Just wanting to give you all the latest updates on Gord's cancer journey.  I apologize for taking this long to post. We tried not to think too much about cancer over the winter; however, that is so difficult to do when cancer seems to be everywhere & with how Gord's docs were presenting his relapse to us, I think I cried daily for at least 2 months straight; just ask my poor friends.  (This winter, we also had to move my mom out of our childhood home into an assisted living facility, clear the house & sell it.  Her dementia took a turn & she was not safe to live alone anymore.  Anyone who's done this with a parent knows the emotional, physical & stressful rollercoaster you ride, especially when your parent is begging you to return home.  She is finally settled & now does not call me 21 times a day;) Thank God for my brothers who did a lot of the heavy lifting, metaphorically & otherwise.  

Gord was admitted to Jewish hospital this past Monday.  He started with surgery to place a Hickman port. On Tuesday, he started aggressive chemo; his last chemo ended Friday night.  He's been getting a bit sick and groggy-headed from the medications he's on.  But of course, he's trying to be as positive as possible; it's Gord, you know:). By the end of this week, he should start losing his hair and getting more nauseated.  Please pray he can conquer this.  

The BIGGEST NEWS however, is that BOTH of Gord's brothers were exact matches for bone marrow transplant!!! This is a HUGE deal; this will help lessen the possibilities of Graft vs Host disease that many, who do not have exact matches, deal with.  Unfortunately, we've had close friends, who have passed, that had to deal with this.  

Doc decided to go with Andrew's cells, as he's local & the younger brother (sorry Steve;).  Andrew was put on meds to boost his cells; they wanted to collect at least 5 million, but Andrew decided to generously pump out 14+ million! So there's extra! They harvested on the 13th.   They ended up needing to freeze his cells because Gord was sick the week of the 13th & had to delay admission by a week. Since their blood types don't match, they actually harvested Andrew's stem cells (vs bone marrow).  So essentially it's a stem cell transplant. 

Gord will be getting the transplant tomorrow morning. He will be receiving Andrew's immune system.  So any immune problems, Gord had in the past, are gone.  Gord might come out of this drinking beer as a kick-ass golfer!

Gord will be in the hospital for about a month.  He's allowed visitors, but PLEASE, you cannot visit even if you have the littlest sniffle; it can't be "this is allergies" either.  Remember he's rebuilding his (Andrew's) immunities.  Please call or text Gord or me, to make sure he's available & not too sick.  (Jewish Hospital, 4777 E Galbraith Rd, Cincinnati, OH 45236.)  If you would like to send cards, we thought it'd be better to send them here to the house, as I will be going down to see him every day.  (3327 Paddock Lane, Mason, OH 45040).  Please include any funny story or memory.  A friend of mine just did that for me, & it helped fill me up & made me happy:) We all know Gord loves a good laugh! ALSO, we'd like to fill his walls with pictures/photos/inspirations.  You can either take them directly to the hospital or drop them off here/mail them.  

We cannot stress enough our thank you's to all of you that have helped us. We can't name names as there are too many and we wouldn't want to inadvertently miss someone.  We were so blessed with our friends who took over the holidays for us, to decorating the house, gifts for us, gift cards, the girls, food.  To all of Gord's & my coworkers who've supported us through this & to our unbeatable neighborhood who always has our backs in too many ways to say & to our families, who are always checking in on Gord & me. 

Please know that right now my communication has been erratic at best with texts, social media, phone calls etc.  I'm truly sorry; all I do is squirrel all over the place; you'd think I'd catch the damn thing by now.  

Peace & love to you all,

Gord, Lianne, Jordan, Payton & Morgan (& of course Kobi:)