Hey everyone this is Karalee. On Friday Robert was readmitted into the hospital after his last batch of blood work had leukemia cells show up. We will be posting daily on his status at adventuresofrobdobandashpants.blogspot.com starting February 10th. So please continue to keep up with us there. Ashley and Robert are doing really well. We love you all and thank you for your support.

Sorry I haven't updated in a couple of weeks! We have been getting settled in and used to out routine. Robert is doing really well. His counts are continuing to come up and he is feeling better everyday, he looks better everyday as well!

He has still beeing getting nausea and had a little trouble eating, but it has gotten a lot better and he says things taste better all the time. He did get the CMV virus, which is a virus that 80% of people have, but it lies dormant because our immune systems keep it in check, but since Robert's immune system is low, it started making him really tired, sluggish, and he wasn't eating much. But, they caught the virus in his blood work and he is getting IV antibiotics twice everyday. Once at the Clinic at we do the other at home. He has been doing a lot better since!

He got a bone marrow biopsy last thursday, and we are still waiting on the results, so I will let you all know how that goes.

We have been going to the Clinic everyday, but yesterday was our first day off and it was very nice not to have to spend 3 hours there. They are also giving us this weekend off, well at least saturday. So that is good news. It means they feel Robert is coming along just fine and we are so grateful! We are truly blessed with how well he has done.

We miss Vegas and can't wait to come home! Robert's 100 day mark is August 2nd, so we are really looking forward to it! Thank you everyone for everything you have done for us and our families! We appreciate it so much!

All our love.

Robert got out of the hospital yesterday. Yes, it has been wonderful. We have both just been relaxing and unwinding. We still go to the UMC Cancer Clinic everyday to check his blood levels and make sure everything is going well. But he is doing great. They say everything is looking good. His only complaint is that he can't really taste food. But, the docs said that will come back in a week or two.

Just wanted to let you all know! Thank you for all the continued love and prayers!

All our love.

Good afternoon!

Robert is doing well today(he is sleeping as we speak). His WBC is up to 0.7 and his platelets are already up to 155.0, which is incredibly awesome. Usually platelets are the last blood cells to come back after chemo, but they are doing great. We are hoping Robert's white count takes a big jump any day here. The sooner the better, so we can get out of the hospital. We are both super ready, especially Robert. :)

Other than his white count coming up before we get to leave they also have to ween him from IV to pill form for his anti-rejection drugs. And he is still not eating a lot, so he will have to start eating more before they let us leave. But it still sounds like we'll be able to get out of here next week sometime.

All our love.

Sorry it has been a while. Robert is doing really well. His numbers started coming up for the first day on monday to .3, and today they were at .5, and they will keep coming up! His mouth and throat sores have gotten better since his white blood cells have started coming back, but its defininetly not back to normal yet. It is still hard for him to even drink anything. They have even given him nutrition intravenously to make sure he is getting all the things his body needs.

Robert had a fever for a couple of days, but it never got too high, and they said it is pretty typical when the body is engrafting. So in a way it was a great sign. But he hasn't had one for the last 24 hours.

So, right now we are just waiting for his numbers to come up high enough so we can get out of here. Hopefully by monday. That is our goal, and I definitely think it is doable. So everything from here should be on the up! We are excited. :)

Thank you everyone who helped out with the yard sale! We really apppreciate everyone being so willing to help us in any way. Thank you for they support and love.

All our love.

We are doing well. Roberts numbers are .1 one today for the first day, so YAY for that. His mouth sores have gotten worse, so it is hard to eat and drink, and I know it doesn't feel good. He is still sleeping a lot, and resting his body which is good, and we walk a everyday, which I think helps a lot. Other than that we just hang out, watch TV and play games. Hospital life is super exciting as you can tell ;).

Dr. Yeager said Robert's new bone marrow is working right now to build up a new system and we should see his number coming back up in about a week, give or take. So right now we are practicing our patience. But, soon enough we will be able to go to our apartment. Definitely something to look forward to!

FYI- Linda and her ward set up a big yard sale that is going on this saturday in the Las Vegas High School parking lot to raise money for Amanda's expenses for being Robert's donor. I'm not totally sure about the time but, I will find it out and let you all know. Everyone loves a yard sale! :) If anyone hsa any questions, just post them and I will answer!

