Rest

There is not much to update you with this evening, except to say thank you again for all of your continued prayers. James has had no immediate allergic reactions to any of the drugs he has been given. He has been administered four different chemo drugs, one more specifically a steroid that also kills cancer cells. He has also had no side effects to speak of at this point. We realize it is early in his treatment, but we take every day as it comes and praise God for what small blessings we receive along the way. There are times when we do think he is experiencing pain, but it is managed through meds, and it is hard to say for certain exactly where it comes from since he is so young. The doctors are saying he is responding well. The blast cell numbers are dropping in his peripheral blood, so we can hope the same is happening in the marrow. He did receive another platelet transfusion last night, but it went well and his platelet counts were as high as they have been this afternoon. (higher is better for platelets, lower is obviously better for blast cells) But the main thing I am emphasizing in tonight's entry is.......

Please ask the Lord to give them all REST. Many of us can imagine what it is like trying to sleep on a small cot in the hospital, a reclining chair in the corner, or even an unfamiliar hospital crib. These are their accommodations. Add to that a central venous catheter, iv fluids, periodic vital sign checking, diaper changes every two hours due to chemo drugs and fluid for James and just plain being 7 and a half months pregnant for Joy, and being way too tall to sleep in a tiny chair or cot for Greg and you have a recipe for restlessness. So prayer is the key. God can do anything, even provide rest for this weary family in less than ideal sleeping arrangements.

Thank you also for all of your encouraging comments and for signing the guestbook on the other site, as well as the emails and messages sent to the hospital. These mean so very much to Joy and Greg. Keep up the good work....especially joining with us in prayer.