And Thanks be to you, O Lord......

Carter had his first outpatient checkup yesterday in 4 months. We went to Children's National Medical Center in Northern Virginia to see Carter's Oncologist, Dr. Horn. We were greeted with open arms and lots of smiles. The entire staff was so happy to see Carter in the clinic and out of the hospital. Dr. Lawlor (another oncologist that we saw at the hospital) even brought Carter a water balloon to throw at Dr. Horn and boy did he try. It was a laugh for us all. The staff sang Happy Birthday to him and gave him a movie for his birthday. They were simply amazing:) Dr. Horn was very happy to see Carter in the office. She was happy with his progress....so happy that she said he does not need to come back to the office for 2 weeks. YIIIPPPPEEEEE!! Yesterday was a very long day. We left the house at 7:45 am and did not get home until 6:45pm. Carter's treatments run over a 3 hour time period. At the beginning of the visit, his nurse, Kristin, could not get his PICC line to draw so they had to put TPA (AKA clot buster) in it and that has to sit for an hour. After that, it drew great- THANK THE LORD!! His blood counts were AWESOME! Dr. Horn has scheduled his MRI for September 1st at INOVA!!! Please start praying now for improvement or at least stability! Dr. Horn told us yesterday she did not expect any bad news because of how he looks clinically. That made my day!! Carter did great on the ride up (the first time he has been in a car since May 22nd)! The ride home was not so good- he was very tired and irritated. I must say, I was, too! It was a long day!!! On the way up, as we approached the Gallows Road exit he started crying. After some deliberation, we figured out that he knew this was the exit for the hospital (he is a smart boy) and thought we were going back. As we passed the hospital, his nurse Aisha and he waved as we passed and then he calmed. I am not sure how he will do when we go for the MRI. We will have to continually reassure him that WE ARE NOT STAYING!!!! When Carter arrived home, he was so happy- smiling and laughing:) Recently, he has been trying to mouth words to us (he has not learned to talk over the trache). This is a MAJOR improvement. It was witnessed 1st hand by his Aunt Melissa last night. He was mouthing "I want". I figured out that he wanted spaghettio. He is not really supposed to have any food by mouth yet but I did let him taste some and he was soo very happy. He is trying to learn to talk with something called a pass-a muir valve that gets placed over the trache. It is very hard to get used to. He gets better everyday with it. He was able to say "I" "Hi" and "No" last night!!!! We were over the moon:) Please continue to pray for our Carter-Man as this battle is continuous. We need all of the prayers we can get to get through this. We know that there is only one "Great Physician" and we pray that he places his healing hands on Carter and stops the devil within. Thank you to everyone again for your continued support!

Love to all,

Courtney