Most of the day after the ATG went alright.  Jeremy did have a rough evening, though.

Jeremy spiked a fever of 38.9 C (102 F) at around 8:00pm.  He was feeling really crummy starting at dinner time and didn’t have much of an appetite.  He sat on Alice most of the evening.  When it was time for Alice to nurse Matty, I decided that it was a good opportunity to give Jeremy his daily bath.  He didn’t want to leave the comfort of his mom, though, and started crying.  His crying intensified while I was giving him his bath and he ended up vomiting the little dinner (and probably some of lunch) that he ate.

He started feeling a bit better after he threw up, but was still not completely himself until later on in the evening.  He was also given some Tylenol to help with the symptoms.  We knew he started feeling himself again when he started singing the “Winnie the Pooh” song.

Because he spiked a fever, especially one that high, the standard of care here is to do blood cultures and start antibiotics.  Because his counts are still relatively high, they started him on a mild antibiotic that does not put additional stress on the kidneys or liver.

Praise God that the worst of the ATG was the fever today.  Thankfully, Jeremy did not experience chills or rashes or hives.  Today’s ATG dose was a test dose, about 20% of the normal dosing.  Tomorrow and the next few days up until day 0 will be the full dose.  The potential side effects will be the same flu like symptoms – fever, chills, body aches, rash, hives, high or low blood pressure, tiredness.

As of 12:45am, Jeremy’s temperature is 39.5 C (103.1 F) and continues to fluctuate.

We continue to daily lift our worries, fears, anxieties to the Lord.

Praise God:

  • Jeremy did not experience any chills, rash, or hives with the test dose of ATG

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 will come out of the nose swab that was done today
  • that God would protect Jeremy from any scrapes or bumps
  • that Alice and I would not get sick in order to care for our family
  • that Matty would nurse easily and sleep well
  • that Matty’s diaper rash would heal and not cause him too much discomfort
  • that God would give us wisdom in teaching Jeremy in the hospital environment
  • that we would extend Jeremy an extra portion of patience and grace as we try to care for him with the added hyperactivity
  • that we would adjust well to the new challenges of being in the BMT unit, with all it’s necessary rules and regulations

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 the new chemotherapies Jeremy will receive over the next  4 days will not cause any nausea or vomiting or any additional harm to his vital organs
  • that the new antibiotic will not cause any c-diff and that it would be effective in preventing any harmful infections
  • that the new medication, ATG, would not cause any more fevers, chills, body aches, rashes, hives, high or low blood pressure, tiredness, or loss of appetite for Jeremy
  • that Jeremy’s liver numbers would stabilize and the chemotherapies would not cause additional damage to his liver
  • that Jeremy would not need to be admitted to the PICU at any point during the chemo regimen or bone marrow transplant
  • 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