Today was a little more eventful than we would have liked.

Our nurse took Jeremy’s temperature this morning and it went up to 38.7oC, meaning he definitely had a fever. About a half hour later she came back to take it one more time and it had dropped to 37.8. She informed the doctors that it went past 38, then came back down again. They decided to go ahead with the two additional antibiotics anyway since he was borderline all day yesterday. Also, it turns out that it’s just protocol to go with more antibiotics whenever there’s a new fever. So they took blood cultures, brought those antibiotics, and bumped up his fluids. We really don’t like the additional antibiotics because they are more taxing on his kidneys and it causes to use the potty more often, which is no fun for him.

About an hour or two later, his fever dropped back down to normal again. Regardless, the antibiotics will stay on until he is fever free for at least 48 hours. We are praying that he stays fever free and the blood cultures will not come back with any signs of yeast, fungal, or bacterial growth. If they do come back with something, they will have to start an anti-fungal medication. We’ve had more than enough medicine pumping through Jeremy’s system the last few weeks.

We also started noticing some tiny rash like bumps on other parts of his body. The doctor came to take a look and isn’t quite sure what could be causing it, so they (and we) will be keeping an eye on it.  They think it may be related to the fever (a viral rash).

Later, as they were doing his usual central line maintenance, they noticed that one of his lines wasn’t flushing as easily as the other. Turns out it was clotted, so they had to get another medication (TPA) to break up the clot. A clot causes problems because the line needs to remain open in order to administer medication and draw blood. The TPA had to sit in the line for about 2 hours before the clot finally dissolved, but it did and the line was open again.

His meals today were only ok. Breakfast was only half of what he’s had in the last few days, lunch was alright, and dinner alright.

Still, there are praises. Praise God that his fever went down even before the antibiotics started. Praise God that the clot dissolved without much issue. Praise God that the platelet transfusion from yesterday took and Jeremy’s platelet count went up – meaning his body is not rejecting them and he has not become sensitized to the transfusions. And Praise God that Jeremy remains a toddler full of playfulness and energy. He was jumping up and down on the bed again, played with his Elmo band toys, and drove around a bit in the little red car we borrowed from the hospital.

Jeremy was scrolling through some old pictures on the camera today. He said several times that he wants to go home. Even though it’s for a very short period of time (possibly a few days), we really can’t wait to go home with Jeremy.

And just a quick thank you to everyone reading these updates and praying through these prayer requests.  It really is because of the prayers of our fellow believers in Christ that Jeremy has been so resilient.  Thank you all for your love and support.

Please continue to pray (a few new ones in bold):

  • 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 God would provide full and complete healing and total health for Jeremy
  • that the regenerating bone marrow would produce only good white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets
  • that the bone marrow aspirate at the end of this first block of treatment would show no leukemia cells (that Jeremy would be in remission)
  • that we would not see any more fevers for the duration of Jeremy’s recovery
  • that God would manage the fevers we’ve encountered
  • that the additional antibiotics for the fevers would not cause any kidney damage
  • that Jeremy’s appetite would continue to improve so we can avoid giving him nutrients through the IV
  • that the rash under the dressing on his central line site would go away and that it is not a result of infection
  • that God would continue to give Jeremy an extra portion of His strength, so Jeremy would continue being his playful, energetic self.
  • for safety for Jeremy, since he is so playful in such a confined place with such low platelet counts
  • please click here for more prayer requests