Fevers, Day 3
Praise God! The fevers have subsided and Jeremy won’t need to be on any additional antibiotics. The doctors tell us that they wouldn’t be surprised if there are more fevers, but we have our faith and confidence in the Lord, that he will keep them at bay.
Praise God also that Jeremy’s appetite today was pretty good. He had a good amount to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It was encouraging to see him eat so well because we really don’t want to go down the route of IV nutrition.
Praise God also that Jeremy was able to get off the bed a few times today to play in his car and walk around the room with much less wobbliness than when he was at CPMC 3 weeks ago. He was climbing and jumping a bit, too. It was great to see him doing more physical activities. We have a ways to go before we get back to where he was before all this happened, but we are seeing progress and thankful to God for giving Jeremy an extra portion of His strength during this time.
Today also marked the 72 hours after the last dose of chemo in this first block of treatment. This means that Alice is able to sleep with Jeremy again. In the last few days, Jeremy has been telling Alice, “Don’t sleep on the couch, Momma.” He really missed sleeping with her for the 10 days that he was on chemo.
The rash under Jeremy’s dressing got worse today and it seems to be spreading outside his dressing. The doctors and nurses and everyone who’s looked at it aren’t concerned that it’s a result or source of infection, but they say they’ll keep an eye on it. It’s still a risk to expose the central line site during Jeremy’s neutropenic state because of the possibility of infection.
Jeremy’s been asking us to pray for him in the evenings before we go to bed. “Momma, pray for dressing.” Alice will pray, then he’ll say, “And for chest. And for itchy foot. And for ouchie mouth. And for butt-butt stings.” It’s heartwarming, adorable, and heartbreaking at the same time. It’s wonderful to know that our son wants prayer and knows that our heavenly Father hears them, but it hurts to know that he is physically so uncomfortable and in pain.
Alice and I are still on edge a bit, knowing that the bone marrow aspiration coming at the end of this block will determine Jeremy’s risk category and ultimately whether or not he can be cured. We ask to see his lab results everyday to look at the progress in his white blood cell, red blood cell, platelet, and neutrophil count. The white blood cell count is particularly nerve racking because the doctors told us in the past that it includes many types of white blood cells, including the cancerous (leukemia) cells. It always makes us nervous to see his white blood cell count go up because part of us wonders if the count consists of any cancerous cells. We have to give our worries and fears to God daily and we are praying hard that only good cells are being produced in the regenerating bone marrow.
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 God would provide full and complete healing and total health for Jeremy
- that the regenerating bone marrow would produce only good white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets
- 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 we would not see any more fevers for the duration of Jeremy’s recovery
- that Jeremy’s appetite would continue to 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
We also wanted to take a moment to continue expressing our thanks to all of you for reading these updates and praying through the prayer requests. It is absolutely because of prayer that Jeremy has been doing well so far. We also really appreciate all the comforting and encouraging emails, cards, and videos. Jeremy (and Alice and myself) would love to see videos of you if you have the time. And maybe we can even set up some time to video chat. Please email me if you would like to video chat. It’d be great to see everyone, if only over choppy internet video.
Thanks again, everyone.
3 Responses to Fevers, Day 3
Jeremy’s faith in prayer is encouraging because as we grow older we become more jaded and our tendency is to not trust our Heavenly Father. Jeremy’s faith makes this old man ashamed of his lack of faith in our Father. I’ll pray for Jeremy faithfully because Jeremy is my role model of the faith in prayer and answered prayer. God Bless Jeremy and bring a rapid end to this trial. Anthony and Alice, you too, have exhibited your faith that is a blessing to all who read this site. May the Lord keep you in His loving arms during these times.
Uncle Arnold, I couldn’t have phrased that better. Yes, Jeremy’s faith is convicting. As we get older, our first inclination is usually not to be on our knees.
Jeremy, you indeed are a role model to all of us.
Alice and Anthony, you are both in a reality where pain + being a child of God cross paths. Choosing to trust God as emotional beings that we are – isn’t anything we can do in our flesh. It is a testament of the Holy Spirit in you both that is doing this work. Continue to lift your arms to our heavenly Father!
Praise God for the fevers going down, for his appetite, and for his ability to communicate! I hope you were all able to get some rest over the weekend..
Love,