Well, we asking for millions of cells and...

Wow! What a day it has been! We have been asking you to pray for MILLIONS for cells, and....that is what we got!! 7.3 million to be exact- with 98% vitality!!! They were able to put cells in through the lumbar puncture and do an intravenous infusion as well. We are SO excited! We have noticed a few little changes so far such as, in recovery he was playing with his left hand- which he usually holds close to his body. We will be letting Zane rest over the next several hours so we can let the cells start doing their job! Zane has been acting so well and is actually lying in the floor playing with his cars right now. Please continue for Zane to have great results from this procedure and for safe travel home! We are ready to see Ezekiel!!!

It's almost time!!

We will be picked up from our hotel in about an hour to go to the XCell Center for the lumbar puncture. We are praying for huge results! How awesome would it be if, in recovery, he said something he had never said before. Or, if he sat up by himself for the first time! These would be extreme results but nothing is too big for our God! Everytime I think about the possibilities, I tear up! I am taking our video camara to video any changes we see in him during recovery. The procedure is scheduled to start at 10:45 am which is 3:45 am back home. It should last around 30 minutes. The doctor said they may decide to infuse some stem cells through his IV as well which is what we are hoping for! I pray that when we get there, they tell us they got more cells than they expected! I have also been praying for a good recovery and no reaction to any medication they have to give him. When it is all done, we will be bringing him back to the hotel room on bedrest. I'm sure McDonald's will be on the menu for his dinner! Jeff and I want to thank each and every one of you who have been supportive through this. Whether it be money, prayers, helping out with fundraisers, etc. All the glory goes to God! So, God, today when Zane gets his procedure done, let your will be done, help to improve the symptoms of his cerebral palsy, help the cells repair his brain and give him better speech, help him sit up on his own...all of this for YOUR glory! Love you guys and will update more when we get back.

Bone Marrow Extraction

Today we had the bone marrow extraction. Everything went really well and Zane did awesome with getting his IV put in. The Dr. told us that if they get enough stem cells, they will put some in through the lumbar puncture, and some in through the IV. Zane did so well through all of this! We won't know until Thursday how many cells were extracted. We have to be back at the center at 10:45 am (3:45 am back home) to have the lumbar puncture done. Please keep praying for minimal side effects from these procedures. Keep praying that they extracted MILLIONS of cells and that we will see great results quickly! We have met a few families from the US. Everyone has been exceptionally nice since we have been over here. Zane hasn't had anything to eat today so we are getting ready to head to McDonald's. We will post more as we know more. Thanks so much for the love and support you all of shown our family! 

Monday, September 27,2010

Today we had our inital consult with the anesthesiologist and met with a therapist. Everyone at the XCell Center was really nice! We even met a family from Southern Texas! I hope we get to see them again so we have someone to connect with. The anesthesiologist was very reassuring that side effects from the anesthesia are very uncommon. They will be using one of the same medicines that are commonly used in the United States. He assured us, though, that Zane will not be getting the "Michael Jackson dose." haha This morning we ventured over to the airport to see what kind of shops were there. We found a McDonald's and had breakfast there. I am sure we will be frequently that place now because Zane doesn't care much for the food over here. We also went into the supermarket and bough some lunch meat/gouda cheese- which is AMAZING!

Tomorrow we go in for the bone marrow collection. We have to be there at 1:00 pm (6:00 am back home) Please pray for no side effects from the anesthesa, no complications with the procedure, no pain afterwards and, most importantly, that they are able to collect MILLIONS of cells! The more cells they get, the better chance Zane has of making better progress.

Thursday our lumbar puncture is scheduled for 10:45 am (3:45 am back home) We will have more details about this tomorrow as we meet with our neurosurgeon tomorrow.

We  need LOTS of prayers right now for a successful procedure tomorrow. We know God is in control of this situation and are excited to see the results! Thanks again everyone for your support through all of this!

