Prayer Request for December 22

This is Rebecca Merson. Pam and I spoke around midnight Tuesday evening. She will be posting to the blog again soon but in the meantime has asked me to send out a specific prayer request for Wednesday.

Most of you know that Gavin will have the bone marrow procedure at 9:00am Wednesday morning. Please pray that the procedure goes well, that Gavin isn't in too much pain post surgery and that the transplant to Grayson will be successful. Grayson won't receive the marrow until later in the afternoon and when he does it won't be surgical but rather via his IV pole. So truly, it will be a tougher day for Gavin than Grayson, so please cover both boys in your prayers! Pam will be able to be with Gavin all day which will be a great blessing as he will need her for comfort as he recovers from what could be a painful surgery.

Tom and Pam had a consent meeting Tuesday where doctors basically explained that the bone marrow transplant will only be successful if most of the JMML cancer cells were eradicated from Grayson's marrow during the 20 or so doses of chemo he has received thus far. These doses have been extremely potent in hopes that most (and prayerfully ALL) cancer cells have been destroyed. The concern is that JMML is so rare and its cells so aggressive that often it is resistant to chemo. Please be in prayer that the high doses of chemo already administered to Grayson have wiped out the infected marrow and that Gavin's transplanted marrow will replace in Grayson what needs to be replaced. A lower dose of chemo (called pulses, I believe) will continue after the transplant to continue to destroy the JMML cells and allow Gavin's transplanted cells to flourish as Grayson's new marrow. Pray that God would deliver a 100% replacement. If a certain percentage of Grayson's marrow is left over, the JMML cells are so strong that they could regrow and overtake the new, healthy marrow.

Wednesday is a big day for the Browns because it marks the start of a waiting game. It won't be known in full for 30, 60 or even more days if the marrow is successfully replaced. Pam said that usually after 2 years of re-testing it is unlikely that the leukemia would return in healthy marrow. Please Lord grow this new, healthy marrow in this sweet little boy!

Pam is resting in the hope that the chemo has done its job thus far and that the transplant will be successful. That trust and hope comes from the Lord. Her spirits were high and even though Grayson felt sick today from the chemo, he has done incredibly well tolerating everything thus far. Pam says that is testimony that the Lord is carrying her son in His arms.

Please lift all the details of Wednesday's procedure as well as the pending results of the transplant. Specifically pray that no leukemia would remain in Grayson's marrow and that Gavin's marrow will flourish in Grayson's body with no complications, and that Gavin is spared significant pain from the procedure. God is so good! Thank you for being prayer warriors...Pam will be in touch soon!