diagnosis

January 28th, 2014

Today our day began bright and early with our sweet Ethan at 4am. I mean really, trying to sleep in a hospital room with all the distractions and comings and goings of nurses and doctors is quite challenging for anyone, let alone my precious curious boy. Our day was busy spent with friends and family stopping by to hang out with us and Ethan was in great spirits, although very tired at the same time since he had about 6 hours of sleep the night before and was up from 4am to around 7pm.

We were also able to receive news of his official diagnosis. Ethan has what is called Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) which is the most common kind of leukemia - a cancer of the blood and bone marrow. His particular version of ALL has to do with T-Cells. Here is a link to some information on this particular kind of cancer:

http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/treatment/childALL/patient

We also learned that his spinal tap was negative for cancer cells in his cerebral spinal fluid, which was great news that will mean less chemo treatment in his spinal column.

We can expect his chemotherapy treatment to be 3 years in length, which much of his therapy eventually being outpatient once we get through the first 6 months of on and off hospital stays. We will be beginning his chemo treatment today and can plan to be in the hospital for up to 30 days.

Please pray specifically for Ethan's complete healing. For his comfort during chemo treatments and for all of us to be brave as we take on this new chapter that we did not intend to write in our lives. Thankful that God goes before us and that he will take care of us. Thankful for all of our family and friends who have loved us so well in the last few days.

Will update more tomorrow.