HALLELUJAH! For Real!

PRAISE GOD! Such a GOOD report today!

We arrived at the Children's Place eeearly this morning for a follow-up round of ultrasounds + CT scans mixed in with our usual lab work. The ultrasound always goes pretty well since it's a nice quiet room with a TV + VCR to play kid videos while Samuel's laying covered up on the exam table + Trinity sits diligently by his side. And, sure I'll say it, I mean he's a boy getting his goods massaged for 10-15 minutes = win-win, haa!

waiting for the day to begin...

comfy in bed :)

watching Blues Clues w/ Trinity, waiting to see if we need any more images

Daddy power napping (teehee)

Immediately after the ultrasound, we picked up the contrast (dye) Samuel has to drink for his abdominal CT scans. It's decent tasting stuff since it's mixed with fruit punch; it's just an awful lot of sugar, so by the third cupful it's a wee bit more challenging to encourage a toddler he needs to drink it - like, drink it NOW + drink it FAST otherwise we have to do this all over again! Samuel of course performed wonderfully and didn't even fuss about chugging his container of stuff right on schedule. It helped that Daddy + Trinity supported him by chugging a bit of it themselves :)

mmm...chemicals + sugar...lol

motivating by example, ha

still chugging away...

In between picking up the contrast (which is consumed at scheduled intervals over the next 2 hours) and waiting for his CT scans later in the morning, we headed upstairs to the clinic to get his port accessed and have lab work done. All went well there, too - thank God! Our nurse today was Sarah who is a childhood leukemia survivor, and she has been able to draw from her personal experiences in making the whole process as smooooooth + easy as possible - she's amazing! She has all kinds of little "tricks" to improve upon the procedure, and we love it. We've implemented the "Sarah Method" w/ all our nurses - who agree that it rocks!

yes, that is actually a look of anxiety - he was freaking out a little bit here :(

this is Daddy's "I'm ticked off" face because Samuel decided Dad wasn't allowed to help Nurse Eileen remove the bandage...Daddy wanted to document the moment :)

Trinity busy at work on the play table...

One of Trinity's FAVORITE toys - a magnetic dress up doll, loves this one :)

We met with Dr. Setty (who is about a month away from giving birth to her first baby! a boy! we're so excited for her!), and after verifying that Samuel's blood counts are good - rather exceptional on several fronts, actually - we headed back downstairs to Radiology for CT scans. After the scans, back upstairs so our favorite nurses in the hospital could take Samuel's IV out (we're verrrry protective about who gets to do this now whenever we have a choice!).

Ultimately, as we have known by faith, EVERY SINGLE test/scan/image came back to show that Samuel's blessed healthy body is 100% CANCER-FREE...to the Glory of GOD. We are beyond grateful for His Hand, His healing...wow. I know this was a long post, but I'm pretty much speechless when it comes right down to the GOODNESS of God and His loving careful attention of each + every single one of us. What a good Father we have watching over us! WOW! wow.......

THANK YOU, all of you, thank you thank you for your wonderful prayers + agreement with us knowing that Samuel's body is as healthy as his precious spirit + positive attitude. THANK YOU. His entire, long, prosperous, bountiful life will forever be a testimony to your love + support. xo