Day +1,023

Making Progress! + ...the CAL'S GLOW WALK!

First and foremost - James has been doing GREAT since our last update and we are making more progress weaning his medications.  James had a good clinic visit today to the "poke doctor" (it may be obvious but he calls it that because they have to draw his blood with each visit to do labs).  

As of today James is officially off of Tacro... a really strong immunosuppressant that he has been on for 2... 2 1/2 years!  We were able to get him off steroids a few months ago, now Tacro.  Next is a CT scan of his lungs in October to see if we can start eliminating some of the medications he's been on to treat his lung disease.  We're hopeful the CT looks good and we can stop using that term (the last one looked better than expected, so we're optimistic).  Big day today - definitely going to celebrate tonight!  As always James did great at the doctor and said it was a "10 out of 10" when he got home... not sure I've ever heard a kid describe a doctor's visit that way, but love the positive spirit. 

We have the Cal's Angel's GLOW WALK tomorrow night... it's always inspirational to see how many people show up for a common cause with one goal in mind - helping other families and funding research so more kids don't have to deal with this in the future.  It's also tough to see the families that still show up despite their kids passing away and that they are still there trying to make a difference.  Rita and I are SO GRATEFUL for all the donations.. we are currently at $9,731  with 121 donors to Team James!  THANK YOU!  $10, $20, $50, $100 at a time... it adds up quickly and every dollar makes a difference (and don't forget to check with your employer to see if they will match your donation).  I know asking people for money can be hard, but if there's ever a time to be annoying it's now for this cause :-).  So thanks for putting up with my updates and posts online and most importantly thank you for supporting such an amazing cause.  And thanks again to Auntie Brooke for organizing and all you efforts!

To drive more activity and donations the local paper wrote an article on James a little over a week ago and it was published on his birthday.  We appreciated that others take the time to do things like this and are always more than willing to do anything and everything if it has a shot to help the cause/others.  

(Click the article to enlarge in a new window)

We have not discussed a potential blood drive this year, but my gut tells me we will do it again in early December so pencil it in.  Best part of that one is it's free... we just need your blood :-)

​A few photos below since our last update.  If you're willing and able to spread the word about the Cal's event there is still time to donate... click the photo below support TEAM JAMES and Cal's.

As alway - thanks for all the support!

Dan, Rita, James and Maeve

Cal's Angels Glow Walk
click the image below to donate