Dreams do come true

This has been quite the eventful week and there is so much to share. I did not receive any chemotherapy treatments since last Friday in preparation for yesterday's bone marrow biopsy which will tell us the results of this second phase of the first course. So I had a pretty free week with just a few visits to check on my blood counts, platelets, and the such. So, I was feeling great and ready to make certain what I already knew so well.

I proposed to Hanna on Thursday night and have been on cloud 9 (could even be 12 or 13 ever since). She is my dreams come true and the most amazing, beautiful, kind, strong woman I know. It will be such an honor to fulfill my vocation at her side and to share every step of our future and our lives together. She has been my rock and I hope to always be her's. I feel so incredibly blessed......and, oh yeah, she said YES!!

We went on a picnic at this beautiful state park overlooking the Susquehanna river and Lancaster county and enjoyed the setting sun. I asked her to marry me and then surprised her with a hot air balloon ride around the area. It was absolutely amazing....stunning views and a perfect setting for the perfect night. Check out a few picures:























Prayers are often answered and life is very very good!

The night was perfect. We then went back home and were able to celebrate with our amazing families. On a side note, the guy in the last picture there was our balloon pilot, Cliff. We were just chatting and he turned out to be very inspirational and I think our meeting was providential. He had been laid off from his job a few months earlier and decided that he was going to do something positive with his time. He went to the blood bank to donate blood and then returned later to donate plasma. While he was there, he learned about the need for bone marrow donations and decided he was going to join the registry. So, he was very familiar with blood cancers and interested in doing whatever he could to help. We learned so much from his positive attitude and his ability to take a difficult situation and turn it into an opportunity to serve.

After that perfect Thursday, I was pretty much ready for the biopsy that took place yesterday. We went out to Hershey and Patti and some of the other nurses had an engagement cake waiting for us because they are that awesome and that kind and that nice. My dad happened to be out there receiving his treatment the day before so he had spread the word.

The physician assistant, Hoang, who performed the bone marrow biopsy hooked me up with some morphine and the whole procedure went rather smoothly. She is quite good at what she does and one of the people who make the trips out there so pleasant. She was able to get a good sample of blood and marrow and so now we pray and we wait for the results. I will meet with Dr. Claxton on Monday to discuss the results and to discuss how to proceed from here. I am really nervours about this meeting, but hopeful that the leukemia has decided that it is time to "peace out" of my marrow. There is no other treatment planned beyond this meeting because it all really depends on what they find. If the leukemic cells have dropped to beneath 5% than I will most likely proceed with the clinical trial; in not, they will proceed in a different direction which would either be a new regimen or a possible transplant. No matter what happens, I have so much to fight for and I will fight like hell with all I got.

I think I could probably write a book about the things that this journey with cancer have taught me so far. There has been fear, more fear, tears, enlightenment, laughter, more fear, new friendships, hope rekindling of old friendships, a new look at my amazing future, and new persepectives on faith and love. Mainly, through the doctors, nurses, friends, and family, i've realized that its not about a journey with cancer....its more like a journey with yourself and how 'you' choose to live. So, thats the mentality I am going to keep through this weekend, through Monday, and through whatever comes after.

ALL will be well