Hi Everyone,

I am sorry I have been a little lax in getting out the news lately. Tristan is now waiting for his bone marrow transplant which will be scheduled the second week of April. He has only had to go to clinic twice a week for the last three weeks to have his labs checked. After the chemo that he had for a solid seven days in March, it takes a lot out of him and they have to build his platelets and hemoglobin back up. He has been home from the hospital for at least three weeks and we are all loving it. He looks good, he feels good and he is good!!!! They say he is in remission because they have not seen any cancer cells with the naked eye under a microscope since his last test(s). We are sure that with all the positive thoughts, prayers, and love, filling the universe with Tristan since this began, how could there be any better outcome that him feeling so good right now.

Monday twelve of us went to the Piston's game with tickets that were donated by a family that wasn't going to be able to use them. So we were in their suite and enjoyed a game with Tristan and the Pistons.
Last week he was given tickets to Tayshawn Prince's suite, they went but he was ill and they left before the game even started. So this was a bonus getting suite tickets the way we did.

Cousin Alex, my youngest sister's daughter, will be in town on the 4th of April to see her cousin Tristan. It is Alex's birthday, April 5th and she asked to come to Michigan from Florida to see him. Alex will be celebrating her 16th birthday here in Michigan with her cousin. She has not been here for five or six years, so it should be a wonderful visit.

Tristan spent the night at his Grandparents house Saturday night. He woke up Saturday morning at 8:00 and wanted to know if he could get in the shower and get ready for his grandparents to pick him up. We have not seen him get so excited about something in a long time. It was very sweet.

Keep your loved ones close and hug them every chance you get!

Remember together we will "MAKE HIM BETTER"

Love,

Charlotte

These are Tracey's words from the Children's Hospital Care Pages. This is her update today.

March 05, 2008 at 12:22 AM EST
We are truly blessed this day...

Tristan had clinic yesterday and needed platelets again. We also met with Liz, the bone marrow coordinator. Liz informed us Tristan would need a x-ray of his lungs and an EKG. We were able to get both of these tests done yesterday after clinic. Although Tristan was not happy about the longer day at the hospital, I have to say he was very cooperative once he vented.

I am proud of his strength, courage and faith as he matures and fights for his future. May we all learn from his innocence and treasure everyday we have.

These tests are needed before the collection of his own stem cells. They will be frozen for back up just in case the donor cord does not graph. The collection will be sometime next week at Karmanos in Harper Hospital. Tristan already became buddies with a male nurse after they bonded with their sports talk. The nurse told Tristan that they have all the ESPN channels. The collection will take about 4 hours, so they say.
We have clinic again on Wednesday. Dr.Savasan the Bone marrow doc wants Tristan's blood work done again to see how soon it will be before he will be ready for the collection and when Tristan can stop the daily Neupogen injection I have to give him. You know I always wanted to be a nurse, but a little bit of schooling would have been nice first. Anthony laughs at my technique when I give the shot and says he never saw a nurse give a shot like I do. I asked him if he wanted to do it, but the tough guy chickened out.

Thank you God for our neighbors, Ron and Belinda, who whipped up dinner for us tonight. Tristan's school for donating the lap top. Matheson Heating for fixing our furnace at no charge. My old work buddies from Mac Valves for their fund raiser this past month. My job for their support and disability program offered to employees, Anthony's job for their understanding and generosity. We have been blessed with so many generous and caring people the list is endless. Of course, I can't forget the Doctors for their intelligence and wisdom, as they research and cure our son. God has blessed us and we no longer have to ask why our family was chosen for this journey. Thank you for taking the ride with us.

God Bless and may peace be with all the families we have met at Children's.

Together we will, "MAKE HIM BETTER"!!!!

The Saputos