Prayers from Sunny Philadelphia
Greetings from University City, Philadelphia, PA
1 year post transplant.
Good morning Team Lucas. The crew is here, it’s 19 degrees outside. We are back with our Philly family at AKA in University City, looking at the snow on the roofs, watching the steam rise from the buildings and the early morning big orange sun running through the shades.
The 1 year biopsy
Lucas starts his 1-year follow ups this morning at 10:45 at CHOP. Tomorrow he will have a bone marrow biopsy, lumbar puncture and undergo general anesthesia for what feels like the 100th time. For parents every time feels the same you don’t get used to it, for Lucas , the warrior it’s just routine.
This is a big deal on so many levels.
Jack. Just thinking about a year ago where he was, where our family was. Jack had to stay down in Austin, so we wanted to make sure and include him in this experience, this event. He spent most of COVID with his grandparents, most of the year not knowing if his brother was going to make it through, with his parents 1700 miles away. Other kids his age were playing together, Jack had to stay quarantined even when COVID relaxed a little bit because Lucas is immunocompromised.
Dylan, gets to see how her big bro Lucas does it , once again . Once again she gets to watch him come home from a procedure where he had a spinal tap and bone marrow taken out of his lower back/hip/tailbone area. She has to “be quiet” when Lucas gets home from his procedure, once again. Once again they will cuddle and watch a movie together on the couch. Once again we will gently play and be careful when he takes his shower that night. Once again we will all cuddle in bed together.
Lucas. There are other kids now that are on Gilteritinib. He was the youngest kid to ever take this FLT3 inhibitor when it was first allowed and now other kids are taking it. Lucas, made gingerbread cookies for his nurses that he hasn’t seen since June 2021. Lucas can’t wait to let his big bro see what CHOP is like, he has heard so much about it. Lucas woke us up this morning, “The sun is orange.” We laid there and watched it rise.
He that may learn to pray, let him go to sea
-George Herbert (1593 - 1633)
Prayers tonight 8:30 EST
We pray God for Lucas’ results to be clear of all leukemia in his bone marrow, peripheral blood and is cerebral spinal fluid
God we pray for 100% engraftment of Dylan’s cells, and a negative FLT3 result.
We pray for the practitioners to have a great procedure with no complications.
We pray for our family to have a week , close together, celebrating a year since transplant
. We pray with all of our might for clean and clear results and for Lucas to go thru childhood, adulthood and grow old with healthy cells. May leukemia, cancer and all disease never come to our sweet angel again. May he live to be the survivor he is in mind, body, heart and soul.
We Believe
We believe and won’t stop our prayers for Lucas being forever cured and healed. It’s been a road this past year and Lucas has been a warrior. He’s been for the most part isolated, no school, no playdates except for two. He’s not once complained and is the epitome of a person relishing in the present. He enjoys and is so grateful for any and all experiences whether that be playing golf with his grandparents, playing tennis, going for walks, playing pickle ball with his brother, and just being at home.
Thank You
All of the prayer warriors. We are so appreciative to Corporate Angel Networks for flying us to Philly, truly an amazing organization. Companies giving back to families affected by cancer.