Three updates in one day is a record for us.

The response for registering to be bone marrow donors has been good so far.  It’s been a really stressful and emotional time and your support means more than we can put into words.  We are moved and greatly encouraged by the continued prayers, love and support from you all.

We’ve gotten some emails from folks who want to initiate a bone marrow registration drive themselves in their own communities.

YES! Please feel free to coordinate a bone marrow registration drive in your church, workplace, school, neighborhood, and community.

Even if you are not a match for Jeremy, you may be a match for someone else, especially if you are Asian American.  The Asian American population is underrepresented in the marrow donor program.  You can join the program in person by finding the nearest drive/center here: http://marrow.org/Join/Join_in_Person/Join_in_Person.aspx.  If you aren’t able to join in person, you can always register online and get sent a kit: http://marrow.org/Join/Join_Now/Join_Now.aspx.  If you would like to set up a drive yourself, this website may be a good place to start: http://www.aadp.org/hold-a-registration-drive/

As for how Jeremy has been doing today – he’s seen better days.  He had a really great breakfast this morning, but because of the new medication, ended up throwing up all of it.  Jeremy powered through it, though, and was back to playing within the hour.  Here’s a video of him dancing right after lunch. We realized that it was probably best for him to not move around too much after a meal and had to cut his dancing short. But he still had a good time with it.

We tried to take it easier today after the vomiting episode, so Jeremy had mostly liquid today to keep him hydrated.  He did have a few bites of solid food, but we didn’t want to push anything too hard so his stomach could have a little break.  He did drink about two bottles of PediaSure, which are essentially meal replacements.

He did really well on his eyedrops today.  Before the nurses came in, he already knew what was going to happen and told them “Don’t do like this” as he demonstrated the grip they use on his face to keep his head still.  They agreed not to if he could try to be very still because they don’t like to hurt him either.  He agreed and grit his teeth and toughed it out for his two daytime doses today.  I didn’t have to hold him down at all.  It was a challenge to lie him down, but once he was down, he kept himself completely still even though he was crying throughout.  What a trooper.  He’s doing so much more than we could ask of him at this age.

Praise God:

  • that the response for bone marrow donor registration has been good
  • that Jeremy recovered relatively quickly from the vomiting episode today
  • that Jeremy was able to drink the meal replacements
  • that Jeremy has been fever free
  • that Alice and I continue to be in good health
  • that Alice was finally able to transfer care to a cancer center and we should be able to deliver here during Jeremy’s treatment

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 word would get out about the need for a perfect bone marrow match and that one would be found for Jeremy
  • that Jeremy’s little brother would be a match and that there would be a sufficient volume of cells in the cord blood to qualify for a good transplant
  • that Alice and I would not get sick in order to care for Jeremy