His work....

Parklen had a tough day yesterday.....
he was nervous before his procedure, he began picking at his nails as soon as I helped him into his hospital gown.....but he pushed through.

After his surgery he woke up pretty sore....
he would have liked to sleep in today....
But, with things to do and places to be, we loaded up the car to head to clinic early this morning.
He didn't complain too much, just winced in pain a little as I slipped on his jacket...
the cold weather has a hold on both of our attitudes lately and we are ready for spring...

As we pulled out of the apartment garage Parklen asked, "What are we going to the hospital for?"
Today was supposed to be a simple exam, some blood draws and some IV medicine.....
Yesterday after his bone marrow biopsy was taken, the doctor said we would talk about going home next week when the results came back.......

I didn't have many expectations for today past a few long hours in the small infusion room......

Today, was a bigger day than I could have prepared for when I woke up.......

The doctor handed me a calendar, the one that has the taper schedule for his anti-rejection drugs (yes, we are already tapering off of those....)  As I studied the paper I held in my hands, something huge caught my attention......today's date was circled with the word clinic in red pen..... we have been going to clinic once a week for some time now, its a good way for the doctors to keep an eye on him and his progress....also meets the needs of his periodic IV medications and blood tests.  As my eyes found the red circle....they instantly darted to the bottom of the page, there wasn't a circle next week.  I looked at the doctor and said, "according to this calendar, we don't see you for two weeks."  He smiled a big smile and said, "yup, I know......you are going home."


Today is day 99.
One day shy of the 100 day mark......
Weeks to months sooner than we anticipated being sent home.....
and we have been given the go ahead.

The emotions are endless...
fear,
happiness,
apprehension,
excitement,
nervousness,
disbelief......

The boys will come this weekend and we will pack up the apartment and head home.....together....all of us.

We don't have to wait for the results of the biopsy, because he is doing so well....
He is ready.

We will be driving down every couple weeks for a while, which is a lot to take on.....but not anything that we haven't done before.....

I feel like it is so important to say, Parklen has the most conservative doctor I have ever met.  He doesn't take many chances, he sticks close to reasoning and treats every decision with the utmost importance....  He is stingy when it comes to optimism, probably from all of the years worth of watching kids slip away......being unable to help every child.  Years worth of looking into the eyes of parents who were holding onto hope and it wasn't enough. When he told me today that Parklen has done better than most kids, when he summed everything up by stating that the fact that a bone marrow transplant was the easiest thing Parklen has ever medically done, his progress shows  us how sick he really was, this stuff isn't easy.....but he was dying.

His body has been given a chance,
His life has been renewed......

So, we shall pack it up.....
We shall load the car......
We shall leave Denver in our rear view mirror.....
and we shall believe that God has performed a miracle in our lives.....
an unexpected,
amazing.....
indisputable work within our son Parklen.....

You cannot deny His work,
You cannot deny His hand.........
there is no explanation past the blessing of answered prayer.

and although the road ahead is uncertain....
although there is still much work and progress needed....
we are thankful for a chance at being a family again.....and really, for the first time in a long time.