ANSWERS !!!

Dear Friends and family,

Thank you so much for carrying us in prayer today. Your prayers were heard and answered by our very attentive Father who poured out his mercy and grace on us today!

We started our day with counts and found Kat'e s platelets had dropped from 13 yesterday afternoon back to the low of 6. Due to this low count she recieved two bags of platelets today instead of one.
ANSWER- Late afternoon counts showed Kate's platelets climbed to 87 !!! God hears the petitions of his children !! Thank you for praying.
REQUEST- Kate's body will use up many platelets through the night. She will recieve another transfusion of platelets tomorrow to keep the platelet count where it needs to be when her body is ready for the stem cell harvest. She must be at a minimum of 50 to have any kind of procedure. Please pray that the platelet count climbs steadily.

After two hours into our morning in the clinic, the stem cell came back.
ANSWER- Kate's stem cell count tripled !!! She went from 1 yesterday yo 3 today !! Our God is amazing!!
REQUEST-Kate must be at 4 or 5 to begin the stem cell collection. Please ask that a steady and strong increase in the stem cell will continue in these coming days. If her body continues to respond as it did today, the stem cell transplant coordinator is aiming for Thursday admission to the hospital for the collection. Again this is all tenative based on how Kate's body responds over the next two days.
REQUEST-There is another teenager at the hospital who is preparing for a stem cell harvest.. His count did not climb today.. Please pray for him and his family. This is a stress filled, tedious process. I know how thankful and encouraged we were today with the progress God allowed. Please ask that this boy and his family recieve encouraging news tomorrow.

Today was another incredibly long 9 to 5 day at the clinic. I'm not sure why we get so weary and worn just sitting in a clinic room all day, but we do.
REQUEST- Please ask that we are renewed with a good night's rest.

Kate endured a lot today physically . They added another medication to help increase the WBC production. It acts in much the same way as the Nupogen shot she is still getting daily. This new medication was infused through her IV over 2 hours to prevent an allergic reaction.
REQUEST-Kate will recieve another 2 hour IV dose of this medication tomorrow as well. Please pray that it helps push those counts up, up, up.
REQUEST- The daily Nuprogen shots are very painful. Kate has been very brave and squeezes my hand very tight to get through the injection. Tonight's shot on top of a very physically weary day brought tears. Please ask for comfort for her and minimal pain in all that she must endure now and in the coming months.
REQUEST-Please pray Kate's heart and spirit to be protected from discouragement.

Dear ones, I couldn't wait to share with you tonight the amazing answers to your prayers on Kate's behalf. Thank you so much for praying with us. We could not journey this road withouth you. Thank you for continuing to pray us through these very specific needs for this week.

With love and thanks,
Elaine