Thursday, March 31, 2011

Luke has his monthly chemo scheduled today. Hopefully, his counts are good enough to continue medicines. Luke is such a precious little boy. Sometimes it seems unthinkable that a yound child (and a family) can endure such trials and challenges. This "new" routine is becoming "just a way of life" for Luke, and thank God, he is accepting of it. It's normal to him. Of course, on the days he has chemo, they must access his port. We pray that today will be an easier time for him. What he doesn't know is Daddy's got some surprise jungle animals to cheer him up :)

As we approach his 10th month of chemo, we reflect on how precious life is. Life is no longer about the usual things only. There's a fine-tuned attention and focus given to his care. Thankfully, Joyce and I make a good team. We stand each other up, and pick things up, when the other is too weak to do so. Our family is blessed in many ways. May the Lord continue to strengthen and deliver us. May the Lord continue to bless Luke with good health and freedom from illness. We pray and hope that Luke has many, many opprotunities to witness God's faithfulness and unfailing love.

ADDENDUM:
So, Luke's counts were "ok". His ANC was at 500, which is the lowest it can be to continue chemo, without interruption. They did go ahead and give the dose of vincristine iv today. His platelets and hemoglobin looked good. For some reason, his liver enzymes have been very high with the last 2 blood tests, so they will keep an eye on that. We need prayer. Prayer for improvement in blood production, protection from infection, preservation of liver and all other organs, and continued overall well-being. His monocytes were about 25% which means his marrow is producing cells (neutrophils), so that is promising. He is in great spirits, and prayers were answered for sure... he did very well with the accesssing of his port (had a strugglw with the de-accessing though).

Appacha and Ammachy from Chicago came into town for the weekend and came straight to the hospital to see Luke. Luke is have a grand time with them, and we're all happy to be together.