Quilt

When Luke was initially diagnosed with leukemia, I gave my friend Jonathan a call. He shared our trial with his folks. His folks upheld and continue to uphold Luke and our family in their prayers. They extended several acts of kindness to us over the last several months. A few weeks ago, we received this quilt from J's mom. She made the quilt with 22 squares, representing the 22 families in their prayer chain for Luke.

When people say you can't see God, I say, we see God everyday. Through His creations, and also, through His people.

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.

Luke enjoying the day

Nice day today...enjoying the weather...playing soccer outside, planting things, drawing pix with chaulk.

Here's Luke standing in front of the words his Appacha wrote some nine months ago. Luke has definitely learned quite a bit.

Sometimes I ask "how did you know that" and he replies "I know a lot of stuff".

Saturday, March 19th, 2011

On Wednesday, Luke's ANC was 360. Anything below 500 means he can't get his chemo and he must be kept at home. To him, no problem. He's not upset. Good spirits, good energy. Happy. To us...necessary reminders that we shouldn't get to comfortable. Most importantly, we should always remain prayerful.

It's interesting. As parents, professionals, intelligent folks, adults, independents, etc...so often, we lean on our own understanding, when the quickest, simplest, and most important thing to do is drop on our knees and pray... when things are bad OR good.

As we were driving home from the hospital, we were talking about ...hmm, maybe we could've fed him more stuff, or made him rest more, or maybe shouldn't have taken him there, etc, etc.... then, it led to... ok..let's give him more veggies, more protein, more rest, more naps, keep him at home, no visitors...and we need to be more prayerful... at that moment, I thought "God, thank you for the clarity". "Going to Him" should always be first on the list of possible solutions to any problem. "Going to Him" should always be first on our thank-you list also.

This is the day that the Lord has made. As we look in the mirror, or look at one another, or look at others, we should continually remember that the Lord made us all. He has a plan.

My bro told me that the literal translation of "seek and ye shall find" is more like "seek and continue to seek". We need to continue to seek Him. We are thankful that Luke is with us and that he is well. Let's all continue to uphold one another in prayer.

Lord help us, save us, and heal us. We thank the Lord.

Spinal Tap Tomorrow - March 2, 2011

It's been a while, but Luke is going back to the clinic for his routine spinal tap (lumbar puncture). Of course, we don't find it "routine". Every time we go to the clinic, it is a reminder of how much we need help and mercy from above. Tomorrow, he gets intrathecal methotrexate and iv vincristine.

This evening, Luke asked "why do we have to go the hospital all the time?". I explained that he's sick, even though he doesn't feel sick. I then thought to say, "something is the matter with your blood, and they give you medicines to make your blood better". "What's wrong with my blood?", he asked.

What's important to us is ensuring that, even though Luke may not understand this treatment business, he knows that what he is going through is not a reflection of him. In other words, we don't want him to think that this is a punishment of some kind.

The end of this week marks Luke's 9th month of chemo. It has been a heart-wrenching experience for us. God has gotten us through. We are thankful for that. We are also so thankful for the continued prayers and love of our family and friends and well-wishers. We have appreciated the prayers, the meals, the visits, the gifts, the care packages, the thoughts, the words, the "everything" that you offer to us that shows us the God's light flows through so many. This light helps to illuminate our world, especially during bleak times. We have hope. We pray for continued faith.

Please keep us, and especially Luke, in your prayers.

8 months

8 months ago today, Luke started chemo. He has 31 months to go. We cling to God and his goodness. We have a mix of emotions every day, but through it all, we are ok, especially Luke. Please continue to pray vigorously for our precious child. Our gift from God has had to endure so much, and we know that he will be reminded this for his whole life. We hope and pray, crying out to the Lord, that Luke is healed. We cry out to you, LORD, please remove the leukemia from Luke's body, and may it never return.

Father God, we PRAY!
Help us to FOCUS on YOU, and not our difficulty
Help us to RELY on YOU, and not our own strength and understanding
Help us to WAIT on YOU, and not act impulsively

Blood Counts are Good today

We're glad to see that Luke's blood counts continue to look good.  Also, our brave boy received more IV chemo today.  Still having a tough time with port access, but he hung in there!