"We are ready"
Today Avery completed her 8th radiation treatment. I'm pleased to say that she has had minimal side effects. An achy jaw remedied by lemon drops believe it or not, and a sensation of mild sunburn. Sure a bummer, but given the extremities of known side effects we will take what we have with appreciation. She will however have to live with one life altering side effect, and that is, she will now be unable to have children. Obviously a necessary cost, but nevertheless it does give us heavy hearts now that this is final. But again her completion today closes the"conditioning" phase of her preparation for her bone marrow transplant. And at this point we feel prepared and as ready as can be for the next phase in Avery's fight.
"Several Advantages"
February into March Avery experienced extreme difficulty with her treatment. So much so, that we simply could not envision her being able to handle what she has just endured. We were beat up. We were demoralized. But as I sit here and write this it is done and she is strong with very high spirits. We feel that this is and unexpected addition to several advantages we have going into the most difficult phase of treatment. The advantages:
1) We live in a country were medicine, research, technology, and care are second to none. As if that's not enough we are fortunate to have Avery as a patient of the University of Minnesota's Masonic Children's Hospital (formerly Amplatz) well known as one of the country's leading bone marrow transplant facilities.
2) The U of M has been at the forefront of bone marrow transplants with success culminating for decades. As this relates to Avery, it is their belief that Avery's transplant should be from umbilical cord blood. This is blood that remains in the placenta and in the attached umbilical cord after childbirth. Cord blood is collected because it contains stem cells, and in children it has shown much less likelihood to be rejected by the body. That's the benefit of the decades of research and experience, but for us the advantage is much greater. Avery's cord blood "match" is a 6 out of 6 and there is a high volume of blood. We are told that a 6/6 match only happens about 15% maybe 20% of the time. This minimizes the potential of rejection even further. F'n Awesome.
3) The sign. Just before Avery's admission we called Fr. John Malone. He is the Priest who married us, he is the Priest who baptized Avery. We asked him if he would bless Avery. We arrived at the Assumption Church in Saint Paul and met Fr. Malone in the rectory. After discussion we went over to the church and found the organist practicing for the evening mass. Fr. Malone asked the organist to "play a lullaby or something for Avery". After a minute or two, clearly a "huh?" for the organist, the church was filled with the music of Edelweiss. A timeless classic piece from the 1965 movie "The Sound of Music". To our speechlessness Avery began to sing. Singing just enough for her voice to carry through the church. It sent chills down my neck, down my back. View here: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nl6QzviXRy0&feature=youtube_gdata_player). What are the odds we arrived when the organist was practicing? What are the odds Fr. Malone asks him to play for Avery? What are the odds the organist chooses Edelweiss one of Avery's most favorite songs? Fr. Malone was so impressed he suggested Avery go to the alter and sing into the microphone. A bit bashful, she did and the church was filled with the sound, of a child, our child, and I could not help the feeling of the presence of Angels, and God. View here: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pZVHNsh6u4). Fr. Malone blessed Avery and we walked out of the Church with a peacefulness like I have never experienced. To me an unmistakable sign that Avery, our most beautiful precious Avery will triumph.
"Peace and Calm"
And so. All that can be done has been done to prepare Avery for tomorrow. And knowing what she has come though, where we stand, and the advantages we have, I truly believe that we will rest well tonight. Good things come by doing good things. Kristina and I do good things. And I completely believe that tomorrow is the next piece the final corner stone for Avery to finally get up and over blood cancer. For most, tomorrow is a day to begrudgingly go back to work. For us the day is monumental. Take a moment when you catch yourself saying "_____ _____ ____ _____ I cant believe I have to go to work", to think of Avery and us. Send positivity through thoughts, prayers, karma though a random act of kindness offered up in honor of Avery. After all, if you have your health there's nothing to complain about. As I sign off I wish all of you health and happiness to you and your loved ones. With gratitude, Reggie, Kristina, Avery, and Chopper.