Another Battle...

Tanner has been given another battle to fight. He has been diagnosed with AML. Acute Myloid Leukemia. This all started on Sunday November 14, 2010. Tanner decided to go to Instacare. He hadn't felt well for about 10 days - 2 weeks. They ran some blood tests, a Mono test and a Chest X-ray. The results came back, the Chest X-ray and the Mono test both came back negative. But the blood work was not good. His blood counts were very low and the Instacare Dr's were afraid that his Cancer was back. Once they returned home Mom started making phone calls. She called Tanner's Cancer Dr's office. They told them to make plans to have an appointment with Dr Flushell and have a Bone Marrow Biopsy the following Day, Monday November 15, 2010. She and my Dad also called Vint and Guyann and Shawn and I to come over and give Tanner a blessing before heading down to Salt Lake. They also called their new bishopric and they came over as well. Tanner, Dad, Mom and Kaley all received blessings. Tanner was able to give Dad his blessing, this was a very touching moment to see Tanner use his Priesthood and give such a beautiful blessing. Shortly after everyone left and they had finished packing, Mom and Tanner left for Salt Lake, and of course like every other time it was yucky weather. They made it down safely and would have to wait until the next morning to meet with the Doctors and get some answers. The hardest part of that day was the unknown. He met with his Dr at 10:00am and had the Bone Marrow Biopsy at Noon. Later that afternoon they got the Preliminary results that pointed toward Leukemia. They would have a final diagnosis the next day. On Tuesday November 16, 2010, Dad, Kaley, Jaxon and I all went down to Salt Lake City to be with Mom and Tanner. This was the day the Dr's were going to sit down with us and make a game plan and answer any and all questions that we had. We met with them around 3pm that day, they did confirm that he has AML. This likely was caused by his first round of chemotherapy used to treat his Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. They also called this a secondary cancer. Every year they get around 175 new cancer diagnoses and of those only 1 - 2 are secondary cancers. The Plan: He will have to undergo more Chemo. Anywhere between 3-5 treatments, depending on how well he responds. With those treatments he will have to stay in the hospital for about 4 weeks at a time. He then can come home for 1 week and then he goes back again for another round and so on. After he finishes the Chemo they would then do a Bone Marrow transplant. The Dr told us that a sibling would be the best if it was a match. There is a 1 in 4 chance that it could be a match. Kaley and I went down a few hours later and had our blood drawn to see if we are a match for Tanner. We should know the results of this in about 2 weeks. If there is not a match then we will turn to the Blood bank and try to find a match there. They don't test Parents because they would only be a 50% match. Yesterday, Wednesday November 17, 2010 at 4pm Tanner had surgery to Place his port...(The first one we affectionately called Wilbur, we will have to find another creative name for this one) and also to do a Lumbar Puncture to test for Cancer in the spine, which I just got word that there is NO cancer in his spine! He is due to start his Chemotherapy today. This will be a very long road, but Tanner is Strong and he can do it! We love you Tanner!!!