Sightseeing

We have had a fun filled 2 days! Yesterday we went to Old Town/Alstadt and had a blast! It was fun to walk around and see the old buildings and shops. Jeff and I both ate a doner but Zane opted for McDonald's! After we got back, we all took a big nap because we were so exhausted! We just ordered room service for dinner. This morning we got up and ate the breakfast buffet at our hotel. It was good, but I found it kind of odd that they eat lunch meat for breakfast. When we were done eating, we walked to the hotel to the supermarket and bought some cokes and juice. It will be nice to have coca cola in our room- even if there isn't any ice. After that, we went to the Aquazoo. This is an AMAZING place! We got LOTS  of awesome photos. We got to see the Rhine River. We then went back to Old Town to eat at Fuchschen Alt. This was a good place to get authentic German food and at a reasonable price! Jeff and I both had knuckle of pork with saurkraut and mashed potatoes. Zane had a breaded schnitzel but ended up eating our mashed potatoes. Jeff acutally tried the saurkraut but he didn't like it- it tastes much like what it does in the U.S. After this we went for another walk around Old Town. We ended up down by the Rhine River. We walked along the river until we came to the Rhine Tower. We went up in the Rhine Tower and took some awesome pictures of Dusseldorf. By this time, Zane was getting grumpy and we were pretty wore out so we headed back to our hotel. Now I am in the process of uploading some pictures! Tomorrow we go to meet with the anesthesiologist at 2:00 pm, (7 am back home) We are so excited to get this treatment done! We wanted to get the majority of our sightseeing out of the way so Zane can spend some time in the hotel recovering. We are missing Ezekiel, but we know he is being well taken care of! We love it over here, but also miss being home!

WE MADE IT!!!

We have arrived in Dusseldorf! We came straight to our hotel room after we got off the plane so we haven't been out doing much yet. So far we love it here. Our hotel room is SO nice! When we got off the plane, someone from the XCell Center was waiting to bring us to our hotel. (Which is right by the airport!) I wasn't expecting them to be there so that was a nice suprise. Zane is playing in the floor with his cars and Jeff is trying to find English channels on the TV. We have to report to the XCell Center on Monday at 2:00 pm for our anesthesia consult. The bone marrow aspiration is Tuesday and the lumbar puncture is Wednesdays. As soon as I have specific times I will post them. Germany is 7 hours ahead of the time back home. I'm hoping to get off here and catch a nap, so I will be updating as we can! Thanks for checking in!

Less than 12 hours away!

Hey guys!!

We are less than 12 hours from leaving for Germany! We are so thankful to everyone who has made this possible. We are especially thankful to Jeff's parents, Dean and Rhonda Colyer, and my parents, Sid and Sherry Gross, for taking such GREAT care of Ezekiel while we are gone. I am going to miss him SO much and I know he will miss his "buba!"

We are needing some VERY specific prayers right now. We need prayers for safe travel, for Ezekiel being able to cope with us being gone. Most of all, right now we are asking for prayers for MILLIONS of stem cells when they do the bone marrow aspiration on Tuesday. I will be updating as I know more details about what will be going on. I will be mainly updating through this blog and will post a link on facebook everytime I update. I am SOOOO excited yet SOOO nervous. Zane is in God's hands and I just know this is going to have a GREAT outcome :)

Less than 2 weeks away!

WOW! Time has flown by! We are leaving in less than 2 weeks! We have raised $26,795.45!! We are so thankful to everyone who has helped us provide this opportunity for Zane! I have started packing a little at a time and am amazed at how stressful that can be! I can't believe that in less than 2 weeks we will be in Germany! It seems like only yesterday that we decided to pursue this. I thought it would have taken a lot longer to raise our goal- when I told people what our goal was, they would always say, "That's a lot of money!" We truly believe that this is God's will for Zane and are praying for great results! Now, these are a few more specific prayers we are asking for: Safe travel and successful procedures (more specifically that they will harvest MILLIONS of stem cells on September 27- the more cells they can harvest, the better chances we have of this helping Zane) I hate the thought of leaving Ezekiel for a week, but I know he will be in great hands. Hopefully he will adjust to us being gone for a week and the grandparents will have a great week with him! Once again, we would like to thank EVERYONE for their support!!