Good evening everyone.

I wanted to share something with you all...

First of all, I want to say that I appreciate all the love and support that you all have shown towards Carter and Josh and I. We appreciate it more than you will ever know. Someday, maybe, we can help you all when you may need it.

I took Carter on Friday to get his counts checked. They are still about the same. Some of them have declined a little but for the most part, they are about the same. Praise God! It is funny, though. When I got home, I started putting his blood counts into an Excel spreadsheet. It is something I started doing from the day he was diagnosed. Dr. Wagner, Carter's BMT doctor, told us too, because we would be able to see the trend downwards until we have to go to transplant. He said it was pretty amazing. He was right, I think. I don't know if I would call it amazing but I would call it down right out scary!

In November of 2007, Carter was 13 months old and had just been diagnosed with FA. His platelet count was 222,000! Far from below normal. Then, in June of 2008, his platelet count was 117,000. Below normal but still pretty good. Now, June 2009, his platelets are 45,000! In less than 2 years, his counts have dropped from 222,000 to 45,000!

See, this is scary to me because this shows how much he has declined and how fast he has declined. This is however, about right for the type of FA he has. Carter has a more aggressive type. What this means, I am not sure. But, I do know that if Carter's counts continue to decline at the pace shown above, I don't think we will have much more than a year until transplant.

All I want is time. I want more time to try to give Carter that perfectly matched sibling that he needs for his transplant. I want more time to do things with him before transplant. I want more time for him to enjoy being a kid. I want more than anything, for transplant to never come. I want him to be healed! I have prayed for this every day since the day he was diagnosed. I know that it may not be in God's plan, but it never hurts to continue trying :)  That is what I tell Carter all the time....if he has trouble doing something, I tell him to keep trying and that is exactly what I am going to do. I will keep trying to get that sibling...I will keep praying for divine healing...I will keep spending every moment I can being Carter's mother and Josh's wife.

I am so proud to have Carter as my son and Josh as my husband. I know that God brought us together and gave us Carter for a reason, and I feel like the luckiest and most blessed woman in the world.

We are very excited to be going to the beach this weekend. We are going to Josh's family beach place. We are taking my nephew with us this time and I know that Carter will definitely enjoy that. (and we will too) We hope you all have a very safe and enjoyable 4th of July! We are leaving on Thursday and will be back on Sunday! I will try to post some pictures as soon as we return.

We love you all and thanks so much again for all the support and the prayers. Please, as often as you can, please pray for us all.

God Bless!
Crystal