80/20

                      The latest bone marrow biopsy results are good. There is no sign of leukemia. In the bone marrow, 80% of the cells are Sam’s and 20% are David’s. The hope is that David’s blood cells will continue to age and die and Sam’s blood will take over. As I said before, David will have Sam’s blood type. Modern medicine can be amazing.

David is doing well. Patient waiting is the order of the day. So far there is no sign of graft versus host disease, so Sam’s cells apparently aren’t attacking David’s organs. The skin and digestive tract are most at risk.

Jim and I are flying home tomorrow, after a 10 day trip to Fort Benton, Montana (a Hazen/Holms reunion with my 91 year old dad and 80 year old uncle and aunt), Yellowstone (three different days in the park), and Island Park, Idaho (a reunion with Jim’s mom and siblings). Sam, Peter, Xiomara, and 15 month old Andrew were able to attend the Montana festivities, meet a lot of Western relatives, and see the old ranch house, which has been abandoned for several years and is now in the middle of a wheat field. They also attended part of the Johnston reunion and toured Yellowstone.

It’s been a good trip and we are grateful David is doing well enough to be on his own. Thank you to our friends in Massachusetts for visiting him, taking the sacrament on Sundays, and driving him to doctors’ appointments.

And thank you to all our Western family who have expressed their love and support, and have kept us in their prayers.