Sad day

Today was just a sad day...a busy and hectic day with some sad and worry-filled news.

First - Carson has labs once a month. We have an okay to stretch that longer but feel so reassured to make sure all looks good at least every four weeks. The whole 'proof is in the pudding' (or in this case the labwork) to show all is A-O-K. Well, his labs are great. Except for that awful EBV. Yes, our nemesis is back. After having non-detectable levels for a long time, it's been creeping up and now the draw in June showed his highest level since October 2004. EBV is not the super-scary thing...it's PTLD. Will everything probably be fine? Yep...probably. Will keep doing monthly labs, possibly CT's, lowering his immunosuppression, etc.? Yeah, most likely. Will we pray, pray, pray? ABSOLUTELY. Does this scare the everything out of us each time it rears? (gulp) Without a doubt. Bouncing and higher-than-we'd like EBV levels snap us back to that reality that keeps us in check that the other shoe can drop anytime.

Okay, that's our worry-some, scares us to the core news. Now the sad news.

Our kitty Sylvester has cancer. It's a skin-type cancer, so not a fast-growing tumor. Thankfully, he is in no pain. It's possible this could even be several years before we lose him. He is nearly 14 years old. He was our first 'baby'. His addition to our family occurred just a few months after we got married. He's lived and travelled everywhere with us. It's those thoughts and reflections that make this so hard. And the fact that this could likely be Carson's first experience with death. It's hard to think of him not being around our house, even though regardless we know the day will come at some point. So, tears shed today over Sylvester.

Just a down day - we're still waiting for word from the transplant team as to any plan of action. Will keep you posted. In the meantime, pray...