Mon June 8 (Day 21 in the hospital!) prayers needed

Hey friends and family! Well, the last two days have been pretty tumultuous.  Dad, who we wish could be up dancing around his room celebrating the fact that he has beat leukemia, is not in such a celebratory mood.  He is extremely tired, weak, beat down, and has no appetite.  As well as battling such a horrific disease, treatment, and healing process, he is annoyed with the fact that this is day 21 in the hospital.

In the last day, his need for oxygen has increased.  Due to shallow breathing and the increase in oxygen volume they are giving him, they decided to do a CT scan of his lungs so they could get a picture of what is causing the need for extra oxygen help.  He has a team of doctors treating him, as we've mentioned before, so the pulmonary specialist suggested doing a procedure into the lungs to pull a sample of what he thought was an infection in his lungs.  The infectious specialist disagreed with that procedure, telling us that is was far too risky for dad, due to his low levels of platelets in his blood.

Dr. Nguyen, his primary cancer doctor, also disagreed with the procedure, stating that he too thought it was way too risky.  So, no surgery, which made us all very happy!  Instead, he will start a different anti-biotic to fight off the infection they believe is in his lungs.

Dr. Nguyen visited this evening, and explained quite simply, that these types of 'bumps in the road' are totally normal.  He said dad is doing everything he should be doing to get better, but there were going to be at least 7 more days where he feels absolutely terrible.  Until his bone marrow starts making new blood, he will feel down and out.

So, we write to keep you informed, but we also hope you would take the time to share dad's story so that there are more prayer warriors praying on his behalf.  He needs prayer for strength, positivity, lung function, and for his doctor team to continue making the most informed decisions they can for him. Dad REALLY appreciates all the love, prayers, and supportive messages....so please keep them coming!!!

Nicole and Jenny