Day 365: ONE YEAR!

Can you believe it? It has been a whole year already since my transplant. It has been a great year! Today I went bowling with Mom and my brothers. It was a lot of fun.

For dinner my family and I went to P.F. Changs to celebrate. It was delicious!

My big party, AJPalooza, is going to be this Saturday, July 31. All my friends and family are coming over. We are going to have a great time!

-AJ

Day 355: The results we have prayed for

Hello everyone! Today is the day we dreamed of. We received AJ's one year test results. His heart and lung function is normal, as is his thyroid and growth hormone. His blood counts are the strongest they have ever been, and his engraftment studies showed 95% donor marrow, which in the words of his doctor "is excellent." His immune studies are now normal and he can begin to receive vaccinations (a side-effect of chemo and prep for transplant is that his entire immune system was wiped out, including all previous vaccinations, so he is much like a newborn baby and we must start over.) All of this being said, our prayers have been answered and our little boy has conquered this horrible illness. We are thrilled, and relieved, and thankful!!!

Your love and support throughout this year has given us the strength to make it through. We love each and every one of of you!

All our love,

The Reveras

Here are a few photos of his big day of tests and of our lunch at Buca on the way home.

For the Best Healthcare in Your Hometown .. Count on Us...

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Day 318: Almost there

Yesterday AJ had a great checkup at Vanderbilt. Dr. Frangoul said we are cruising right along. His blood results were normal across the board - did you hear that - NORMAL!!!!! We are so excited. His next appointment is July 13th, which will be his one year checkup (even though that is about two weeks shy of the actual date). They will run a complete battery of tests to compare with pre-transplant tests, as well as bloodwork to determine the composition of his marrow (percentage of donor marrow). It is the final step in this journey and our nightmare will be over.

And then we PARTY!!!!! AJPalooza will be July 31st. This will be a celebration of AJ's recovery, of our family's strength, and of our gratitude to all the friends and family who supported us along the way. More information to come....stay tuned!

We have been blessed with meeting another family who unfortunately is also enduring this nightmare of aplastic anemia. We are happy to say Nick is one week post-transplant and doing well. We were able to meet his wonderful mother this weekend and have been trying to share our experiences with her. It is our chance to pay forward the love and support we were given this past year. Please keep Nick and his entire family in your prayers.

On a happy note...AJ is getting back to most normal activities. We have been out to eat a few times, to the movies, swimming at a friend's house, and even had a day trip to Nashville with Grandma and PopPop- just for fun, no doctors!!! AJ and his brothers are taking swim lessons, going to SciQuest day camp next week, and looking forward to a beach trip in a few weeks. Sunscreen is still our BEST friend and we are still monitoring him closely, but return to more normal outings has been good for all of us.

As always, God is Good! And we love all of you!

Cindy and AJ

Day 311: Pray for my friend

My little friend Nick, who is only 4, is having his transplant today. His big sister is his donor. Please say a prayer for Nick and Emily as they go through their procedures today.

Love,

AJ

Day 283: It's Been a Long Time

Sorry I haven’t posted in a while. On the weekends I’ve been playing soccer and watching Ryan and Austin play baseball. During the week I have been busy with school work. I am learning about energy, cultures, space, and writing opinion paragraphs. Yesterday I got to go to a class picnic. It was the first time I got to be with all my friends in almost a year. It was great! My health has been very good. We only have to go to Vandy once every month now. I am going back on Tuesday. Tomorrow is the one year anniversary of learning Austin was my match!

Please say a prayer for Nashville, Tennessee. There has been a flood there and a lot of people got hurt or lost their homes. Even the hospital had damage.

In a few months it will be one year since my transplant. We are having a BIG party for my one year mark! It is called AJ Palooza. We will update on it in future posts. So check back.

AJ

Day 239 - Today is a bittersweet day

One year ago today AJ hit his head resulting in a bruise far greater than the hit should have produced. When we added this to other physical symptoms we were noticing, we knew there was a problem. But we definitely were not prepared for what was to come. We were sucker punched the following day by his extremely low blood counts, thus beginning this life-changing journey.

Today is filled with conflicting emotions because we are absolutely thrilled and thankful for AJ's health and how far we have come in this year, but the reality of all he has been through, and all our family has been through still stings. As I flipped through a 2009 calendar where I had noted all the appointments and platelet transfusions, and recorded all the test results, I realized today is just the first of many "anniversaries." The anniversary of the day he was diagnosed...the day we found out he needed a transplant...the day we found out Austin was a match...the day his treatment began. As we look towards those days it is hard not to relive the uncertainty and fear that accompanied them. I am sure the day will come when I can discuss the past year without my voice cracking or tears welling up in my eyes -- but then again, maybe it won't. The experience has changed me forever and will always be with me. It has changed our whole family.

So for today, still carrying a heavy heart, I will acknowledge our struggles but I will more importantly try to embrace how far we have come. I will celebrate that AJ has only one more week of his much-despised anti-rejection medication. I will celebrate that he continues to meet or far exceed every expectation. I will celebrate each of the upcoming "firsts" post-transplant - attending a friend's birthday party, eating out at a restaurant, participating in a soccer practice - all which will likely take place this week. I will simply celebrate still having my child. So one year from having the wind knocked out of me, I can breathe again.....one breath at a time.

Love to you all!

Cindy