We’re still waiting for these fevers to subside.  We’re really hoping they won’t persist through the weekend.  But, praise God that despite the fevers, Jeremy’s pretty much been himself.  Aside from the occasional tiredness, he’s been doing puzzles, playing with his Toy Story toys, playing with the iPad, and talking up a storm.  The doctors also told us that the blood cultures they’ve taken so far haven’t shown any signs of fungal or yeast growth, so they are removing two of the three antibiotics (which are more hazardous) he was on for the last two days.  They also said his kidney functions look fine, so the antibiotics he’s on is flushing out of his system properly.

Jeremy’s appetite this morning for breakfast was pretty poor.  So the nurse and doctors suggested giving him some pain medication so he can eat.  They were also concerned about his weight and said that he needs to eat more high calorie, high protein foods in order to help him recover.  They’re not too worried about it right now, but if it becomes a serious concern, they may start him on IV nutrients.  There are side effects to this, though – the main one being liver damage.

Jeremy received some pain medication, but his breakfast still wasn’t that great.  For lunch, though, with the help of grandma, he did much better.  But as the pain medication wore off, he started feeling irritation in his mouth because of the mouth sores.  He was telling us that some foods starting tasting “spicy.”  He did this last night during dinner, too.  Still, he soldiered on and ate a good portion of  his lunch and dinner.

He also developed a rash near his central line site.  The doctors and nurses don’t think it’s a result of infection, though.  They think it’s more likely to be an allergic reaction to the tape on the dressing.  In either case, it doesn’t look very good, but he’s occasionally scratching at it.  They’re reluctant to change it right now because exposing the site could potentially put him at risk for infection.

At the time of this posting (~11:30pm pacific time), Jeremy is still running a fever.  If he stays feverish throughout the night, they will likely start an anti-fungal medication.

Another praise – Jeremy’s communication skills have really developed over the last three weeks.  He’s talking a lot and it’s been really helpful because he can tell us where his “ouchies” are and where he is uncomfortable.

Please pray (there are some repeats, but worth repeating):

• 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 God would provide full and complete healing and total health for Jeremy
• that the bone marrow aspirate at the end of this first block of treatment would show no leukemia cells (that Jeremy would be in remission)
• that God would continue to sustain Jeremy through the fevers and that it would not persist through the weekend
• that Jeremy’s appetite would improve so we can avoid giving him nutrients through the IV
• that the rash under the dressing on his central line site would go away and that it is not a result of infection
• please click here for more prayer requests