Donations

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Update on Nathan

It has been a while since I posted, almost two years actually. When we got home I think I just wanted things to get back to as normal as possible so I wasn't posting. We went to MD Anderson at the end of September for Nathan's check up. He did a bone density test, blood work, and scans this time around. His blood counts were up from last time, still not completely back to normal, but better. The doctor said his bones looked great after all he has been through. "Strong" is the word she used so that was awesome to hear considering at one point it was so bad in his bones, spine mainly, that if we couldn't get it under control it could have caused severe permanent damage, or possibly paralyze him. His scan came back CLEAR!!! Always nervous for every scan but to hear the words clear is the best feeling in the world. On October 26th will be Nathan's Re-Birthday, (two years post transplant) so he will officially be two:) That is a huge milestone for a transplant patient. He has had hardly any issues since his transplant other than one case of shingles, some skin rashes, and mouth sores, other than that he has been great. No signs of rejection from the transplant so far!!! We filled out paperwork yesterday to release our information to his donor and we are hoping he will get in touch with us. It would be so nice to have contact with him and let him know how grateful we are for what he did for Nathan! We were told they think he was international maybe from Germany, but not sure until they get all the info. His donor would be 21 now, and can choose to stay anonymous. If he chooses that we respect that as well. We were told sometimes people are uncomfortable with getting in contact because of fear of something going wrong with the donor recipient like rejection and that puts them in a tough position. We will see what happens. Praying he will reach out to us when he gets our information. Nathan just celebrated his 30th birthday on the 8th. Such a big milestone, at the age of 30 going through cancer twice now, I am sure he feels blessed. I dreaded turning 30, but for Nathan he prayed to turn 30. Crazy how our life experiences make us appreciate small thing or things other people may not look forward to. Any how I thought I would post a few pics of Nathan around this time during the transplant process and a few of him now he hates to see the ones of him sick but to me it's a reminder of all he has overcome. It is hard to believe how far he has come and I can't say enough how blessed he truly is! Thank you to everyone that continuously checks on him. Anyhow here are a few of my favorites over the last two years.