Day T-1

Today has been a quiet day thus far.  Hunter started his prograf yesterday, which is the anti-rejection med he will be on for a long while.  It has to be a continuous drip, so Jana did some doctoring on his shirts to be able to accomodate being hooked up to an IVat all times.  His liver enzyme number continue to decrease.  We know that #teamHanner's petitions to God were heard on this matter.  There is no question this process will be full of ups and downs, and we are grateful to have overcome another hurdle.  Tomorrow is the day we've been dreaming of for many years.  For the first time in his life, he will be given cells that will have the ability to kill infection.  

As you can imagine in a hospital, Hunter hasn't been sleeping very well at night.  Not only is he in a room that doesn't get super dark, he has been on pretty high doses of steroids that hype him up.  Neither does it help that people are in and out taking vitals and blood in the night.  Today he has been taken off his steroids.  Hopefully he will be able to rest better.  Pray he will be able to keep up his appetite, as he has thus far eaten well and maintained his weight (increased appetite is a positive side effect of steroids).  Yesterday it looked as if he was sweating.  He said he wasn't hot, but rather he was oozing oil out of his pores.  Overnight, he developed a rash on one of his arms and both legs that was itchy.  Our doctor simply said "Campath."  Please pray for our strength in this journey.  We know that lots of you already are!

This was on the front page of the Baird paper today.  What a nice surprise!

We had another yoga session yesterday.  It's pretty funny,  if I do say so myself.

 Back in Abilene, Benton had a blast spending the day with Chase, Macey, and Hudson.  Before church, they all headed to PrimeTime, and it looks as if he and G-Daddy had a good time.  Caleb and Clayton also enjoyed the day at home with Honey.  It appears we are going to have very spoiled boys when we get home.  I've seen many pictures of milkshakes, popsicles, and pacis.  I'm just thrilled to see them all happy and enjoyed the time we're apart. 

 Today was cowboy day at the boys' mothers day out program.  I got several pictures from friends and teachers of my cowpokes.

Love these guys!

 Speaking of spoiled, we continue to be blessed by our friends.  Lunch was delivered today and was delicious.  Yesterday we opened a package of freshly baked brownies in individually wrapped serving sizes to give out to our doctors and nurses.  It was a lot of fun to give a little something to the people taking such good care of Hunter.  Today we got a package of pillowcases sewn by a friend in Abilene.  #TeamHanner is awesome!

We are using his rest day trying to mentally prepare ourselves for the difficult next couple weeks as Hunter enters "the valley."  Shortly, Hunter's white blood counts will hit zero, and his body will show the effects of the chemo.  Until his new cells take over rebuilding his immune system, Hunter will feel absolutely terrible and be very vulnerable to infection.  I don't say this to be Debbie Downer, but rather because many of you have asked specifically what to pray for.

Mark is on his way down here, and we are so glad he will be here for transplant.  The procedure will be in his room.  We will all get to be in the room and he is given the gift of a healthy future.  I've been asked many times when his surgery is, but really the blood is just given to him through his port much like all his many other medications.  The cells just know to go to the marrow.  This is truly an amazing process.  We are glad to have the support of our community.