Thank you all for your faithful prayers. It is encouraging to know that Jeremy is covered in prayer.

Jeremy has been teetering on the line for fever all day.  A temperature of 38^o C is considered a fever. Jeremy’s been at around 37.something all day. He actually got to 38 at one point, but dropped back down again. We are praying that Jeremy continues to be fever free.

Eating today was ok. Breakfast and lunch were alright. Jeremy didn’t really eat much for dinner. The nurse took his weight today and he’s lost a little.

One of the other challenges of Jeremy being in the hospital is his sleeping.  It’s been really tough.  Jeremy, even before being in the hospital, has always been really good at keeping himself awake.  If given a choice between sleep and play, he’ll always choose play (which I’m sure is true of most toddlers).  In the hospital, though, sleep is crucial to his recovery.  We get frustrated in the evenings when trying to get him to sleep because it can take about 2 hours before he’ll actually fall asleep.  And, just as he’s falling asleep, a nurse will come in to take vitals or check up on things, waking him up and starting the sleep process all over again.  We try to reason with him, telling him that the longer he sleeps, the better he’ll get, but then we remember he’s 2 and reasoning can only go so far, if it goes anywhere at all.

I had an opportunity late last night to read up a little on the bone marrow transplant procedure.  Intense fear crept in as I was reading about side effects, complications, and outcome statistics and it made me anxious about what lies ahead for my beautiful boy.  Yet I am reminded that God is sovereign in all situations and Jeremy is in his perfect and capable hands.  I’m reminded of how God continues to protect, sustain, and strengthen Jeremy through these rounds of chemotherapy and it’s side effects.  I’ve heard it said that God won’t give you any more than you can handle.  I couldn’t find the source, but personally, this situation is certainly more, much more, than we can handle through our own strength.  Maybe the saying should be “God won’t give you any more than He can handle.”  I’m reminded of all the people in the bible who had far more than they could handle.  Moses who tried every which way to avoid being the one to lead God’s people out of Egypt.  David who was escaping persecution from his enemies.  Jeremiah who had to prophesy to an unrepentant nation.  Paul, imprisoned and persecuted for preaching the gospel.  We are in no way like these extraordinary people whose words and experiences continue to provide reassurance and guidance to all who follow Christ and seek God.  In all situations, the one commonality was to rely fully on God.  Our strength is no where near sufficient, but God’s is more than sufficient.  I found this reference to be helpful, while still trying to answer the “why” of Jeremy’s diagnosis and this situation.  Paul writes to the Corinthians about his missionary experience in Asia:

“We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself.  Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death.  But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. (2 Corinthians 1:8-9)”

Praise God (some reminders for myself):

• Jeremy is FLT3 negative
• Jeremy responded well to chemo and met clinical remission requirements (< 5% blasts in bone marrow)
• Jeremy continues to be in high spirits and brings us much joy
• Jeremy is eating
• Jeremy’s central line site is looking good
• we are surrounded by wonderful family and friends
• word continues to get out about the marrow registration drives
• Alice and I are in good health
• Little brother is doing well

Please 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 Jeremy’s bone marrow aspirate at the end of this block of treatment would show < 5% blasts (leukemia cells) in his bone marrow and negative MRD (minimum residual disease)
• 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 experience any more stomach pains
• 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, especially now that Jeremy is neutropenic
• that God would provide with the whole process of finding a bone marrow match, the risks of transplant, and the anxiety of it achieving long-term remission for Jeremy
• that word would continue to 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 God would continue protect Jeremy’s central line and there would be no infections as a result of it
• that Jeremy would sleep better at night
• that we would continue to be reminded of God’s greatness and provision and that we would not allow fear to creep in
• that Alice and I would not get sick in order to care for Jeremy
• that baby brother would be full term before deciding that he wants out
• for our neighbors who are also enduring trials of their own