Normal is Awesome!

Jeremiah 32:15 (The Message)
"The God of Israel, says, 'Life is going to return to normal.'"

We got some amazing, normal news today!

We had our appointment at the cancer clinic to get the results of the tests from day 100. To refresh your memory, Tammy had a breathing test, a battery of blood tests, and a bone-marrow biopsy back on August 24, her 100th day, post-transplant. We were pretty confident that the results would be good, because she has felt so good this time around. While the progress hasn't had as many big jumps as the last time, there have been virtually no set-backs.

Three years ago, one of the most important numbers, the CD4D count, which measures the strength of her immune system, was at 136, where above 360 is normal. They were pleased with that result in 2009, because it was a sign of steady progress. Well, today the results showed that her CD4D was 397! That's normal! There were other counts that were in the normal range as well this time that weren't anywhere close in 2009. I could tell you what they all mean, but I'd have to make up a lot of stuff. Let's just say that she's normal in a lot of ways much earlier than we expected.

Never have we been so happy to say that Tammy is normal. I've known that she is extra-ordinary as long as I've known her. (And no one has ever accused me of being normal.) But we are thankful for these results. It solidifies what we believed was happening.

Many of her restrictions have been lifted, much sooner than they were in 2009. She still has to be careful of being around large crowds, and she's not allowed to go back to church just yet (that's a hug-fest waiting to happen). But she's rolling down the tracks toward normality.

Normal never looked so good! Thanks for your continued prayers.