Praise God, the stitches came out without any issues. Jeremy was crying throughout, but he pretty much sat still through the entire thing.   We brought in a few things to try and distract him, but his curiosity got the better of him and he just had to watch what was happening.  After it was over, he told us all about it.  “Uncle cut, use tweezers, spider out. Jeremy cry, wahh wahh.  Put bandon on my knee.  That’s it.  I stayed very still!” Uncle is the doctor.  He is still very protective of the site, telling us and everyone else to not touch it.

As an act of solidarity, Alice asked Jeremy to put a bandage on her.  Jeremy got a similar one on his leg.  He saw both and noted the differences.

Here’s Alice’s.

And here’s his.

Love our kid.

We’re expected to get the results of the echocardiogram sometime this week.  This round of chemotherapy, he was given mitoxantrone, which can affect the heart.  We’re praying that his beautiful little heart was not damaged by the last round of chemo.

We were also told a few things the other day regarding the bone marrow transplant (BMT).  The protocol for his particular type of leukemia calls for a BMT for the best chance of long-term survival and remission.

If a match is not found and the benefits outweigh the risks, the doctors will proceed with what is called a haplo-transplant.  They will use Alice or myself as donors and manipulate the stem cells collected to make it a “good” transplant.  More on what a “good” transplant means later.  A standard bone marrow transplant already carries it’s own risks, but a haplo-transplant carries even more risks.

Because we are expecting baby brother soon, there is also a 20% chance that his cord blood can be a match for Jeremy.  During the last round, we got in touch with a cord blood banking company and they offered to bank baby brother’s cord for free, praise God.  They expedited the process and we received the kit and are ready to collect the cord when baby brother is born.  The doctors here will do a cheek swab on baby and will HLA type to see if he will be a match.  We are praying that baby brother will be a match.

There is a lot that runs through our heads daily – how Jeremy’s body is holding up with the chemotherapy, what his remission status will be at the end of this round, whether a match will be found, whether or not the transplant will be successful, whether or not Jeremy will survive all of this.  In all honesty, we are fearful.  We daily need to remind ourselves to place our faith and trust in the Lord and we continue to lay everything before Him – our worries, our anxieties, everything that weighs heavy on our minds.  We know He will do what will glorify Him most and that peace will come from Him.

“Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all.  The Lord is near.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, through prayer and petition, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:4-7).”

Praise God:

  • Jeremy continues to be fever free, eat well, and be full of energy
  • that the cord blood kit was expedited and we got it sooner rather than later
  • that my work has been flexible and understanding in our current situation
  • that baby brother continues to grow and kick about
  • that Alice and I remain in good health in order to care for our children
  • that we can be present for every moment with our children

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 we would fix our eyes on Him
  • that we would continue to be reminded of God’s greatness and provision, that we would wait on Him, and that we would not allow fear to creep in
  • that we would rejoice in the moments that God gives us
  • 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 next week would show < 5% blasts (leukemia cells) in his bone marrow and negative MRD (minimum residual disease) and that the procedure would go smoothly
  • 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 everyone who needs to be involved in the cord blood collection would be diligent and the collection and processing would go smoothly
  • 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) and that the recent echocardiogram would come back with good results
  • that Jeremy would not encounter any more fevers due to bacterial, fungal, or yeast infections, especially in his neutropenic state
  • that there wouldn’t be any more line infections and that we wouldn’t need to replace it at any point during Jeremy’s treatments
  • that God would protect Jeremy’s kidneys and liver as they process the antibiotics coursing through his system
  • that fevers Jeremy does encounter would subside quickly
  • that God would relieve Jeremy of the traumatic stress of the skin biopsy procedure
  • that God would comfort Jeremy when the stitches on the skin biopsy site are taken out next week
  • that God would continue protect Jeremy’s central line and there would be no additional infections as a result of it
  • that Jeremy would sleep better at night
  • that Alice and I would not get sick in order to care for Jeremy
  • that God would protect Alice and baby brother from all the emotional stress
  • that baby brother would be full term before deciding that he wants out
  • for our neighbors who are also enduring trials of their own
  • for our parents – that they would have rest and place their trust in Jesus
  • that God would give us wisdom in teaching Jeremy in the hospital environment
  • that we would be witnesses of God’s love and grace to our neighbors and the medical staff