Merry Christmas! Praise God for Jesus Christ, His son, in whom we have redemption, salvation, and eternal hope.

We had a nice surprise this morning.  The doctors came in and told us that we can go home! Praise the Lord!  We told Jeremy the good news.  When we told him we could go home on 12/24,  he had a huge grin on his face and got really excited, only to have it taken away from him at the last minute.  This time, maybe out of confusion or remembering his disappointment from the day before, his first reaction was to cry.  And unfortunately, it wasn’t a joyful cry.  After much consoling from Alice, he calmed down and it was actually happening, we were packing for real.

We also got a quick update on the tests run the other day.  Praise God, c-diff and rotorvirus came back negative.

The rest of the day flew by and I can’t really recall specifics.  Jeremy’s first steps into the house wasn’t so much running this time, more like reminiscing.  He went to a few different things in the house and smiling, asked us if we remember this or remember that.  It was pretty awesome.

He also saw the very thoughtful decorations our family put together while we were in the hospital so we’d have a taste of Christmas when we got home.  There were snowflakes, a blow-up Santa, a Charlie Brown Christmas tree, and a few presents waiting for Jeremy to open (which he did, very gladly).

Our new responsibilities caused some excitement tonight.  I had to give him his IV antiviral medication (ganciclovir – a med to fight the CMV), but I forgot to flush his line with saline first.  I called the doctors right away and they said it was fine, it wouldn’t reduce the effectiveness of the medication.  Still, I felt awful for making a mistake like that, especially if it could directly affect the health of my son.  Praise God that He provides for the times that I fail.

We go back to clinic tomorrow for a checkup, to get labs drawn, and possibly a GCSF (granulocyte colony-stimulating factor) shot. These shots bring his white count up and are necessary because the antiviral he’s one can surpress the marrow.  In the hospital, he was able to get this through his central line, but in clinic or at home, it’ll be a needle injection.  We talked our way out of doing it at home because I wasn’t comfortable with handling it.  He’s mad at me enough without me sticking a needle in his arm.

Praise God, it’s great to be home.  There are some challenges now, of course, but still, we are thankful.  Even as I write this update, I’m already surrounded by the mess Jeremy left behind before he went to bed – puzzle pieces, coloring books, and Lego pieces everywhere.  I know we’re probably supposed to teach him to pick up after himself, but man, I really love this mess.

Praise God:

• for knowing the desires of our heart
• for providing in all areas because we will always fall short
• Jeremy is fever free
• Jeremy is eating
• our boys are home
• Jeremy did need to be admitted to the PICU at any time during his stay in the bmt unit
• Jeremy did not encounter any c-diff as a result of antibiotics

• that God would continue to use this situation for His glory
• that we would be obedient to God’s plans for this situation
• that we would continue to cast our worries and fears on the Lord, that we would fix our eyes on Him
• that we would continue to be reminded of God’s greatness and provision, that we would wait on Him, and that we would not allow fear to creep in
• that we would rejoice in the moments that God gives us
• that God would provide full and complete healing and total health for Jeremy, that the bone marrow transplant would be Jeremy’s final cure
• that Jeremy would not develop any late effects from the chemotherapy and drugs used to treat him, especially any second cancers
• that Jeremy would not have any brain, liver, lung, kidney, pancreatic, heart, or any other type of organ damage as a result of the chemo and antibiotics
• that God would protect Jeremy from any scrapes or bumps as his new marrow is not producing enough platelets yet to avoid transfusions
• that Jeremy would not experience any spontaneous bleeding from his nose, central line, or anywhere else on his body
• that the CMV would be eliminated from his system, that the CMV would not infect Jeremy’s lungs or cause any issues with his eyes
• that Jeremy would not encounter infections for fevers while he is home
• that Alice and I would not get sick in order to care for our family
• that Matty would nurse easily and sleep well
• that Jeremy would maintain the desire to pray
• that God would give us the proper balance in caring for Jeremy and Matty

Please pray for the bone marrow transplant:

• that the donor cells would engraft, that Jeremy’s body would not reject the transplant
• that Jeremy would not encounter any graft vs. host disease, acute or chronic, especially anything severe or fatal
• that Jeremy would experience the maximum graft vs. leukemia effect, that cells produced by the new marrow would attack any cancerous cells
• that God would protect Jeremy’s skin, kidneys, liver, stomach, and intestines from both the donor cells and the medications used to treat and prevent gvhd
• that the mismatched blood type would not cause any issues for Jeremy

Please pray for our family and neighbors:

• for our neighbors in the bmt and oncology unit who are also enduring trials of their own, that they would find their comfort in Christ
• for our parents and families – that they would have rest and place their trust in Jesus and receive His comfort
• that we would be witnesses of God’s love and grace to our neighbors and the medical staff