From Mike: Goodbye 2008

Here I sit watching the clock tick down to midnight while I reflect on what a year this has been. I remember this time last year when we were both "normal" people saying goodbye to 2007 and looking forward to what good times lay ahead in 2008. There were some good times, a lot of them actually, but what we consider "good times" changed considerably one day in March when Dawn got a phone call from her doctor. Even in the best of times there was always leukemia. A "dark passenger", to quote one of our favorite TV shows, always with us everywhere we go. The moment you can laugh and forget, it always seems to tap you on the shoulder and remind you it's there. Now we hope to leave that dark passenger behind, stuck in 2008, never to return again. It's now 2009. I counted down for Dawn and the nurses gave me some sparkling grape juice. There weren't fireworks or confetti, just the constant chug of the ventilator and the spinning of the dialysis machine. There wasn't a party or a toast or singing of "Auld Lang Syne" but there was something better - starting the year, free of leukemia.

Dawn is still holding on. Some things are improving, other's aren't. They've been coming down on the nitric oxide, she's down from 20 parts per million to just 1. Her blood gases are still looking pretty good, it seems her lungs are healing. The x-rays show much fuller lungs with less fluid. Her liver and kidneys are still a concern. Her bilirubin and other liver enzymes are still high. We need to get that liver biopsy done but we can't until she's off the oscillatory ventilator because it makes her entire body shake.

Goodnight everyone and happy new year!