Praise God, the last two days have been better days for Jeremy.  He is still complaining of belly pains, but he manages to play.  He’s also been very tired lately, probably a combination of the side effects from the chemo and all the meds.

Praise God, Jeremy’s liver numbers continue to look good.  The blood cultures done from the fever he spiked on day +10 came back negative yesterday and today.  He’s also been fever free for the last two days.  His central line looks good and hasn’t bled since that one time two days ago.

Jeremy got his last dose of methotrexate yesterday.  Methotrexate is a chemo intended to prevent gvhd, but it can also suppress the marrow.  Now that it’s done, we are praying that Jeremy’s counts will start to go up, without any risk of graft vs. host disease.

There was one nausea induced vomiting episode today, early in the morning.  We know he’s feeling a bit better when he attributes the episode to a very intense Hulk face.  He said that he threw up because “Jeremy do like that” as he made a less intense version of his Hulk face.  Jeremy also complained of belly pains throughout the day.  It caused him some discomfort, but he still managed to play through most of it.

Jeremy was CMV+ going into transplant and his donor was also CMV+.  Today, we learned that the CMV has activated, so Jeremy will need another medication to try and eliminate, or at the very least, control the virus.  CMV is a very common virus and in people with normal, functioning immune systems never poses a problem.  In Jeremy, though, it can invade his lungs and cause a viral pneumonia because he essentially has no immune system right now.  It can also cause issues in the eyes.  He got a chest x-ray today (and was very cooperative) and will be getting a visit from optometry tomorrow to check his pupils.  They will need to be dilated, which means eye drops for Jeremy.  Thankfully, hopefully, it will only need to be done once.

We did notice today that he sounded a little stuffed up.  We also saw a very slight runny nose.  This could be the CMV surfacing, but it’s unknown right now.  We’re praying that this virus would be eliminated soon and would not cause Jeremy any additional harm.

Matty’s two month check up was today.  He is growing well and hitting the milestones expected.  He’s a real trooper, too.  He had to get two shots on his thigh today for the usual vaccines and get looked over by our pediatrician.  When we got back, we had to wake him up from his nap to give him a bath, the equivalent of a two minute scrub rule for adults before entering Jeremy’s room.  For Matty, though, we had to bring him into the room and bathe him right away.  He was pretty grumpy from the whole thing but wasn’t overly fussy throughout the evening.

Thank the Lord for these two quiet days.  It was a nice break from all the eventfulness a few days ago.  God continues to amaze.  Despite the events of the previous days, the doctors told us today in rounds that Jeremy is looking really well, much better than they expect.  And we see it, too.  He was able to come down on the floor today to play, took a small spoon of food (after much, much convincing), and made Hulk faces.  Praise God for His mercy and thank you all for your faithful prayers.

Praise God:

• for His daily mercies
• Jeremy is fever free
• the blood cultures continue to be negative
• Jeremy was able to take a small spoon of food
• Jeremy had the energy to play today
• there hasn’t been additional bleeding from Jeremy’s central line site
• there was much less vomiting episodes today
• Matty is growing well and sleeping well

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
• that the CMV would be eliminated from his system, that the CMV would not infect Jeremy’s lungs or cause any issues with his eyes

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