Coming up on 6

Rassie is coming up on the 6 month mark since he started his Gleevec.  All I can say is 'WOW'.  These last 5 months have really flown.  Of course its been a little longer than that since we found out Rassie had leukemia and was diagnosed with CML.  September 25, 2009 will be forever etched in our minds.

I remember it like it was yesterday.  It was a beautiful day outside. The bright sun, the warm air.  Just beautiful.  Rassie went in for a routine appointment that morning and it turned into labs and stat CT scan set for later that day.   We were waiting for the results of the labs to see if Rassie had to be admitted to the hospital through the ER.  We weren't sure why at this point. 

I remember Rassie getting ready to head out the door for his CT scan when my cell phone rang and it was Dr. R.  She told me Rassie's white count was extremely high and he needed to skip the CT scan and go ahead to the ER to be admitted.  I asked about the high white count being an infection and Dr. R told me "No" . With counts this high it was something more serious but we would have to wait until we got to the hospital to find out.

Rassie went ahead of me while I waited for my little brother and then my mom to get here and watch the kids. I wasn't 10 minutes behind him.  But in that short time Dr. R had already been in and given the diagnoses.  When I arrived she came back in and gave it all over again.  I remember hugging and crying with Rassie after she left the room. 

There were so many questions and not enough answers.  Dr. R was only a resident and wasn't allowed to give us the answers we wanted. We had to wait an ENTIRE night before we finally got to speak with the staff oncologist.  As scary as leukemia sounded, Dr. H eased my fears and gave me great hope that things would be ok. 

The few days Rassie spent in the hospital getting his white blood count under control felt like a lifetime.  His counts were dropping and that was great. The doctors kept saying he would get to go home in a few days. The nurses kept saying he would be there a while with counts that high. Rassie's count started at 358,000 and normal count ranged from 4,000 - 10,000.  I prayed everyday that God would bring Rassie home to the kids and I. And He did.  God is good.

Rassie has been very Blessed with how his body has handled the Gleevec.  After all, it is chemo.  It just comes in the form of a pill.  Thank you God for keeping my love strong through it all.

God Bless