Praise God for His daily mercies. Jeremy was fever free and ate well today. He also woke up this morning and told us, “My ear, it feels better!” When doctors looked at his left ear yesterday, they saw a lot of wax, so he was prescribed some ear drops yesterday to help clear it up. It sounds like it’s working. The nose swab they did last Friday came back negative for influenza and the rhinovirus (one of the causes of the common cold).

His behavior has gotten a bit better. He’s very cooperative if we keep him occupied. We were told today, though, that the change in his behavior could be a result of the pre-meds he gets with each chemo dose. With the busulfan, he is pre-medicated with a drug called Atavan in order to prevent a rare side effect (seizures) of the busulfan. The Atavan itself can the side effect of causing hyperactivity in young children. We were told to keep an eye on him to be sure he doesn’t get too agressive. If he does, they’ll switch the medication. The hyperactivity stops when the Atavan stops. He seems ok for the most part, so we’ll stay the course.

And a word of thanks to the anonymous donor who is stepping up to donate for Jeremy. Since Jeremy will be getting bone marrow (as opposed to peripherally collected stem cells), the donor will be required to undergo an outpatient procedure. He will be under general anesthesia, so will be unconscious, small incisions (no stitches required) will be made in his back, and syringes will be inserted to extract the marrow. It is a lot to ask to go through donation without knowing the recipient, but we are grateful that he has made the decision to donate. I’ll need to ask around and do some research in regards to contacting him, but we certainly hope to meet him one day to thank him in person.

And thank you all, who read this blog, who pray for Jeremy.  Please know that we read every comment here (and on Jeremy’s facebook page), every email, every text message, every voicemail, and every card.  Every gift is received with sincere and overwhelming gratitude.  We are daily reminded that we are on this journey with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, friends, family, friends of friends, friends of friends of friends.  Our sincerest apologies for not getting back to everyone right away.  We have an inbox of full of read, then marked “unread”, messages that we are chipping away at.  Thank you all for your continued prayers and encouragement.

For us, it continues to be a roller coaster of emotions. The upcoming transplant is both exciting and frightening at the same time. Still, our hope remains in the Lord and we continue to be reminded of His daily mercies. Everyday is a challenge and everyday we experience His goodness and faithfulness.

“Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever.” (Psalm 86:11-12)

Praise God:

• for Him, His faithfulness
• Jeremy is fever free
• Jeremy is eating well
• the results of the nose swab have been favorable
• Jeremy’s ear did not bother him today
• Alice and I remain in good health
• for the body of Christ who continues to lift Jeremy up in prayer

Please 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 Jeremy would clear the congestion/runny nose
• that nothing would grow out of the nose swab done last Friday
• that there would not be anything causing the runny nose that would be harmful to Jeremy during chemo or transplant
• that Alice and I would not get sick in order to care for our family
• that baby brother would nurse easily and sleep well
• that God would give us wisdom in teaching Jeremy in the hospital environment

Please pray for the conditioning chemo regimen:

• that it would be effective in destroying any lingering cancer cells
• that Jeremy would not encounter any mucousitis (mouth, GI tract sores) that would prevent him from eating or drinking
• that Jeremy would not encounter any fevers during the neutropenic period
• 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 and antibiotics
• that Jeremy’s behavior would be unaffected by the pre-medications he receives with each dose of chemo
• that Alice, Matthew, and myself would not be harmed by the chemo we might come in contact with when changing Jeremy’s diapers

Please pray for the bone marrow transplant:

• that the potential 9/10 donor would follow through with donation, so that a haplo transplant can be avoided and thus avoiding total body irradiation and a riskier transplant
• that the donor cells would engraft, that Jeremy’s body would not reject the transplant
• that Jeremy would not encounter any graft vs. host disease, acute or chronic, especially anything severe or fatal
• that God would protect Jeremy’s skin, kidneys, liver, stomach, and intestines from both the donor cells and the medications used to treat and prevent gvhd

Please pray for our family and neighbors:

• for our neighbors who are also enduring trials of their own, that they would find their comfort in Christ
• for our parents – that they would have rest and place their trust in Jesus and receive His comfort
• that we would be witnesses of God’s love and grace to our neighbors and the medical staff