Clouds of Mercy

Our days are full and yet very simple. Watts and I are buddies and hang out all day, every day. We play and read and drive Piper to presc...

Yesterday was Watts' half birthday and we celebrated with sweet treats (which our noodle boy didn't eat a bite of) and a park ...

[I (Hannah) wrote this a couple weeks and forgot to post it.] The rain came down heavy this morning as I drove the familiar drive to Winst...

"Happy New Year from the Van Patters. We are thankful for so many things as the year 2014 comes to a close and 2015 begins, not the...

I had the privilege of leading the folks of Hope Chapel in an Ash Wednesday worship service tonight. I wanted to share my opening/welcome w...

Watts' numbers look good today so we should be discharged in a few hours! Here are some photos from our 9 day stay...     ...

Watts is a wild man, super happy and very active...and his ANC reflected that today! It jumped from 0 to 168 so we might be going home late ...

Watts is sleeping off a traumatic morning of changing out his NG tube and I'm taking some much needed deep breaths too. Holding my so...

-You don't have to buy diapers. -You have a constant supply of fresh linens. -You have a night team constantly checking on your boy so y...

Blood counts are the same today (ANC is 48) so we are doing more isolated hanging out and waiting. He slept well last night and seems to be ...

I have two hands again (Watts is napping in his crib!) so I thought I’d write a bit more. I’ve found that writing is therapeutic for me, a...

Watts has been hospitalized for a blood stream infection. We are not sure yet where it came from but could be related to his horrible mouth ...

I can feel the anxiety rising up in my throat, a warm flood of panic that wants to consume me. The day starts seeming impossible, the clouds...

This isn't recent, but I love this old picture from June.  We have been blessed. From the beginning of all of this madness, we have ...

Watts didn't clear the methotrexate last night (was only .02 off!) but did this morning. Watts and I left Brenner within minutes of gett...

Remission is a confusing word with leukemia because it doesn't actually mean what it sounds like... Remission after induction treatment ...

We are hanging in here at Brenner. Poor Watts has had a rough time handling the second round of HD Methotrexate. His mouth sores have spread...

We are back at brenner, readmitted on schedule to start round 2 of the awful HD Methotrexate. Watts already had his Lumbar Puncture and is c...

I'm waiting on labs to come back to know if we can go home tonight...it's currently 10:15pm, but I don't care. If he has cleared...

  Watts' has had a cranky 18 hours or so. Because his numbers have also dropped some, they are giving him a...