Happy Thanksgiving

 Happy Thanksgiving!

This has been quite a ride that our family has been on since July 1, 2021.

From Dad getting fungal pneumonia and a 23 day hospital stay in July and struggling to recover from that all summer, to his bone marrow transplant in October and all that entailed and then to getting an MSSA staph infection in November (and still recovering from that), it has been quite a ride!

But, during all that time we also have a lot of praises!

The Lord has been with us the entire time!

We would like to take this moment to mention a few things that we are thankful for and for some wonderful praise-worthy news!

First, we would like to thank you all for all the prayers and support! We could not continue to get through this without them! It means so much to our family!

Next, we would like to tell you that Dad's 1st bone marrow biopsy results have come back to show that his donor's cells are at 100% in his body! This means that currently all new blood cells are from the donor, the chemo regimen killed off all Dad's cancer cells and no signs of cancer are present at this time!

Praise the Lord!

Dad will have several more biopsies in 2022 to make sure this continues to stay this way, but for now we are thankful for this news!

The medical team has reminded us that the donor's cells are still fighting amongst themselves as some feel like they are at home in Dad and other cells do not feel at home, so the battle is still raging to see who will win!

Also, GvHD (Graft vs. Host Disease) is still a very real possibility for Dad between now and day 100 (for acute GvHD) and forever after that (for chronic GvHD).

The doctor stressed to take each victory "one day at a time" because tomorrow can bring about a sudden change. This is why Dad is monitored 2 times weekly to be sure they are on top of any changes his body may suddenly get and be able to treat it as quickly as possible.

So, today, we are thankful for these current results!

Dad's blood pressure has been running quite high for weeks, so blood pressure medication has been given to him to help with this. They recently had to up the dose because it is staying high.

Please pray for this! The last thing we want is for GvHD to attack his heart!

Our medical team is keeping a close eye on all of these things!

So for now, we do take things one day at a time!

We are thankful for each day that we have with Dad here at the house and not sick at a hospital.

Even though we cannot be around any of our children that don't live at home on Thanksgiving or any day, we are thankful for each one of them and for the love and support they show our family each and every day.

So, Happy Thanksgiving from the Worthington household!

We are thankful for you all and for health !