Unexpected events today mean another delay in
chemotherapy. While it was great to
spend less than four hours at the hospital today, Cal needs to be getting
chemo! His blood counts are
still surprisingly low, too low for his body to handle any medicine. This raises a red flag & prompts the question: Has his cancer come back?
We beg for your prayers for Caleb to still be in
remission. In a perfect world, his
levels shoot up, & he gets chemo for the first time in a month next week. If his numbers aren't up next week, doctors
have scheduled an "emergency" bone marrow aspiration, to figure out
what's going on.
Please pray that we get to cancel that procedure next
week & move on with his medical road map.
Our hearts are heavy, but our faith is strong. As my mom (Caleb's "Mimie") always reminds us, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going". I'm ready more than ever to help Caleb beat this horrible thing called cancer.
Something else that really helps is a book called "Jesus is Calling". I find so much comfort in its words. I just opened it to a random page, and as always, found relief in the perfect counseling, based on Psalm 23 this time: "When anxiety attempts to wedge its way into your thoughts, remind yourself that I am your Shepherd. The bottom line is that I am taking care of you; therefore, you needn't be afraid of anything." I'm glad "Jesus Called" Today! I know He's taking care of Caleb.
On the upside today:
1. Caleb is happy he'll feel good without chemo side-effects another week.
2. Zachary is thrilled he gets another week of play with his little running buddy.
3. As we enter the month of December, Caleb must be feeling Christmas in the air. He finally got to finish his painting that Texas Children's will enter in the Houston Rodeo contest.
He told his nurse if he wins the $200 prize, he'll spend the money on his brother. Then as usual, after his "needle sticks", he got to pick out a special gift in this magical closet at the hospital. This time, he picked out a surprise for his brother and was much more excited about giving than getting. (This used to be a typical Kindergartner who didn't like to share his toys.) Now, that's the true spirit of Christmas. It feels good to find a smile among the tears.
Something else that really helps is a book called "Jesus is Calling". I find so much comfort in its words. I just opened it to a random page, and as always, found relief in the perfect counseling, based on Psalm 23 this time: "When anxiety attempts to wedge its way into your thoughts, remind yourself that I am your Shepherd. The bottom line is that I am taking care of you; therefore, you needn't be afraid of anything." I'm glad "Jesus Called" Today! I know He's taking care of Caleb.
On the upside today:
1. Caleb is happy he'll feel good without chemo side-effects another week.
2. Zachary is thrilled he gets another week of play with his little running buddy.
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| The artist, hard at work... |
I am sad and happy at the same time. I had Caleb in my heart and on my mind this morning. I know God has great things in store for him. I pray for his healing and for strength for you and your husband. - Francis
ReplyDeleteSending more prayers for Caleb to feel better and for you and your husband.
ReplyDeleteWe'll be praying for your son that everything goes well.
ReplyDeleteWe pray for the following and also ask our friends to pray the following for our son:
Prayer requests:
1) Continue to pray for increasing strength, courage, patience, comfort, understanding, and peace.
2) Continue to pray for Texas Children's Hospital, the Dr.'s, nurses, physical therapists, medical staffs, and support staffs. Continue to pray for God to give them more wisdom, more knowledge, and innovative ways for treatment. Pray that they make good decisions and apply the appropriate techniques and procedures.
3) Continue to pray for the team of Dr.'s, oncology nurses, and other support staffs to perform their procedures masterfully and skillfully to give them the best possible care.
4) Continue to pray that the chemo treatments go well and that there will be no adverse effects from the treatments.
This is such a powerful prayer. Thank you for your wisdom, & we will add this to our prayers.
DeleteIt's tough to pray for anyone to receive chemo, especially a child...however, we are praying for Caleb's levels to shoot up with rocket-speed so he can receive the treatments necessary to beat this! Stay strong! A world is with you and Gods grace will prevail!
ReplyDeleteWe are praying for Caleb and the entire Wilson/Cook family. We are praying for the doctors and medical professionals.
ReplyDeleteI am praying for strength, wisdom, and anything else that will help you all through this battle against cancer.
Caleb is so strong and I know his blood counts are going to surprise us all and shoot up super high soon!
So much love, Christy and family
Prayers continue for Caleb and all of your family. I know that God will answer them soon! Love to all of you, Linda
ReplyDeleteWe continue to pray for Caleb, your family and his doctors. We pray his counts go up and that cancer stays far away. I love his sweet giving heart. The Stibas
ReplyDeleteYour sweet boy will be in my prayers tonight XX
ReplyDeleteWhen our daughter was getting chemo we got worried when her counts didn't bounce back soon enough for her scheduled chemo. We told ourselves that "this" is the plan, this is what works, this is what you do to achieve those 90% cure rates...and any time you have to deviate from the plan it can't be as good. We worried that the longer she went without chemo the better chance that the cancer could sneak back in. But that's just not true. We quickly realized that it's not abnormal at all. It happens...a lot. And those delays are also built into those great cure rates.
ReplyDeleteThe dosages they give the kids in general are based on averages to begin with. Not all kids react the same way. Some kids need a little higher dose of chemo, others not as much as the average. I know it is much easier said than done (believe me we know!) but you have to just keep reminding yourself that the fact that his counts are low is evidence that the chemo is actually working and evidence that his body doesn't necessarily "Need" anymore chemo right now. Usually after 3 or 4 weeks or so of missing chemo they will do a bone marrow to see what's going on. The vast majority of the time it's nothing and they may adjust his dosage moving forward because his body doesn't need as much chemo.
We hope and pray that it works out this way for Cal too and will be thinking about you guys until we hear everything is ok. Again, easier said than done but try not to worry too much because it doesn't do any good. Just try and focus on and enjoy another week where he feels a little better and doesn't feel sick.
How sad is it that as a cancer parent you don't want your kid to have to go through the chemo but then when something like this happens you have to pray that they can fairly quickly begin giving him the chemo again? That's part of the mixed feelings and tug of war inside a cancer parent.
As always...anything that we can do to help, just let us know
The Duncan's
Your vast knowledge helps me breathe easier. Thank you & God bless you. xoxo
DeleteWill continue praying for Caleb and the Cook family. Encouraged by the Duncan's comment and pray this is the case with Caleb. Praying and waiting for God's hand of healing. The Teel Family
ReplyDelete