Most importantly, Happy New Year! We hope that 2019 will be filled with blessings, dreams fulfilled and healthy days. Today seemed like a good day to bring the new year in with the latest news. Many of you have been asking if you have missed an update, or if I have decided not to update the blog anymore. That has not been the case, although – for good reason – I have placed the blog on the back burner for over a month. 

Spending years in the dugout with Dave and keeping score for just about every team that he coached, I fell into a pattern that most ballplayers learn at a very young age – superstition. I wore the same Ked’s baseball shoes that witnessed hundreds of wins…and a few losses. I donned  baseball earrings and had my favorite sweatshirts that I always wore. I would bring enough bubble gum to make it through five innings. I never broke out the gum until the second inning. I’d have two bags of red licorice, which were also simultaneously opened with the gum. I used the same mechanical pencil for over 10 years, and I was quite superstitious when scorekeeping switched over to an iPad. I was afraid it might do something to the “wins” column.

So, when we hit a three-week roadblock in December, I didn’t want to dampen the holiday season with news of little progress. Dave had a poor appetite and found it physically difficult to eat. He was losing weight and ended up needing a biopsy to rule out GVHD (graft vs. host disease). Sometimes, the graft (the donor) doesn’t recognize the host (Dave) as being friendly. In fact, the graft sees one’s body as a “threat.” We knew that reaching Day 100 without any complications was an important milestone. I sure didn’t want to jinx reaching Day 100 by updating the blog and sharing the possibility of GVHD.

Just before Christmas, we received news that the biopsy was negative. Dave’s blood counts were on the rise, and we were given two weeks off from our next Karmanos appointment. I certainly didn’t want to jinx all of that good news since I never shared the roadblock. By December 21,  we had all three of our kids – and their families – home for Christmas. Things turned around and Dave felt like eating again. We had a wonderful holiday filled with special moments with our family.  

On January 1, a rash began to appear on his back and stomach. Now, it has spread to most of his body, sparing his lower legs and feet. Today the doctor confirmed that it is GVHD, and he prescribed a powerful steroid. It is not uncommon at this point, but we did hope to avoid GVHD altogether. This is just one more challenge to overcome. 

Clearly, we would not have avoided this bump in the road by updating the blog in December. However, superstition got the best of me. Day 100 is just around the corner, and I will bring you the latest update on that special day. We are anxious to put a “W” in the standings.