In October 2018, Mike had to take a blood test as part of a cardiology exam following a few stints he had received over the summer. His last blood test had been in August and everything had presented fine. A couple of months later his white blood cell count was problematic. He had a bone marrow biopsy and was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. He's been confined to his house ever since as his immune system is seriously compromised and he can not be around any germs. It was caught far earlier than typical because of this follow-up cardiology exam. Because of this time frame, the first course of action was outpatient chemotherapy delivered via seven days of shots. On a follow-up bone marrow biopsy, to see if this treatment was effective, a new crop of mutated white blood cells had emerged that were far more aggressive than the first ones, were duplicating rapidly, and were immune to the first treatment. He is now in Fairfax Hospital for the next month receiving a far more aggressive round of chemotherapy, and one that we are thankful for as it's just recently become available. He will be staying at Fairfax Hospital as 1) he has developed a fever and the best way to treat this is at the hospital 2) the current round of chemo will have a much stronger reaction and having fulltime care to assist whenever needed is best. Our mom&nbsp;is staying with him fulltime, Mike (Jr) is there daily and Liza is flying in about every 10 days. Our prayer is that this second treatment be effective and we will know this by the end of January. At that point, he will start looking for a bone marrow transplant as he continues this course of treatment. Our prayer is that his body remains strong and his attitude positive.&nbsp; We have all received an outpouring of love and requests for more information and a desire to help. THANK YOU so much! This is our request: please text and email but with the knowledge that we may not reply. Please don't be offended. That does not mean your messages are not being read and cherished, it simply means we're a bit overwhelmed. We ask that you look here for updates instead of texting/emailing/calling Kit, Mike, Mike Jr and Liza asking for updates. They all want your emails/text/voicemails of love and support, but updates will be coming on this page as often as we can and whenever there is new information.&nbsp; THANK YOU so much for understanding! For visitors for Mike: it's only immediate family to protect him from outside viruses. When this treatment works, and his bone marrow transplant is successful, believe me, Mike will want a party and we'll all celebrate then! So much love to everyone,&nbsp; Liza and Mike on behalf of Kit &amp; Mike

Mike Thompson

Update: My Story – by Liza Graves