Day 15...

^"1God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us; Selah. ²That thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations. ³Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee. ⁴O let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon earth. Selah. ⁵Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee. ⁶Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us. ⁷God shall bless us; and all the ends of the earth shall fear him." Psalm 67

I read that this morning. Isn't it awesome? God is good! Last night after Derek went to bed I picked up my Bible and started reading. While reading I felt such immense joy. That kind of joy that can only come from the Lord. "But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy." ~1 Peter 4:13. God has definitely been revealing His glory to me through this. God is awesome! I can't say that enough!

Now onto updates, news, and thanks. I'll start with the thank yous. As always thank you for the prayers. They help in ways I don't think we'll know this side of Heaven. I also want to thank you all for being there for my mom, Alexander, Ashley, and Asher. It's so great to know that people we love and trust are taking care of our kids. It enables us to focus on what we need to here. Thanks again.

I have a couple of things to ask of everyone out there. If you guys could please be on the lookout for places to rent in Yakima/Lower Valley we would appreciate it. I'm thinking we will be home sometime in September. It seems like quite a ways off, but I know it will come up fast. Preferably something with 3-4 bedrooms and that would maybe allow Moses. I might also need to get some type of job when we get back. If you guys could be praying about that I would appreciate it.

Now for news on Derek. His white count went up, AGAIN! We don't have the neutrophil number back yet. They have stayed the same the last two days. The neutrophils, to try and explain so it's not confusing (did I go over this already? Hope not), are the first line of defense in your immune system. They are the ones that recognize infections, bacteria, etc... and attack it. They took his neutrophils down to zero. They are slowly coming back, but this is the number they watch to make sure the transplant is really grafting. This is also the number they use as criteria to let him out of the hospital. The neutrophil numbers always come in later than the other ones (the pathologists actually count each and every one of the neutrophils in Derek's blood). I'm using a lot of parenthesis today, I kinda like them. Anyway, the doctors say that Day 15 (which is what today is) is usually when they see the counts really start to go up. It usually takes longer with Myelofibrosis patients because of the amount of scar tissue and fibrous tissue built up in the marrow. It's takes longer for the cells to root in and find their spaces. Once they do though, they will start to heal and push out the fibrous tissue.

So we are just hanging out waiting for Derek's numbers to go up. Praising God for his provision, peace, and joy. I have been feeling immense amounts of peace and joy so I know the prayers are working. Thanks again.

God bless!