Last LP

Tomorrow at 7:30am is Watts' last lumbar puncture. Ever, Lord-willing. I don't even know how many times he has had this procedure done, but it is enough that his scar tissue on his back hurts him sporadically every month and he knows where every wire and sensor goes on his little body as they prep him for the sedation. And this will be the last time! I can't even type that without tears coming to my eyes...

We're going to pull Piper out of preschool and take Watts to his appointment as a family. Lord willing, this will be the last time he will get chemo in his spinal fluid and the second to last time we will hold him as he is sedated and then hand him over for a procedure. The last time will be for his port removal surgery. This upcoming week will also be his second to last time on steroids. Praise Jesus!

Have I said that I am thankful for his little life lately? I can't seem to say it enough, it seems. To think of all that he has endured and gone through the last two years is simply remarkable.

While ending treatment on May 29th, 2015 is going to be a great celebration, we are also going to be heading into some unknown territory. We are going to put Watts' body to the test for the first time since May 2013, when he got so very, very sick and then was diagnosed with Infantile Leukemia. He has never been without chemo coursing through his body and, while we have hated the chemo-poison at times, we have also found great peace with him on it because it has kept his cancer away. And soon, very soon, we are going to stop treatment. We are going to celebrate. We are going to let his body rest and have his appetite return and begin to have a normal childhood (once his immune system kicks back in). And we are going to wait and see if all of the cancer is truly gone. One slow-developing, mutated white blood cell hiding in a crevice in his body could cause him to relapse. One cell. The first two years are crucial and after five years his team will consider him cured. He will be almost 8 years old when we will hear those words. 

We pray that there is not one single cancer cell left.

I say all that to share where we are. WE ARE THRILLED AND SO VERY THANKFUL FOR WHERE WE ARE. For where Watts is. We have this great thankfulness, we have our exhaustion, and we have our fears of the unknown... and all of these we carry as we march closer to May 29th.

Can you keep praying for our boy? For our hearts as we get ready for May 29th? 

We are thankful for the love and support of everyone over the last two years of our lives.