Praise God for two more quiet days.  Jeremy continues to eat well and be fever free.  Thank you all for your continued prayers.

Jeremy’s hemoglobin (blood) count dropped today and was low enough to be given a unit of blood.  He was hooked back up to the IV pole for about 6 hours for this.  I actually scowled at that IV pole when I saw it hooked back up.  For as long as we’ve all been in the hospital, Alice and I have never really gotten used to anything.  When we look at Jeremy, we see only our son, not a cancer patient, so anything done to him really bums us out.  Jeremy, though, is a good sport and takes it all in stride, holding out his tube again to assist the nurse setting up the transfusion.

Today was another dressing change (every Monday, this round).  I notice that all the nurses do things differently.  Some seem to be more careful about clean hands than others.  Today’s dressing change was slightly more worrisome than previous ones.  Praying that today’s dressing change will not lead to any infections.

Thankfully, the last two days have been uneventful.  It’s mostly been taking care of Jeremy – taking him to the bathroom, feeding him, keeping him hydrated, bathing him, trying to keep him entertained – normal, everyday, caring for a toddler things.  Praise God, he’s been eating and drinking really well.  Keeping him entertained is the challenging part.  Occasionally, we’ll get help from the child life services here.  Today, Jeremy had some story time in the morning and some water play in the early afternoon.  Yesterday, I looped some string to a hook on the ceiling and tied a Spider-Man action figure (we borrowed from the playroom) to it. Here’s a video of him playing. He is such a joy.

I’m noticing something with Alice and Jeremy sleeping together, too.  When I sleep with him, I’m generally ignored and he’ll fall asleep out of boredom.  There are even occasions when I fall asleep before him.  When he sleeps with Alice, though, he is more preoccupied with her and will take a little longer to fall asleep.  He also doesn’t want Alice to fall asleep before him.  If he sees Alice close her eyes, he’ll gently pat her on the face (they are usually nose to nose cuddling) and tell her, “Don’t close your eyes.  Don’t fall asleep.  Watch Jeremy sleep.”  He’ll even be partially asleep, then wake himself up to check that Alice hasn’t fallen asleep yet.  I asked him about this today.

Me: Jeremy, how come you don’t want Mommy to close her eyes when you sleep?
Jeremy: Because Jeremy close eyes, then Mommy not close eyes.
Me: But how come you don’t want Mommy to fall asleep?
Jeremy: Because I love him. I love Mommy.
Me: Oooh.  How come it’s ok for Daddy to fall asleep?

I received no response.  But, if I’m following his logic correctly, it’s because he doesn’t love me.  No matter.  I love him regardless.

Alice has been feeling stronger contractions, mostly at night.  There’s been a lot of anticipation around baby brother’s birth.  Everyone’s been asking how Alice is doing, making sure she’s staying hydrated, reassuring us that we’re in a great place to be pregnant.  The nurses are really looking forward to having a baby on the floor.  Jeremy’s oncologists and bone marrow transplant doctors are looking forward to the birth as well, for obvious reasons – they want baby brother to be a match.  We can only lift this up to the Lord and know that He will do as He has decreed.

“‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord.  ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.'” (Isaiah 55:8-9)

As for us, we do pray that God would provide a bone marrow transplant match for Jeremy with the birth of baby brother.  But mostly, we are thanking and praising God for blessing us with another child to care for and nurture.  We love being parents.

Praise God:

• for Him, His ways that are higher than our ways
• that Jeremy continues to eat and drink well
• that Jeremy is fever free
• that Jeremy has not experienced any stomach pain
• today’s blood transfusion went smoothly with no reactions
• Jeremy is energetic and playful
• baby brother is doing well
• Alice and I continue to be in good health

Please continue to pray:

• 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 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 the cord collection would be sterile and free of contaminants
• that Jeremy would not experience any more stomach pain
• that Jeremy will not encounter any life threatening side effects during this round of chemo
• 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 continue to protect Jeremy’s heart from the lasting effects of the medication (mitoxantrone) from the last round
• that God would protect Jeremy from any bacterial, yeast, fungal, or viral infections
• that Jeremy would not encounter any infections so that he can remain unhooked from the IV pole for the duration of this round
• 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 will receive during this block of treatment
• that God would continue to protect Jeremy’s central line and there would be no additional infections as a result of it
• that the recent dressing change would not cause any infections
• that Jeremy would sleep well during this round of treatment
• that Jeremy would continue to eat well during this round of treatment
• that Alice and I would not get sick in order to care for our family
• that God would protect Alice and baby brother from all the emotional stress
• for adjustment for all of us when we welcome baby brother into the family
• that baby brother’s birth would be free of complications and that it would be quick and easy
• that Alice would recover quickly from baby brother’s birth
• that baby brother would nurse easily and sleep well
• 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