Jeremy vomited twice on day +9 and it continued through the night to day +10.  He woke up 4 times in the middle of the night, nauseated, coughing and vomiting, resulting in a very poor night of sleep.  He also spiked a fever of 38.9 C in between the bouts of throwing up.  Blood cultures were drawn early this morning and he was started on the antibiotics tobramycin and zosyn.

He threw up twice during the daytime hours today – once when he had just taken an oral medication and another time, just sitting on Alice.  There are precautions in place to minimize our exposure to any chemotherapy, so when Jeremy threw up on Alice, she had to shower as soon as possible to clean it off.  After that last episode, he was given some Benadryl to help with nausea. The Benadryl combined with a poor night’s sleep and exhaustion from throwing up culminated in a four and a half hour nap.

When Jeremy awoke, he was still pretty groggy.  He didn’t want to do much except sit on Alice.  Our nursing assistant for the day came in to do vitals around dinner time and we discovered that he had been bleeding out of his central line site! His biopatch was drenched in blood and some of it had leaked out of his dressing.  We called our nurse immediately and she, in turn, called the nurse practitioner.  They both agreed it was “weird” that he would be bleeding from his central line site.  It didn’t make sense to us, either.  That central line was put in place months ago and the only time it had bled the way it did was when Jeremy had just come out of the surgical procedure to have it placed.  His dressing was changed and praise God, we saw that the bleeding had stopped and it had clotted.  The line still flushed and drew back just fine and didn’t appear to have been pulled out.  The reason for the bleeding is still unknown.  At this time, everyone is assuming that it is a result of low platelets.

Following the dressing change, Jeremy started to show signs of feeling a bit better.  He was able to take his oral meds.  His energy level increased gradually throughout the evening and when bedtime came around,  he was chatting and playing a bit more.  The vomiting and fever seems to have subsided for now and he is in better spirits. He did mention that his tongue and belly was hurting more than once, though.

It was a rough two days.  Jeremy vomiting so frequently, crying about his belly hurting, passed out from exhaustion – it was hard to see.  This just wasn’t our Jeremy.  Doctors continue to tell us that this is all normal and expected, but it certainly doesn’t make it any easier while we watch our son cry from pain and discomfort.

Praise God:

  • for Him, for coming alongside us in Jesus Christ
  • Jeremy’s fever and vomiting subsided in the evening
  • Jeremy was able to catch up on some much needed rest
  • Jeremy was able to take his oral medications
  • the mucousitis has not reached his diaper area
  • Alice, Matty, and I continue to be in good health

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 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 God would give us wisdom in teaching Jeremy in the hospital environment
  • that Jeremy would maintain the desire to pray
  • that God would give us the proper balance in caring for Jeremy and Matty
  • 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 pain caused by the mucousitis would subside
  • that Jeremy’s spirits would improve, that he would have the desire to play
  • that Jeremy would regain his confidence in eating when he is able to
  • that Jeremy’s mucousitis would not worsen and would not reach his diaper area
  • that Jeremy would not have any more bloody noses
  • that Jeremy’s taste buds would recover quickly
  • 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 would not encounter any c-diff as a result of the antibiotics
  • that Jeremy’s liver numbers would continue to 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
  • that the chemotherapy Alice and I were exposed to in Jeremy’s vomit would not cause any harm
  • that Jeremy would not be nauseated and would not have any more vomiting episodes
  • that Jeremy’s central line would not be compromised and the bleeding we saw was not a result of anything harmful or dangerous
  • that nothing would grow out of the blood cultures and that Jeremy would not encounter any more fevers

Please pray for the bone marrow 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
  • that the mismatched blood type would not cause any issues for Jeremy
  • that Jeremy would not experience any severe or dangerous infections from the transplant
  • that the prophylactic antibiotics would be effective in treating the bacterium in the donor marrow

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