A Fast for David

              We spent a quiet Saturday at home. David continues to eat and is in good spirits. His eyes were very sensitive to light yesterday, and today he still couldn’t read his iPod. High dose cytarabine has known ocular side effects. He was prescribed eye drops for the first few days after chemo; he resumed using them yesterday.

            On Friday his white blood count was .2 (happy range is 4.5 to 10), up from .1 a few days before, but still very low. His platelets were also low, which increases the risk of bleeding. Jess Driscoll, the nurse practitioner, wanted to give him aplatelet transfusion, but the MGH blood bank was low, and so she sent us home with the warning not to play with any knives. He’ll probably receive platelets Monday.

            On Monday, Jess will perform another bone marrow biopsy. The preliminary results take about a week. We hope for no detectable leukemia blasts. The situation is grave. On August 15^th, Dr. Fathi told us that if David were an older man, no further treatment would be recommended. Since David is young and relatively strong, he was willing to try a round of high dose cytarabine. Now we wait to see if it had the desired effect.

            Our church congregation (the Arlington Ward) and the Cambridge Stake leadership are dedicating their monthly fast to David’s health and to give strength and comfort to our entire family. I know our Heavenly Father lives and He loves us. If it is the Lord’s will, faith, prayers, and fasting can call down great blessings and even miracles from heaven. Please join us in this prayer.