Junction City Fundraiser

Ally continues to do very well. She had a great day at school today and also playing with her friends outside after school! We enjoyed Evan's soccer game tonight and also enjoyed all of us going to bed under the same roof. I am starting to get a pit in my stomach when I realize that our "honeymoon" is almost over. We only have two more nights together. And tomorrow is probably our last day of normalcy. It is so nice to not have to worry about every little thing. Like when the next time is that she will break out in tears. Or have a belly ache. Or cry out in the middle of the night (well, she still does that). The normalcy is good, of course, but then when it gets pulled out from under us here in a couple days it will be that much harder to swallow. It is hard to explain...this whole disease and the seriousness behind it is very hard to explain, but I try to do my best. It might give someone a glimpse of what it is like to walk in our shoes for a day. This whole journey is like a rollar coaster. We rode the coaster with my mom's illness...and I can assure you that the highs are so so high, but likewise the lows are very low. The ups and downs take a toll on everybody. I think even more so then if everything was just status quo all the time.

I need to start some serious prayers going for our girl. If all goes as planned, she will undergo a bone marrow aspiration on Thursday. They will test this bone marrow sample for any minimal residual disease. (MRD) We are hoping and praying with every ounce of energy that we have that her MRD is undetectable. They will send the sample over to Johns Hopkins in Baltimore and we will wait an agonizing week to hear the results. It is not a typical test...it is part of her research study that she is involved in, so our doctor has agreed to call them personally and get a verbal number from them. Regardless of what the number may be, it should not change the treatment plan for Ally. She still has to do 11 months of intense chemo rather than the typical 7. But if it is undetectable we have a higher chance of her not going into relapse and of being cured. This is especially scary for me as they are testing it after she has not had an ounce of chemo in her body in 20 days. God help us. Please pray that her MRD will be ZERO. That one little number could make a world of difference to this family. Undetectable would provide great peace of mind for Janel and Jerad and the rest of our family.

Finally, I am posting a flyer here on another fundraiser being held in Jerad's hometown of Junction City. Jerad's high school friends Sheri Cobler and Jenny Shiplett have been working hard on this and a few other ways of raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I know I have a lot of followers out there in Perry County and we would love to have you stop by the event if at all possible. As long as Ally is doing okay, Jerad is planning on coming home for it. Being able to have a drink and a laugh with Jerad should be reason enough to come...but they are also having a sweet DJ playing some '80's music. Wish I could go too...but I will stay here with Miss Ally.

Thanks to everyone for continued prayers.