cancer.oh, guys, i was a mess. i was just praying and praying. i couldn't really eat. i was just heartsick.but, after it sunk in... the news got better and better. the tests have shown that his type of leukemia is called ALL, which is the most common, best treatable cancer. his age is another positive factor, at responding better. plus, after some genetic study, his chromosomes showed positive, i can't think of the details on that.on wed, they put him under to do a bone marrow biopsy, and a lumbar puncture, and they put in a meta port all at the same time.the lumbar puncture was to make sure there weren't any cells hiding in his fluids, and PTL, there aren't!the meta port is in his chest just under his skin, and has a tube going to his vein by his heart. it makes it so he doesn't have to keep getting poked. (oh, this was a miracle for me! not to have to see his arms getting poked anymore, i hated his pain.) they just numb that area, and put the needle in there, and they can access all his blood tests, give him chemo, and do IV all from that. we call it a "tubey"he's had a lot of chemo already, and this month is sort of full force. it's called induction, and some patients are even in remission after that. but after this month, they'll see how he is, and we'll find out about the next block of time, and what treatment he'll get.he's got such low white blood count, that we have to be extremely careful to keep him away from any infections. so we're hanging around the house, and have to wash all the time. anyone who wants to visit, has to wash, or sanitize... and if any one's not feeling well, they'll have to stay away.I'm thankful we have our church services on the Internet live stream, because he'll need to stay away from church until his counts go up.but God is totally in charge, and He loves Gabey, and has been really moving to guide us through this. I know that we'll come out of this even closer to Him, and to each other.

2 comments:

Kolleen said...

Shari and Jeff, We are praying for you during this time of change. Keep memorizing your Bible and praying the words you find there. You have been promised God's grace for every day and we are praying you will know His presence and peace.

Shari said...

oh, thank you kolleen! i'm so glad you stopped by the blog.
thanks for keeping up with how gabey's doing. ((hugs))