Continued progress...

Hi everyone,

I hope you all had a great weekend. Ours was busy, but fun. I took Caylee down to Steph's parents' house on Thursday night, then came back up here and frantically packed for the weekend. On Friday, I rode the bike down to Indy, and after a minor spark plug issue and a stop at Kokomo Harley-Davidson, I made it down to the hospital to see Steph and Levi. And I was in for a surprise - Levi was WALKING on his own! Not just in the room, but up and down the hallways. He had taken a few steps for Steph on Thursday, but on Friday everything must have clicked for him again and he was all over the place. He knew he was being a big guy, and was pretty proud of himself as he cruised up and down the halls. He even made a stop in the toy room to play with another little patient. It was great to spend the night with him; he was in a very playful and happy mood, and enjoyed the attention Steph and I showered on him.


On Saturday, my mom came up to the hospital to watch Levi so that Steph and I could escape... We hopped on the bike and rode to Marion to join our chapter (and all the other Indiana chapters) at our CMA Indiana State Rally. We had an awesome ride, and the rally was incredible as usual. We met several new people and got to hang out with some great friends that we don't get to see very often. Everyone we talked to asked about Levi, and we loved filling them in on how well he was doing with his treatments. We enjoyed the much-needed fun, fellowship, and night away; it was hard to leave this morning after our church service.

Levi and his grandma were doing well when we got back to the hospital. I think Levi kept her busy, but I know mom loved her time with him. She perfected the intricate art of chasing a toddler with an IV pole; it sounds easy, but it doesn't take much for little legs to get tangled in the IV tubing! I rode back up here to Warsaw this afternoon, and Steph's parents met me here with Caylee. She was very happy to see me, and after a quiet dinner and a Tom & Jerry DVD, I think bedtime will be arriving shortly.

The doctors are pleased at Levi's progress, and we love having our little boy back. He will be finished with his second round of chemo early Tuesday morning; then it's back to the "lets watch his counts drop then wait for them to come back up" game. However, we are still riding high and praising God for Levi's test results from last week. I think we will be a little less apprehensive this recovery phase because we know he is responding to treatment. It will be harder to keep him in the room now that he's mobile, but we will take an energetic, cooped-up, stir-crazy toddler over a sick little boy who couldn't even lift his head up any day.

Thank you all for your continued love, support, prayer, and encouragement. For all of you CMA readers out there, it was great to see you all this weekend. We love you all.

Michael, Stephanie, Caylee, and little Levi