Post 4th Round of PRRT Update...

-Post PRRT update:  We were reunited on Tuesday evening and boy does it feel good to all be under one roof again!!!  In case anyone is late to the party...  Andrew had his 4th round of radiation therapy and after he receives his treatment, he has to stay away from Grace and Abby for 6 days (that's why David and Andrew go to my In-Love's house in the Woodlands and pretty much live upstairs for most of the time... although they were on vacation this time when the boys were there).  During this time, we (grown up's) have to stay at least a meter away from him and avoid touching him for 3-4 days because he is highly radioactive and it is not safe to get to close to him because radiation has risks such as cancer, etc.  While we all missed each other terribly, it's especially hard on Abby and Andrew to be apart.  They want to spend every minute possible on FaceTime or the phone together, even if they aren't talking (sometimes I'm like... "ok, we will talk to you later..." because there is a lot of silence or they are each playing or watching tv and they are like "nooooo, do we have to get off already?"), they literally just love to know the other person is there/do life together in any way possible.  We have learned a lot over the past 4 rounds of PRRT, so each time we try to make modifications to the plan to make it as easy as possible on everyone.

Andrew getting a scan after treatment to make sure the radiation is being taken up appropriately

Andrew has had a great break from pain (except for one really bad morning in The Woodlands where Andrew was miserable and eventually threw up), so we are praying it continues for a looooong time! The reality is, if he follows the pattern of previous treatments, the pain should come on with a fury in a couple weeks and last for 3-4 weeks.  Will you please pray that Andrew could avoid the intense pain phase and we would just see an exceptional improvement in pain that is sustained?  Please also pray for wisdom for us and his Dr's, we are meeting in early April to discuss next steps.  At this point, it looks like Andrew's tumors are stable (praise the Lord)...  he has a follow up scan in 3 months and then 6 months to see how things are holding up.  If there is progression at that point, they can do 2 more rounds of PRRT.  Will you PLEASE pray for no progression what so ever and that we would get many years of stability... actually lets pray that his cancer stays stable forever because our God can absolutely do that?!?!

-Since being home, Andrew has been able to do "normal" kid fun stuff like playdates and even a sleepover (thanks to a sweet friend who never minds giving him meds throughout the night, even waking him up for his 3:30 am meds).  We went to the rodeo, one of our families most favorite things to do together!  Most people go to the rodeo for the concert (I think some guy named Chris Stapleton was playing the night we went), but we literally go for the actual rodeo and leave when the concert starts because we don't even know any of the artists who play there (except Garth, we do know who Garth Brooks is... LOL).

The Ross Family Circus!

Carnival rides with friends!

Grace with the ponies in the background (that was her favorite, second only to the piglets and the bull riding :-)

Love that David took this pic over his shoulder while walking so they didn't even know they were being photographed!

Nothing beats watching the rodeo with this kid...  here is Grace's reaction when a bull rider fell off the bull practically right out of the gate!

This is how we closed out the rodeo...  my boy fell asleep in my lap.  The people behind us said "you must have worn him out at the carnival all day..."  Nope...  that's just what a warrior taking a rest from battling the hell out of cancer looks like!

-Update on Abby...  we are so proud of her for making the ODP (Olympic Development Program) State team!  She loves soccer so much (it's her happy place) and works so incredibly hard, we are grateful she gets to experience accomplishing goals that she sets for herself.

Abby rockin' her zebra headband and logo on her wrist for her Bubba during her tournament last weekend!

-I'm loving my new role in the Oncology Division so far, but I don't love having to go out of town and be away from the family. I leave tomorrow after church for training in New York, please pray for our time a part.

-A few nights ago, I had tears as I shared with David how much it breaks my heart to hear Andrew talk about when he is a dad or when he is grown up, etc because there is a high likelihood that he may never have that opportunity and he would be SUCH AN AMAZING DADDY....  like SO AMAZING!!!  As David and I talked and prayed, I was once again reminded that God is the author of Andrew's story, so I can't give root to those fears and instead it is ok for me to dream right along with him (instead of fight back tears in the moments).  Wouldn't you know that as I got the mail today there is a letter from a Dr I didn't recognize from TCH....  I immediately thought "this must be from the genetic Dr that insisted on doing further genetic testing," despite the fact that our incredibly brilliant friend who has literally committed his life to better understanding/curing cancer has already looked at every protein on every strand of DNA in his tumors, never the less, since our friends work was considered "research" based verses clinical, they wanted to rerun their tests.  We were totally fine with that because we figure it never hurts to have a second look and in the event it helps them gain more information about Andrew's cancer that may help him and/or other patients down the road, it's totally worth it.  My heart was pounding out of my chest as I opened the envelope, I scanned the page for any scary information and at first the bolded section that caught my eye mentioned some mutations that I knew they were testing for and at first glance I thought it said they found those mutations in Andrew's tumor...  As I felt my heart pound so hard I could feel it in my ears, I decided to read the letter from the top and praise the Lord the bolded section said that they did NOT find any of these mutations (which means we don't need to have the rest of our family tested for this dreaded disease...  PRAISE THE LORD).  As I flipped to the second page and read on this sentence jumped off the page and melted my heart...  big time!!!

Please hear me clearly, I'm in no way saying this letter is prophetic, but it certainly serves as a reminder and huge hug from God that Andrew could absolutely have his own family some day if that is what God wills in His infinite wisdom and power!  That's what #hopeon is all about.  We will hope on with certainty that God alone is the author of our story and we trust His heart, even when we can't see or understand his hand.

-One more prayer request... as a result of Andrew's radiation treatment, his hemoglobin is low, so he gets more tired than normal and he gets out of breath easier (until it returns to normal).  He is suppose to start flag football and a swim clinic in preparation for Summer swim team, will you please pray that he excels in both of these areas...  that it builds his confidence instead of tear it down and remind him that he is different (has a hard time keeping up with other kids because of cancer)?

THANK YOU TROOPS!!!  LOVE YOU!!!