"Celebrate - with caution!"

We did it! After nearly eight months of finger pokes, IVs, spinal taps, leg injections, nasty steroids and many drugs at home, Dane is done the intense phase of his leukemia treatment. We said "goodbye, farewell, au revoir, adios and wiedersehen" (can't forget the German) to Delayed Intensification on Monday night after Dane's last diluted pill. As I've written before, he has done remarkably well since his diagnosis in early January and we are very relieved his journey has been relatively "complication free". It is very hard to watch other families walk a more difficult road though and our thoughts are with his cancer clinic friends who are fighting to get their neutrophils back to normal.

Reaching this milestone is definitely cause for celebration, however we have to exercise caution as Dane's various blood counts are "in the tank" right now. As was to be expected after so many drugs the past several weeks, basically everything is low - white cells, neutrophils, platelets, and hemoglobin. His platelets were only 21 on Tuesday and given his doctor thought they might still be dropping, we have to go back to the Clinic for another blood test and possible transfusion. We can tell his platelets are low because he has tiny bruises on his legs and arms and the dark circles under his eyes are indicative his hemoglobin is not stellar either. So we just wait until tomorrow's appointment for the results and in the meantime, we are doing "low key" activities to pass the time. A trip to PL this weekend is not likely in the cards given he is at increased risk for an infection. If Dane were to run any kind of a temp we would have to high-tail it back to Wpg and the dreaded ER.

Thanks to our many supporters for their generous donations to our "Dragon Boating for Dane" fundraising for the Canadian Cancer Society. I set an original goal of $1000 and as of yesterday, our combined online and cheque donations were over $1100! We still have a couple of weeks until the race weekend and not that I'm competitive (yeah right - that is quite the understatement) but we are #3 on the fundraising list and climbing. Dirk and I are aiming to raise as much as we can to help find cures for all cancers, particularly childhood cancers like leukemia. Having spent the past eight months at Cancer Care Manitoba, we are overwhelmed by the doctors, nurses, child-life specialists and programs that are in place to help young children like our Dane-OH fight this battle. If you are interested in pledging our cause, please refer to the instructions I posted in the August 17 update.

As I sign off for today I reflect that it has truly been a team effort to reach this significant milestone. All the support, assistance and caring thoughts we have received from all over Manitoba, Canada and the US has helped keep the "wind in our sails", especially during the really hard times. Our heartfelt appreciation to everyone who has been by our sides as we travel "Dane's Journey".

Take care - Janie and Dirk