We learned today that there were a few markers that determined Jeremy’s risk classification.

  1. Genetic markers (FLT3)
  2. < 5% blasts after Induction 1
  3. MRD  of 0.1% or less

Jeremy passed 1 and 2, which technically put him in clinical remission.  We do praise God for this because it meant that Jeremy responded well to chemo.  MRD being at 0.5%, though, put him in the high-risk category.

It looks like a bone marrow transplant is definite. Because Jeremy was classified as high-risk after Induction 1, he will be high-risk throughout the rest of treatment. He will still have the additional phases of chemotherapy, but at the end of it, if there is a suitable match, he will need to have the bone marrow transplant.

Remaining treatment looks like this: Induction 2 –> Remission Assessment –> Intensification 1 –> Bone Marrow Transplant (if there is a match).

If there is no match, Jeremy goes through Intensification 2. At this point, we know that the best thing for him is a bone marrow transplant. We are praying that a match will be found and that the matching donor will be willing to donate. It’s worth mentioning that we are also praying that baby brother will be a match because a sibling donor is even better. There is a 25% chance that baby brother will be a match. But on top of being a match, the cord blood has to have a certain volume of cells in order to be used as a transplant. We applied for a cord blood banking kit, which hopefully will be here within a week or two.

As for Jeremy, he’s had a rough few days. The higher dose medication requires him to receive medicated eyedrops to prevent conjunctivitis. He hates these eyedrops, we hate these eyedrops, the nurses hate these eyedrops, everyone hates these eyedrops. But it’s better than the alternative. He gets these drops every 6 hours, starting at 6am, for the larger part of his treatment (5 of 6 days). Today for his 12pm dose, I had to hold him down while he thrashed around. Everyone was crying. When it was all over, Jeremy saw Alice crying and gently stroked her face and told her it was ok. For his 6pm dose, I had to hold him down again while the nurses administered these eyedrops. This time he thrashed around, wailing and asked me to stop. It was heart wrenching – my son thinking I was intentionally trying to hurt him. When our nurse’s shift ended an hour later, she came in to say goodbye. Jeremy responded with, “Bye! Thank you for the eye dropping!” We thank God for how awesome this kid is – subjected to all this medication, discomfort and pain and still he thanks the nurses for helping.

Praise God that, despite the eyedrops, Jeremy continues to be in good spirits. There are times it’s obvious that he misses home, though. He’s still his inquisitive self, loving on his Momma, and making us laugh. He was watching one of his favorite movies today and Michael Jackson’s “Bad” was playing over the end credits. Jeremy heard it and just had to get up and start dancing. It was awesome.

His appetite lately has only been ok. We feel like he ate more during the last round. Eating during and after his chemo is of utmost importance, as it will help him to recover faster. It can be frustrating when he gets picky with his food and we can forget that he’s only 2 sometimes.

There are more details concerning the bone marrow transplant, but there’s a rather bulky folder of information that we need to digest before documenting.

Jeremy also starts the new medication tomorrow morning, around 5am – the mitoxantrone.  They will need to administer a medication to prevent/minimize heart damage, which is a side effect of the mitoxantrone.

Praise God:

  • that Jeremy has been fever free
  • that Jeremy remains in high spirits
  • that Jeremy has been eating
  • that we’ve been in good health in order to care for Jeremy
  • that Jeremy was able to achieve clinical remission
  • that Jeremy is CNS negative

Please continue to pray (new/updated items 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 God would sustain Jeremy through this block of treatment
  • that God would give Jeremy an extra portion of His strength for this block of treatment
  • that we would not encounter any side effects that would affect his appetite – nausea, vomiting, mouth sores and that Jeremy would have a good appetite throughout the entire block of treatment
  • that Jeremy would not encounter any life threatening side effects
  • 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
  • that God would protect Jeremy’s heart with the new medication (mitoxantrone)
  • that Jeremy would not encounter any fevers due to bacterial, fungal, or yeast infections
  • that a suitable bone marrow match would be found for Jeremy, that Jeremy’s little brother would be a match and that there would be a sufficient volume of cells to qualify for a good transplant
  • that Alice and I would not get sick in order to care for Jeremy