Welcome!

We're trying out something new here: a blog. You can check in from time to time (assuming I figure out how to do this properly) to see what we're up to here in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.

Update on my mom: the diagnosis has been downgraded from Acute Myelogenous Leukemia to "pre-leukemia" or Myelodysplastic Syndrome--which is really great news. With MDS, healthy bone marrow produces stem cells, which can develop into 3 types of blood cells: red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. When the bone marrow malfunctions and the stem cells fail to mature fully, it is called MDS. The marrow of people with MDS produces too many immature blood cells called blasts. These blast cells cannot function properly as blood cells. They also collect in the bone marrow, damaging it further.

Mom is going to get a short-term treatment consisting of a shot a day for five days. It's not chemo, but chances are it will make her pretty sick. I'll update you when I find out more about when this is going to happen. Thanks so much for your prayers.