The Big ONE

One year ago today, Rassie and I received some of the worst news of our lives.  Rassie was diagnosed with Leukemia.  We were very scared. We had so many questions. We had no idea what lie on the road ahead and what obstables we would face. 

Well, Rassie's done great!  His body has responded well to the Gleevec they are treating him with.  His bcr-abl is now at 0.04%  Which come to find out, puts him in remission!!! How exciting is that?  And by the way, he has been at 0.04% since May!!! I didn't realize that put him in remission but I am extremely happy to hear that it does!!! He will remain on the Gleevec as a precaution but other than that  he's in about as "perfect health as you can get" according to his oncology doctor.  Rassie's doctors are so proud of him for dealing with so much and coming so far.  This includes having to deal with the accident as well as the CML.  He has really pushed through.  They called him a miracle patient. 

In one year, Rassie has gone from a bcr-abl of 96% (confirmed at his appt this past week) to a bcr-abl of 0.04%.  He has also gone through an accident that put him in a wheel chair, unable to do much,  to walking with an athletic knee brace and cane.  Rassie is living life again and enjoying it. And it really shows!

I am so very proud of Rassie and the obstacles he has overcome this past year.  It really does not seem like it's been a year already since he was diagnosed.  And I absolutely do not miss him being in the hospital, but I would do it all over again if that meant having him home and healthy.

Rassie and I just want to thank everyone for all their continued support and prayers. I know we say this alot but it realy does mean the world to us that everyont is sending thoughts our way.

God Bless

What a Beautiful Day

Hello,

Sorry it's been so long. Life has been busy.  But as they say, 'No news is good news'.  And that's the case here.

Rassie had his tonsils out about 2 weeks ago. Nothing that I would consider major. They were just bothersome so he opted to have them out.  His throat still seems to be a little sore from it. Mostly when he yawns and so on and so forth because it stretches.  He had his follow up 2 days ago and they said everything looked nice.

Rassie has a leukemia appointment this month, next week to be more precise.  His blood work hasn't showed anything worrisome so things are moving right along in that department.  Rassie does labs Monday I believe and then his oncology appointment is Tuesday.  I will be able to update more on that topic after his appointment.

Rassie is also doing well in the way of recovering from his accident.  He has upgraded knee braces.. or maybe I should say down graded.  Rassie went from wearing the 'plastic' prosthetic knee brace to wearing a black one that to me looks like an athletes knee brace.   This is so he can bend his knee.  Rassie's right knee still tends to give out but he's doing great with the new brace.  The physical medicine doctor also had a driving evaluation set up to see where Rassie is at driving wise.  I think, and don't hold me to this, but I think it's set up for sometime in October.  We have to go to Austin.  The reason for this, is so if he needs anything special to drive they can look over the vehicle and see where we need to go from there. Fingers crossed Rassie  passes the driving evaluation and our car doesn't need any type of renovations.  Oh, Rassie is also starting another round of physical therapy. From what we keep hearing, he will be doing home therapy soon.  I guess that's still up in the air because it has yet to happen.  Rassie will also be seeing the third party doctor again coming up in November.   Guess that will help to decide what our next steps will be.

On another note.  Rassie's 1 year anniversary of being diagnosed with CML is coming up on September 25th.  And his 1 years anniversary from the accident is coming up on October 11.  I can't believe it has almost been a year for both of these things.  Life gets so busy and flies right on by.  Rassie has been such a trooper, pushing on through.

Sorry it's been a while since I last updated.  I have an update on myself as well. I did get the job as a 911 operator. I have been working the night shift. So, I come home and sleep during the day and spend late afternoon and evening with Rassie and our beautiful babies.  It's been an adjustment going back to work but I enjoy it.  And Rassie is doing an awesome job and taking caring of the little ones during the day while I sleep.  He now knows how much a job stay at home parenting is but I know he's enjoying every minute of it.

Thanks for listening to my rant.  Thanks for continuing to keep Rassie and our family in your prayers. 

God Bless & Good Night