And so begins the next chapter...

First off, for all you dads out there - Happy Father's Day. It's a big responsibility God has given us - to raise our little ones with love, patience, and grace. I'll never be able to fill my dad's shoes, but I thank God for the him and the lessons he has taught me throughout the past 31 years of my life. I pray that I can be half the man he is for my children. Here's a picture of my dad with little Levi.

I write this post from my laptop in a dimly lit hospital room while my little one sleeps in a crib a few feet from this couch. Seems like Levi's story isn't over...

For the past three or four weeks, Levi has been getting sick. He would be down for a few days, then be back to his normal self - running around the house and terrorizing his big sister. We (and our family doctor) attributed his little downturns to teething (he was getting six at one time), an ear infection, and something viral. But this last time he was sick it really wiped him out. He wasn't walking, and was losing his appetite. He only wanted to be held and snuggled (which is pretty unusual), and couldn't seem to shake his low-grade temp. We took him back into our doctor, who ordered some blood tests, and then suggested we bring him down to Riley Hospital to see our oncologist.

On Wednesday, Steph and her mom brought Levi down to get checked out. It was supposed to be a quick check to make sure everything was ok before we headed to Florida for vacation on Friday. The quick check however quickly turned into an overnight stay in the hospital to perform a bone marrow test in the morning. That then turned into a little longer stay so that they could run additional tests. Which, in turn, snowballed into an IV, chest x-ray, MRI, bone marrow biopsy, ultrasound, over 30 ml of blood in numerous draws, two TB skin tests (the first of which was botched), and a consult with the infectious disease doctor.

It has been quite the emotional rollercoaster over the past few days. Possible leads for the illusive cause of his sickness started with viral infections, anemia, iron deficiencies, milk allergies, pet-borne illnesses, and many more. Over the course of his tests, however, the leads have been reduced down to two; a bone infection or leukemia. Unfortunately, it sounds like the doctors are leaning towards the latter.

His bone marrow tests and blood tests had been coming back clean, so we weren't even thinking of leukemia as an option. But a chest x-ray performed to check for possible infections indicated a strange spot on his right arm. The MRI was performed to investigate this spot in more detail. It turns out that the spot is actually shading in his bone marrow, which is a sign of leukemia. There are a few other spots that they saw as well in his shoulder blade and ribs.

Levi goes in tomorrow at 3pm for a biopsy of that spot on his humerus. They are going to try to find exactly what that spot is, and if it is leukemia, try to find out exactly what kind so we can get a battle plan drawn up.

I'll be honest, this is not the post I originally wanted to make for Father's Day. But, this is the trial that we are facing, and we'll get through it. Philippians 4:6 says "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." We are trying not to be anxious about tomorrow's test. We know that God moves mountains - we have seen Him do it many times in our lives and the lives of some close friends this past year. So we are asking Him to deliver Levi once more from this and are trusting Him, because this is so out of our control.

Please pray for Levi and the doctors tomorrow. We are praying earnestly for a successful procedure and good results. Also, please keep Steph, Caylee, and me in your prayers as well. We were very much looking forward to vacation, but that has been abandoned. It's not that we are disappointed that we won't be going to Florida; Florida will be there next year. It's the extra strain of having to spend this time split apart that is really weighing heavy on us all. My little Caylee is very concerned about her bubby, and her being away from us and us being away from her is difficult. We are very thankful for our families, as they are stepping up big time to help us through this.

That's about all I can keep my eyes open for now... I will update you all tomorrow evening. We love you all, and thank you for your prayer and support. We'll beat this...