Here we go...

Tomorrow (Wednesday) Adam, Ethan and I head out to Boston for our first consultation appointment with the transplant area of Boston Children's Hospital. At our outpatient visit here in Connecticut yesterday, Ethan's doctor advised again that we should expect the consultation to be a bit rough... meaning, no "sugar-coated" information. He warned that the details and information we receive will be tough to hear and hard to digest. He then stated something that I hadn't really considered. He said after the appointment in Boston, Adam and I then have to make a decision about what road we want to choose with Ethan's treatment. I told him that I didn't think we had a choice - I thought a transplant was really our only option. He said that even though the chances of Ethan's survival are more increased with the transplant, it is still not guaranteed, and Ethan will potentially have a very difficult time with the details of the transplant since his disease is so hard to treat... and it's a very dangerous type of treatment.... with again, no guarantee of it working. The alternative would be to stay at the Connecticut Children's Hospital (where we are now) and go through a very hard and intensive chemotherapy treatment - much harder than he's been through to date - and hope that the chemo itself corrects the problem. However, the chances of JUST chemo curing the disease are very low. Either decision is full of risk and full of all kinds of possible side effects and dangers that no one wants to see their child endure. Adam and I are praying - and I'm asking you to be in prayer as well - that we make the decision God would have us to make. Adam and I need to both be at peace with the decision that is ahead of us... pray for absolute peace in both our minds about the kind of treatment that God wants Ethan to go through in order for his complete healing. There are many pros and cons that we have to consider with whatever treatment plan we decide upon. Pray with us that we will leave the meeting tomorrow afternoon and feel confident about the direction we need to take for our little boy. Please pray for safety as we travel to Boston and as a side note, be in prayer for Ethan's white blood count to start going back down (they rose slightly yesterday) and pray that his platelets go up in number (they were down slightly yesterday and he needed a transfusion at our outpatient visit).

Thank you so very much for your help in prayer during this time. I'm so very thankful for your kindness and your desire to pray for us. In my mind I have placed no limits on what God can do in healing Ethan's body. However, we need God's wisdom, strength and peace to make the right decision FOR that healing.

I don't want my little man suffering.... regardless of the path we take.... God, please don't allow him to suffer.