Day 83: Slow and Steady

Hello everyone! Things continue to progress nicely. We have not updated in quite a while because there has not been much to update. Tomorrow AJ is 12 weeks post-transplant - can you believe it!!! We are continuing our weekly Tuesday trips to Vanderbilt for clinic visits, which continues to be our most difficult and LONG day of the week. It completely wipes all of us out!

The rest of the week is fairly normal. Ryan and Austin are back at school, and loving it. Jack is back at preschool two days a week and reluctantly settling back in. The three little ones have all received the Swine Flu vaccine (first 3 to get the shot in North Alabama) so we are hoping that will squash the chance of it settling in at the Revera household. And AJ is charging forward as a third grader. I can't believe the first grading period is behind us already. We are enjoying riding bikes and playing outside when the weather allows, but still are keeping AJ away from visitors and germs as much as possible. Hopefully this will ease in the near future - we will let you know. For now, this is our new normal - and normal is moving along just fine!

This week's clinic visit will be the same as normal. Next week AJ will go through the complete work-up of tests that he had pre-transplant. They will compare his results to the first set to evaluate his organ function post. If all goes well, his central line will be removed the week of November 2 and we will hit the magical (yet largely only symbolic) 100 day mark! I think both Greg and I will feel considerable relief when his line is out and the risk of infection decreases significantly. This is the next major hurdle for a while.

Yesterday I was going through photos of our hospital stay. I was completely overcome with emotion. In my head I look back and think how well AJ has done and how "easy" this has been compared to what we expected. Looking through those photos I was reminded how difficult it truly was at times. In some of those photos, AJ looks so incredibly sick and weak. His little body endured so much. It was a good reminder how far he has come, and how grateful we are. It also showed how much healthier he is today. Still sporting the fuzz and not 100 percent, but getting stronger and healthier everyday. I think I needed the reminder!

We will check in again soon. Hopefully we can report nice and high numbers after this week's blood check. Please keep AJ in your prayers. We feel the hardest days are behind us, but know his journey is not complete. Friends and family and all the wonderful support has helped us so much along the way. Your messages always provide such a lift to AJ.

Chat again soon!

Cindy