Praise God, things continue to be quiet and uneventful.

In regards to medication, not too much has changed since the last update.  The cyclosporine is still being tapered.  Jeremy started the oral medication, acyclovir, to prevent viral infections, including CMV. And, praise God, without the need for ganciclovir, Jeremy’s ANC improved last week and he was able to skip a gcsf injection! His ANC continued to improve this week and he was able to skip another gcsf injection today! Praise the Lord!

Jeremy’s been having a great time at home.  He was supposed to be in preschool this year, but with the isolation rules, we’ve decided to homeschool for a bit.  Alice is great at it and spends every evening putting things together for his lessons.  Jeremy loves every moment of school time and is really, really teachable.  He’s a quick learner and asks for more school time, even on the weekends.

Jeremy’s also been asking to go out.  He misses it and it’s evident in his prayers.  “Dear God, thank you for today, thank you for this day we got.  Pray for Disneyland, Target, friend’s house, and Lego store one day.  In Jesus name, Amen.”  “One day” is a phrase Jeremy’s been using often.  We talked to the doctors in the last visit about going out, but the isolation rules are still in effect.  No crowded, enclosed spaces and no contact with sick people or people who have been in contact with sick people.

We did have some concern over one of Jeremy’s cell counts.  His platelets have dropped over the last two weeks.  For some time it was holding at about 125, last week it went down to 111, and today it was at 73.  We brought this up with the medical staff and they said it’s not too unusual for there to be dips with the platelet count, but it does make them a tiny bit nervous.  For now, there’s nothing to do but watch the counts and see what his platelets will be with the next few lab draws.  We are praying hard that this is a temporary drop and will not mean anything harmful for Jeremy.

In all honesty, this platelet count brought with it some worry.  Why are his platelet counts dropping? What does it mean? We have been praying fervently that Jeremy would be cured of this awful disease and the fear of relapse weighs heavy on our hearts.  Yet we cannot ignore how God has responded to our cries of mercy since the very beginning of this trial.  Praise God for His goodness and faithfulness through all this.  He has provided for Jeremy in every possible way since his birth and our hope for Jeremy can only be in the Lord.

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” (1 Peter 1:3-9)

Praise God:

  • for His hope through Jesus Christ
  • His perfect provision and will for Jeremy
  • we are home
  • Jeremy is eating well and remains fever free
  • Jeremy continues to be CMV negative
  • Jeremy’s white blood cell, hemoglobin, and anc steady and trending well
  • Alice, Matty, and I continue to be in good health

Please pray:

  • 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
  • against relapse, 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 Jeremy would not encounter any form of GVHD, especially anything severe or fatal
  • that Jeremy would not experience any spontaneous bleeding from his nose, central line, or anywhere else on his body
  • that the CMV would not reactivate
  • that Jeremy would not encounter infections for fevers while he is home
  • that Jeremy’s counts would continue trending up more, especially his ANC, so that he will not need any more GCSF injections
  • for the slight skin issues we are seeing, that it would fade quickly and not lead to anything serious
  • for diligence in drawing blood from Jeremy’s central line – that they would be clean, easy, and complication free
  • for Jeremy’s mental and emotional healing from the traumas he’s endured during his treatment and whatever he will have to face in the future
  • 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
  • for our families, that they would find their hope, peace, and comfort in Christ
  • that we would be witnesses of God’s love and grace