Its a boy!!!

Meet the newest member our our family! Chayce McCoy Hall!

Born March 29th at 8:29 AM, 7lbs. 15oz. 19 and 3/4 inches

Justin and Ashley the proud parents

The happy big sister

Bone Marrow results

We went back to Iowa City on Friday and met with the Doctors to get the results of the last Bone Marrow test that I had 2 weeks ago. We were a little disappointed with the results but probably we had to high expectations since everything has been going so well. When we got the results of the fish test last week the hospital called and told us that they had found no Cancer in my blood so we felt really good about that, however when the Bone Marrow came back it showed some traces of Cancer but still in very small amounts. Much less than I had before the transplant. We had been told before that they wouldn't be able to kill all of it by transplant alone and that the new T-cells that I got through Nathans Stem Cells would kill the rest. But when we got the other reports we got our hopes up. At my last Bone Marrow Biopsy I had engrafted 92% of Nathans T-cells and at this Biopsy I only have 80% of Nathans T-cells. That doesn' t mean 20% of my cells are Cancerous just that 20% of the Cells are mine and in mine is where the Cancer grows so they want to get rid of them. And they don't like that it is going the other direction. Anyway the plan now is for me to have another Bone Marrow Biopsy in 2 weeks (they have to wait 1 month between tests) and then when they get those results back they will draw up a plan of action consisting of 2 choices. They will either cut back on my anti rejection drugs which are killing off Nathans Cells thus allowing me to get more Graf to host disease, but also will stop inhibiting his cell growth. ( I guess that is my cell growth now just easier to identify as his and mine) or they will put me back on some of the Cancer drugs that I was taking prior to Transplant. If I had a preferance I would choose choice 1 even though in that will probably make me sicker for a while, but that also could lead to complete recovery and no Cancer. The Doctors main concern is getting to much GVH can lead to other problems and its hard to get just the right balance, therefore they are following up on some studies that have been done in Germany and they will choose the best option. I am really not that worried as I have a lot of faith in my Dr. to make the right decision and things have gone along so well till now, I have every reason to believe it will stay that way. We would appreciate your prayers that the Doctors make the right decision or that at the next Biopsy they find out that things have reversed completely (prayers can do that). On Monday Penny and Elisabeth are heading to Cedar Falls to help out watching Dillan for Justin and Ashley as Ashley is scheduled for a C-section at 8:00 Tuesday morning we were looking forward to having Dillan at our house but the Drs. said we can not have anyone staying with us right now till after they get this other stuff in order. I will miss having her, I miss my Grandkids!! Ashleys parents are coming during part of the time and will be there during the delivery also and I know we are all very excited about the new arrival. Its time for dinner now and I don't miss dinner so will write again soon. Thanks for all your prayers and support. Lance

Oops!

Hello again! So as we were looking back through some of the old blogs the other day we realized that we never offically announced something that is coming up here very quick! Most of you probably already know but we thought we post about it anyway just in case! So we announced that Cory and Jamie are going to have a baby in June but we didn't announce that Justin and Ashley are going to have a baby also!! At the end of this month!!! Pretty exciting stuff! As you can see from the picture of Dillan that I posted she's pretty excited to! :) Well nothing else really going on so I guess I'll end this here! Have a good day everyone!

Just another update.....

Hey everyone! Just wanted to write a quick update about dad's appointment yesterday. The bone marrow biopsy went a lot smoother this time which was a HUGE blessing! They gave dad a little more medicine then they usually do because in the past the medicine hasn't really worked that great. Well this time it really worked!! Dad pretty much slept the entire day! We're just so thankful that the biopsy went better this time! Thanks so much for your prayers!!!! As far as the rest of the doctors appointment that also went pretty well. Dad's counts are off a bit though so he has to go and get blood work done here in Dubuque next week just make sure everything is ok. The graph vs. host is also flaring up a little this week so if you could pray that the doctors are able to keep that under control we'd really appreciate it!! In other news dad is very happy to announce that his hair has begun to grow back!!! He's pretty excited about this because he was a little worried that it wouldn't be coming back! Its kind of funny though because its coming in a couple different colors! Mostly really dark right now, which is a change since his hair has always been blond. We'll just have to wait and see what color it ends up being I guess! Well nothing else exciting to report, so I guess I'll end here! Have a good night everyone! Oh and don't forget to set your clocks ahead tonight! Spring is almost here!!!!! :)

Not sure if you can tell from this picture, but there is some hair there :)

Tuesday

We have not posted lately as there really isn't a lot going on right now. (Thats probably good) I go to the Drs. on Friday for a lot of tests, Bone Marrow, DNA, and some others I can't remember they seem to run in to each other. I am feeling pretty good still get tired pretty easily but am really doing quite well. Elisabeth spent most of last week in Chicago with her cousins and had a good time, they went snowboarding and to a dance where they all wore clothes from another era. (like George Washington era) Long gowns and they danced the dances of that period. Lori made the dresses for the girls with a little help from cousin Kevin. They had a really good time the people brought in a chef and he made a very formal meal, they all had dinner before the dance it sounded like fun. As the week went on several of the kids got sick so we are hoping Elisabeth didn't pick up anything, she is wearing a mask in the house just in case. Last Sunday our Grandson Gavin swam in the State Meet in Marshalltown, he is 8 years old and swam in 4 events he ended up taking 3rd place in the butterfly, 8th place in the freesyle, 9th in the backstroke and his relay came in 8th. He was one of three swimmers to qualify for regionals in Minneapolis so that was pretty exciting. We watched all day on the computer they had it live, He also got to carry the banner in the parade of athletes for the Dubuque team. My Dad and Mom left for Mexico yesterday and they e-mailed last night that they made it , the place they are staying in is really nice. They are in Riviera Maya first time to this area for them, they like and go to Mexico a lot it was 84 degrees when they landed and sunny. Hope all is well at your houses.
Lance