Jeremy’s temperature spiked early this morning, around 4:30am, to 38.5 C. A team of three nurses and a doctor came in with IV fluid bags and two metal trays with blood lab materials. The group came in, turned on the lights, and gave us the reason for all the commotion. Because he hit a fever, they put him on triple antibiotics – vancomycin, tobramycin, and zosyn. The vanco and tobra are the more toxic ones and can be harder on his kidneys and liver. They have to draw blood more often to monitor the antibiotics to be sure that it’s at therapeutic levels, not too high and not too low. They also wanted to draw peripheral blood once, in addition to drawing from his central line. They do this to find out where the source of the infection is and to do blood cultures.

Drawing blood from the central line is usually quick and painless because it’s surgically attached to a large vein near his heart. If they draw from the central line in the middle of the night, it usually never wakes Jeremy up. The peripheral blood, though, is different. It requires a tourniquet and a needle poke. Jeremy was half asleep when they needed to do this and was happily laying on Alice. When they tied the tourniquet to his arm the first time to palpate a vein for the draw, they told him, “Just looking.” He nodded compliantly and stayed laying on Alice, eyes closed. When it was time for the draw, I had to whisper to him, “They’re going to have to do a small poke, ok, Jeremy?” He cried.

And suddenly we were all reliving what we thought was a distant memory, back to the early days of his diagnosis. In that first hospital, in the treatment room, a bright light shining over a hospital bed dimly lighting the rest of the room, the nurses poking him repeatedly, trying to find a “good” vein to use because all the “good” ones had already been used the previous night. Jeremy wrapped up in a large blanket to keep him from throwing his limbs everywhere, Alice and I holding him down, stroking his hair, tearfully telling him we’re so sorry, that it’ll be ok, that it’ll be over soon, which it never was. Jeremy writhing around in pain and discomfort, crying, pleading with us, “Stop please.”

But Jeremy surprised us all, reminding us of how God continues to give him strength. He did cry, and that did bring back a lot of memories. But there was no writhing, there was no holding him down. There was no pleading to stop. The nurse tied the tourniquet back on while he lay cooperatively on Alice. The nurse, a true pro, stuck him once and drew blood successfully. In a minute, it was all over. The nurses were amazed by how still Jeremy was, saying to one another, “He’s so good!” Praise God that it was a quick and easy draw. Because his platelets are low, the tourniquet ended up giving Jeremy little spots (petechiae) all over his arm.

He had some difficulty going back to sleep afterwards. The IV pole was all lit up, the pumps humming and clicking again.

My parents brought some lunch for him today. And, after hearing what he went through this morning, wanted to encourage him a bit.

Grandpa: “You’re a tough guy. You’re a soldier, right?”
Jeremy: “No, I’m not a solider.”
Grandma: “If you’re not a soldier, then what are you?”
Jeremy: “I’m a dinosaur! Rawr!”

The fever broke later in the morning. We’ll be waiting for a bit to see what the results of the blood cultures will be. Regardless, he will be on at least one antibiotic for the rest of our stay for this round. Praise God for an awesome ten days free of the IV pole. Praying that the blood cultures will come back negative and that Jeremy will remain fever free for the rest of this round.

Thankfully, the most of the rest of the day has been quiet. Jeremy was grumpier today, a result of the fever and a poor night’s rest. But he’s still a really good sport about everything.  Today was also bingo day and Jeremy got to play himself again.  He’s been eating and drinking ok.  With all the fluids he’s getting, he won’t always feel like drinking.

Alice’s contractions have been getting more frequent and more intense.  It may be a while before the next update.

Praise God:

• for Him, how He continues to sustain Jeremy
• Jeremy continues to eat and drink
• for a quiet 10 days free of the IV pole
• Jeremy hasn’t encountered another fever since early this morning
• Alice and I continue to be in good health
• baby brother is doing well and moving about

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 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 would not experience any discomfort when using the potty
• 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 the blood cultures from today’s fever will come back negative
• that Jeremy’s line would not be infected and that it would not need to be replaced
• that Jeremy would not encounter any more fevers for the duration of this round
• that God would protect Jeremy’s kidneys and livers as they process the antibiotics and residual chemotherapies
• 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