Praise God, Jeremy is still in clinical remission (< 5% blasts) and there are no signs of leukemia in his cerebral spinal fluid! Thank you for your prayers! No news yet on his MRD.  That will come in on Friday of this week, or Monday of next week.  Please continue to pray that his MRD will be negative.

We praise God for His continued provision for Jeremy.  Hearing that he is in clinical remission and nothing has spread to his cerebral spinal fluid reminded us of how all of this is with Him.  God is awesome and we know Jeremy is in His hands.

“Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom (Psalm 145:3).”

For Jeremy, today was a pretty routine day, which was great, since he hasn’t had a routine day for a long while.  Well, routine for the most part.  We still had to work in his meds, the flushing of his lines, and bathing him without getting his central line hardware wet.  Although, I suppose all that will be considered routine for a while.

Today was the first day Jeremy didn’t have to go to clinic since returning home.  He had a good sized breakfast, which he ate pretty much on his own, some playtime, lunch, a nap, some more playtime, dinner, more playtime, then finally bedtime.  We try to give him as much play as possible considering he’s been confined to a room for the last 33 days.  It’s still great to see him running around the house.  Although, admittedly, it can be frustrating when I have to chase him around the house to get him to eat his lunch or dinner.  Still, I’d take that over the hospital room any day.

Today was also the return of Batman.

I don’t think I’ve seen a happier Batman.  He donned the cape and cowl and I picked him up and flew him around the house.  Jeremy, Alice, myself, grandma, grandpa – we all loved every second of it.

Praise God:

• that Jeremy is in clinical remission
• that the leukemia has not spread to his cerebral spinal fluid
• that Jeremy was able to enjoy a routine day
• that the aspirate and spinal tap sites are not bothering him
• that the bone marrow drives have had good responses
• that Alice and I continue to be in good health
• that baby brother continues to get bigger every day

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 Jeremy’s bone marrow aspirate will show a negative MRD (minimum residual disease)
• 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 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 from the lasting effects of the new medication (mitoxantrone)
• that God would protect Jeremy from any bacterial, yeast, or fungal infections while he is home
• that Jeremy would not be irritated or itchy from the dressing change today
• 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 from the medications he received from this last block of treatment
• that God would relieve Jeremy of the traumatic stress of the skin biopsy procedure
• 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