Tuesday and Wednesday, October 2nd and 3rd

Yesterday was a bit longer than we had expected. At first, the doctors were ready to send Otto home, but after discussion, decided to keep him a little longer for one more transfusion of platelets. In our minds, we were going to be home by noon. The blood bank, however, had a different plan. They were holding all platelets until they could make sure they wouldn't have a potential shortage for the day. So, he wasn't able to receive them until 12 noon. Thankfully, we made it back to the house in time to get the littlest one off the bus. Although it was a frustrating day for Otto, he made the best of it.

Today we are looking forward to meeting up with Otto's tutor. He really enjoys working with her. Other than that, we are praying for a low key day. Our next trip to Yale is scheduled for Friday for a counts check and possible transfusions.

We wanted to send out a special thank you to who left the Padre Pio candle in our mailbox. It was a very sweet gesture. We set it up by his bed to remind him to keep the faith. Padre Pio is a family favorite, for his picture is consistently taped to his hospital bed whenever we go in for a longer period of time.

As always, thank you for the positive thoughts, prayers and help as we make our way down this road.

With love and gratitude,

Mark, Leigh, Otto, Tess and Lulu

Comments

Friday, June 22nd

Good morning! Otto wants you all to know that he's doing well. He had another great night, and we are over the moon happy that he has been fever free for 18 hours. Mark went to rounds this morning with the team, and Otto's counts continue to look really good. His white blood cells are continuing to dwindle (which is what we want) and his body is preparing itself for the ultimate fight. So, that's pretty amazing news for us, considering what was dropped on our laps Friday afternoon. I know that it is most likely that people are wondering if we are in good hands. I will tell you that we are. The doctors are on top of everything - from what is currently going on to what could happen - and have a plan to counter it all. We are incredibly lucky to be surrounded by individuals whose life's passion is researching and helping kids with AML to beat it and succeed. With that being said, we see these individuals from time to time throu...

Wednesday, June 20th

Hi everyone, Hoping this message finds you all well. We are ever so grateful for the continuous messages of prayer, positivity and love. Otto is a very lucky boy to have all of you in his world. So, we got back the results of his spinal tap and we are incredibly happy. There are no leukemia cells that appear to be in the spine. What does this mean? Three less bags of chemo to have to take during the 10 day period!!! Yesterday was Day 2 of chemo. He had one dose in the morning followed by two doses in the early evening. For the most part, his body handled them ok. He's still getting fevers here and there, but thankfully Tylenol kicks in to make things better. Today is Day 3. We are looking at 4 doses throughout the day. One thing I am noticing is that chemo makes you tired and sleepy. All that is telling us is that his body is taking it's time healing itself. And we are just ...

Thursday, July 19th

Today is one of the happiest days we will always remember! Our oncologist called to tell us that Otto has no leukemic cells left - zero - nada - not one found! This was confirmed through two types of testing. As of now, Otto is in remission! What we also learned is that he will most likely not need a bone marrow transplant, which is such awesome news!!! Otto, along with our family, is over the moon happy with this recent news. So, what does this mean? This means he will continue on the chemotherapy protocol, which is a total of five chemotherapy cycles. Each cycle is approximately 28 days with varying amounts of chemo each time based on his condition. We are still cautiously optimistic as our journey continues toward his full recovery. We head back to the hospital tomorrow for the start of cycle two, with 8 days of chemo. Our family wants to thank each and every one of you who have taken time to pray and send positive vibes. It i...

Thirty Days and Waiting

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