Can't believe it's mid-July - the summer is going by way too quickly!! Mac had his counts checked here in April and May, and his hemoglobin kept getting better. (And counts at Children's tend to be lower than at St. Jude, so I was getting excited.) Then in Memphis at the end of June, his hemoglobin was 13.2! Wow - that's normal! Hopefully it's staying up, we'll go to Children's next week to check again. His platelets remain low, at 85K, which is a bummer, but still not affecting his everyday life. They did a Bone Marrow aspiration again, and the results were normal. (They will continue to check him yearly as long as he is on the immunosuppressant or the shot.) So, the plan is to stay on 1 tiny mg of Tacrolimus for July and August, and then maybe stop it all together if things are stable. We'll go back to Memphis in October. When you look at the graph of his different counts over the last 4 years, the trend is basically up. Slow and steady, but up, and that is what the doctors (and I) are so excited about!

Mac is still his calm self, and a good sport about this whole illness thing. He got a driving permit so look out for him if you're on the roads - I'm the one in the passenger seat screaming "brake lights ahead!" which is what I remember my driver's ed coach saying constantly! He's grown a little more, which in itself is a way to decrease the medicines. (I know I've mentioned this before, but in a mg to kg ratio, he's growing and gaining weight so by keeping the meds stable, we have been decreasing them.) He's been cleared to go to the orthodontist(anyone who goes to a transplant has to have braces taken off) but he's not looking forward to that. The only consolation is that most kids his age have braces!

Thanks for checking in and keeping us in your prayers! Hope you are enjoying the summer and getting some R&R. I know I'm storing my energy for the start of the school year, and all the activities it brings with it! Thankfully Mac and Peter will be at Jesuit together, so that's one less school I will have to drive to!

More in October....