5.2

Ladies and Gentlemen:

5.2! 5.2 is what Max's phosphorus was on Friday. This folks, is a NORMAL phosphorus. The doctors have been trying for oh about 4-5 months to get this particular level down. All I can say is SUCCESS! Between a couple of medication changes and a month of peritoneal dialysis we have SUCCESS! They rechecked it this morning and it went up to 7.9, but that is awesome considering we went the entire weekend without hemo. Needless to say, Dr. Ben and Dr. Dixon are VERY happy about his levels.

So, the plan for this evening is to go up 10mL's on his PD fluid. The increase is small, but this is a step in the right direction. We have to get his volume up so that we can get him off of his hemo. If all goes well, the overall plan is to go up by 10mL once a week. They will then do a saturation test in 2 weeks to see what his oxygen saturation levels are overnight while he is sleeping and on PD. This along with Tim and I watching how he is doing from a breathing standpoint will determine how he is doing with the volume increases. They will do this saturation test every 2weeks. I am definitely not expecting him to have any trouble with this 10mL increase.

Dr. Dixon feels that Max is doing great with the PD and is VERY happy with how everything is going. With that said, he feels that the transplant may be more of a long term goal, meaning waiting a couple of years rather than a year. We are good with that. Whatever it takes to make the transplant more of a success for Max.

Long term plan is that they continue to increase his PD fluid and slowly wean him off of his hemo. This months plan is to reassess him at the end of July and if all of his levels are good and he is tolerating his PD, they will drop his Wednesday hemo treatment. YAH!!! So at this point we are officially only going to the hospital 3 days a week.

We are definitely feeling some relief that the PD is working and that Max is tolerating it beautifully. He has been keeping his oxygen saturation anywhere from 93 in a deep sleep to 99 awake. We couldn't be happier at this point. I have been telling everyone that Max is doing better than he ever has. Of course I have to make sure that there is wood that I can knock on when I say that.

Sorry for the delay in this exciting news. It was a crazy weekend. Tim got called into work on Friday morning at 3am and we just saw him for the first time Sunday morning when he got up at 11:15am. He came home sometime very early Saturday morning, but Max and I were sleeping when he came and we were still sleeping when he left again. Max and I had a busy day on Saturday with our first big grill out at a friends river camp to celebrate my cousin college graduation. What a blast! It was extremely hot, but we got a fan and blew it right on Max, he fell asleep and woke up a ham bone. We were a little late getting home on PD, but it was worth it. We both needed it.

We are planning another big grill out with our friends Rick and Allie's family at her dad's farm for Fourth of July. Can't wait for the hay ride and firework display! Max's first Fourth at home!

Enjoy your holiday weekend everyone!!!

PS: Tim just got off of the phone with my cousin Chris (Tessa's daddy). They had there appointment with Dr. Sheldon today and they are just going to keep an eye on Tessa's bladder. They are going to do monthly ultrasounds to see how things are progressing. Thank you for all of you prayers. I am sure that Chris and Jessica greatly appreciate them as well.