Thank you for continuing with all of your support for Robert and myself. I know we both immensley appreciate it.

All our love.

Robert is doing well today. He is feeling good. His numbers are 0.8 today, do not as low as they will get. We are hoping that they will be 0.1 tomorrow. The sooner they go down the sooner they can come back up. It is amazing that he will have all new blood once his bone marrow graft takes. Very cool.

Robert has gotten a sore in his through today, they call it mucusitis, when the mucus glands in your mouth, throat and stomach break down a little from the chemo, and since his numbers are so low its hard for his body to repair it. But they haven't gotten too bad, and hopefully they won't. It all will go away once his numbers start to climb again. He is feeling good, he is still walking around a lot and sleeping a lot.

That is all the news I have for today. I'll keep the updates coming. Thank you for everything. :)

All our love.

The Donor and the Donee...


Well things are going really well. The last 3 days before this were pretty rough for Robert, the last kind of chemotherapy he received was not so nice for him. He was really nauseous and threw up quite a bit, but today he is feeling loads better and has been keeping all of his food down. So that is fantastic. He isn't quite neutropenic yet, but he most likely will be tomorrow.

Today was transplant day. Amanda went early to the hospital and they hooked her up to the machine that cycles and spins out her stem cells. She was on it for 4 hours, she is a champ. She never thought twice about doing this for Robert at all, she is amazing. And we are so grateful.

After Amanda was done today they had to make sure there were enough stem cells based on Robert's size. Luckily there were just the right amount. Robert received her stem cells around 5:00pm, it went really fast, it only took about 40 minutes and it was pretty much just like any other kind of transfusion, they just put it in his body more quickly. Our nurse told us most people think its kind of anticlimactic, which I could kind of understand, but which I am also grateful for. Robert did really well, he had no problems.

Robert's numbers are low now, and soon they will be even lower, so when they start giving him neupogen and they start building back up, the doctors are looking for the graft of Amanda's bone marrow to take and then his body will have all new bone marrow, and blood. It is pretty amazing. We are expecting that his numbers will start rising in about 10 days.

Well that is all I have for tonight, I hope I answered everyone's questions that they had. We are doing well and being continually blessed. Thank you to all of those who fasted with me on wednesday, I know it means the world to Robert. Thank you for the continual love and prayers!

All our love.

Happy Sunday everyone!

Things are continuing to go well here in Tucson. Robert is doing well. He is still sleeping a lot still. But, that is good, he needs a lot of rest. Plus I think it helps the time go by more quickly for him. He has 3 more days of chemo also, so that is nice that he will be done soon. Although he says the chemo isn't bad... its the after part, but we all know he is going to do great!

Robert is receiving Amanda's bone marrow on this coming thursday. I am fasting wednesday and I would like to put out an invitation for anyone else who would like to join me in this fast for everything to go well and smooth. I know Heavenly Father is blessing us so much and I know Robert would be grateful to anyone who would like to fast along with me.

Thank you everyone who has helped us, and prayed for us, and all the love. We are truly grateful to be blessed with such amazing family and friends.

All our love.

Hi everyone!

I know it has been a while, but we are in Tucson for Robert's Bone Marrow Transplant. We got here tuesday and checked in yesterday. They put a port-cath in Robert and started his chemotherapy last night. Everything is going really well so far.

Robert is getting 7 days of chemo, one day of rest, and then he will get Amanda's stem cells on the 9th day. And we should be out of the hospital within 3-4 weeks. We will be in Tucson for about 3 months. So we are feeling really good about everything and know that it will all go really well.

Amanda starts her neupogen shots on saturday, and then they will collect her stem cells on tuesday. It is not very invasive, she will have an IV in each arm where they will take her blood out of one, spin out the stem cells and return the rest of the blood back in to her through her other arm. They said it will take about 4 hours. We are so grateful that she was a match for him and that she is so willing to do this for Robert. It has been amazing.

I will keep everyone updated as things progress! Thank you for all the love, support, and all of your prayers.

All our love.