Praise and Prayer
Praise God for a great day. We took Jeremy to the Academy of Sciences and the playground. He seemed a bit unsure of these places, as he was very quiet and more observing than interacting, but he got to see some familiar faces and had a good time romping around like he used to. Well, almost like he used to – we had to keep a closer eye on him to prevent any injuries and he seemed less confident than before.
We were also able to get together with many of you who subscribe to this blog to praise God and to pray tonight. It is such a blessing to be able to see you and share with you in person how much your prayers and support mean to us. We continue to be amazed by how God unites the fellowship of Christ.
Photo courtesy of Josh Ong
We didn’t go into it too much, but the tears tonight were for several reasons. It breaks our heart to see our precious son endure so much at such a young age – from the needle pokes to the side effects of chemo. Yet we know that he is in God’s perfect and capable hands and there are no better hands to carry him through this. Being up there and looking out at you all, knowing that you are journeying with us, shedding tears with us, praying for Jeremy – we are overwhelmed by your kindness and dedicated support. We are truly blessed to have you in our lives. It was a very encouraging and uplifting time. Thank you all for continuing to read these updates and praying through the prayer requests.
In regards to what remains for us the rest of our time at home. Wednesday, August 8, will be a blood draw and central line dressing change. The blood draw will tell us what his counts are currently. Thursday, August 9 at 1:30pm, will be the bone marrow aspirate we’ve been praying will show no signs of leukemia, that Jeremy will be remission. In addition to this (I failed to mention this in a previous update), Jeremy will be getting a spinal tap to administer chemotherapy into his cerebral spinal fluid. It is being administered as preventative measure – the doctors will extract some fluid as well to check if any leukemia cells are present. Monday, August 13 at 10am, we will be getting the results of the bone marrow aspirate that will determine Jeremy’s risk category and will likely be readmitted into the hospital for the second phase of his treatment (Induction 2).
Praise God:
- for the praise and prayer night and the dedicated support of family and friends (you all)
- that Jeremy continues to have the high energy level of a toddler his age
- that Jeremy remains fever free and is eating fairly well
- that the maintenance we have to do on Jeremy’s central line has been going well
- that Jeremy didn’t scratch his dressing at all as he was falling asleep tonight
- that Jeremy got to enjoy going to his old stomping grounds for a bit and seeing his friends
- that baby brother is constantly reminding us that he’s doing well by kicking and moving about
Please continue to 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 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 on August 9th would show no leukemia cells (that Jeremy would be in remission)
- that the bone marrow aspirate on August 9th would be performed without incident and there would be allergic reaction to any of the sedatives used
- that we would be diligent in Jeremy’s line care
- that we would not see any more fevers for the duration of Jeremy’s recovery, especially since we are at home and would like to avoid going back to the hospital
- that the additional antibiotics for the fevers would not cause any kidney damage
- that the rash under the dressing on his central line site would heal quickly and we would not need to give him any more Benadryl
- that the brief exposure of the central line site when Jeremy scratched it off in his sleep would not cause any infection
- that the irritation from the previous dressing would continue to subside
- that the current dressing would not cause any allergic reaction
- that God would continue to give Jeremy an extra portion of His strength, so Jeremy would continue being his playful, energetic self.
- for safety and protection for Jeremy, since we are now at home without immediate access to medical assistance
- for wisdom for us in being careful about where we can take him to prevent any of us from getting sick
- that we would continue to be in good health so we can care for Jeremy during the subsequent blocks of treatment
One Response to Praise and Prayer
I would like to give a shoutout first and foremost to God for His goodness and faithfulness to His children and orchestrating the whole event, to Pastor Jonathan opening up the Alliance facility for us to gather in and for his servant’s heart, Joe for unhesitatingly and willingly sharing his blessed talent and using it for God’s glory, and last but not least to our honorary guests: Anthony, Alice, Jeremy and their parents for just simply coming out. We all can attest to the importance of how much we needed to see you in person, to see our trooper, Jeremy, after so many weeks.
To all those that were able to attend the praise/prayer night yesterday, thank you again for making it out. I was praying for a packed house and it was! I trust it was encouraging for you to see that your prayers were not said in waste and that it only further encouraged you to continue praying for this family.
I know many of you were unable to attend due to physical location, illnesses (thank you for putting Jeremy’s health as a priority), prior appointments, etc. Thank you for praying for us while we met at that hour.