Praise God, the ultrasound results came back and blood is passing through Jeremy’s liver just fine, so for now there is no sign of VOD.  However, his liver is enlarged and the cause is still undetermined.  Jeremy will have another ultrasound sometime next week to monitor the size of his liver.  Thank you all for your continued, faithful prayers.

The doctor said that there’s not much else to do in regards to medication except wait and hope that his liver will heal and the swelling will come down on it’s own.  He is still complaining about belly pains, which can be a number of things.  He might still have a bit of mucousitis or nausea.  It could be the discomfort from his bloated belly.  We are praying and we are waiting, asking the Lord to bring Jeremy comfort and healing.

The doctors also took off the continuous pain meds, something we’re very glad has been stopped.  With his white cell count going up, his mucousitis should start to taper off and he should hopefully feel less pain related to it.  They’re also starting to taper off the IV nutrition, bringing down the continuous infusion from 24 hours to 20.

In regards to counts, Jeremy is doing great.  Every day for the last 7 days, he received platelet transfusions, which also added to the amount of fluids he’s been getting.  Today he didn’t need any transfusions, which is fantastic.  Platelets are the last cell line to recover and he will probably need a transfusion tomorrow, but being transfusion free today was really, really nice.  His ANC made a big jump today to 0.9, up from 0.38 the day before.  This is all good news in regards to engraftment and marrow recovery.  We continue to pray that GVHD would be not be an issue for Jeremy as the transplanted marrow starts to create these important cell lines.

Praise God, Jeremy also showed some interest in food tonight.  He fell asleep for a bit, then woke up and said he wanted something to eat.  We offered Cherrios and a juice box and he accepted.  We got misty eyed as he ate a single Cherrio, then took a sip of juice, then back to Cherrios, then back to juice.  He did this for about 10 individual pieces of Cherrios and we were ecstatic! It was great to see him eat again, even if it was in near complete darkness.

Jeremy’s liver and the VOD warning we got today were stark reminders of the situation that he’s facing.  We continue to lift our worries, anxieties, fears and concerns to the Lord as we enjoy His presence in the midst of these challenges.  Praise God for His love and mercy.

“Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the skies.
Your righteousness is like the highest mountains,
your justice like the great deep.
You, Lord, preserve both people and animals.
How priceless is your unfailing love, O God!
People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the abundance of your house;
you give them drink from your river of delights.
For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light we see light.” (Psalm 36: 5-9)

Praise God:

  • for His infinite love and mercy
  • Jeremy is fever free
  • blood is flowing properly through Jeremy’s liver
  • Jeremy’s counts continue to trend upward
  • Jeremy showed some interest in eating tonight

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 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
  • that Jeremy would not experience additional pain or tingling sensations in his hands
  • that Jeremy would not encounter VOD or any other liver disease
  • that the swelling in Jeremy’s liver would subside quickly
  • that Jeremy would pass the extra fluid and would not retain any more fluid

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