I took the kids to the zoo this morning. We rode the train, said hello to the elephants and then plopped down on a shaded lawn to eat a picnic lunch. As I watched Jonathan and Clara giggling and chasing each other in between bites of cheese, time just slowed down for me as I tried to soak in every detail of that perfect moment. We are blessed beyond measure. Jonathan could have had a very different outcome from his battle with cancer. Instead, I get to take two happy, healthy kids to enjoy the mild Colorado summer and watch them delight in each other's company. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
Make a Wish has been contacting us to get all the details for our Legoland trip. I believe they're still waiting on official clearance from Jonathan's doctors but we're all so excited about getting away on a dream vacation where every single detail is taken care of for us. The will even send a car to take us to the airport and pick us up! They sent Jonathan supplies to make a countdown chain so he can tear a loop off the chain every day and see how many days are left until we go. Jonathan is a walking miracle and reminder of God's unmerited blessing and favor in our lives!
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I said many prayers this week and this morning on our way to the hospital. Jonathan is acting like he feels terrific but there's still that unsettling whisper in the back of your head that says, "what if...." Jonathan did well during the abdominal ultrasound. They popped in his favorite movie during the heart echo. I watched the ultrasound screen, transfixed. The last time I saw his heart on a screen in such detail was when he was still growing inside my body. He's had other heart echos but I've been too busy holding his hands and keeping him calm to watch what the tech is seeing. Today I marveled at what a wonderful thing God has designed in our bodies. Jonathan even commented on how "busy" his heart looked. They did opt to do a needle draw for his labwork once we got to the oncology clinic but that went fairly well. He cried a lot but it was quickly forgotten when the nurse gave him a new toy car to make up for the experience. We saw two of our favorite doctors (a fellow and an attending) and they both said how great they thought Jonathan looked.
They didn't have the scan results while we were there but called me this afternoon. Everything looks perfect! His liver was very unhappy at his first ultrasound from the massive tumors crowding it and pushing on it. They examined every site in his abdomen (liver, kidneys, bladder) that were full of tumors in January and found no trace of any disease or new cancer growth. Praise God! The heart echo showed a perfectly healthy heart. Some of the chemos he was on can damage the heart, but they continue to see no evidence of that. All of his blood counts were in the normal range, including his white counts! That's a first since we began this cancer journey. So, we will go back a month from now for another check, but so far so good! Thank you for your continued prayers for us! We rejoice in God's provision and healing. To God be the glory! So yesterday I watched Jonathan and Clara playing "oncology ward". Jonathan was telling Clara to lay very still and he'd get a butterfly to put in her port to give her medicine because of bad cells that were making her belly big. He also told her he'd get a milkshake setup with the pump for her tubey. While its a bit painful to remember why Jonathan knows all those terms and concepts, its likewise amazing that its something that he plays and pretends with now. Its not a painful, traumatic memory for him. Its something that he's just accepted as part of his life and moved on. We shipped his feeding pump back to the home healthcare company today and Jonathan proudly told the UPS worker all about his pump and how he was all better and didn't need it anymore.
Jonathan has his next big checkup next Friday, June 17. Please pray that all of that goes smoothly. He's getting a heart echo and an abdominal ultrasound. He hasn't liked the "jelly" they use during both procedures. No biggie but he needs to hold still for them. The heart echo is making sure the chemo hasn't damaged his heart. The abdominal ultrasound is just checking all the lymph nodes that were swollen with tumors. He no longer has his port and I have a feeling they'll need more blood from him than they get from a finger poke so we're probably getting our first needle blood draw so pray for that as well. He's getting stronger and eating better so we don't really have any concerns at all about how he's doing. Something Jonathan has really been looking forward to is Legoland. About half-way through his treatment we showed him some pictures of legoland and promised him that we'd take him when he was "all better". Everyone has heard of Make a Wish foundation, but what we didn't realize until recently is that Jonathan qualifies for a "wish". A child doesn't have to be terminally ill to get a wish, they just have to have gone through a life threatening illness. Jonathan will be interviewed by a wish coordinator this weekend to tell them all about his "wish". He's super excited. It'll probably be several weeks before we hear any details about the trip. So hopefully we'll be headed to San Diego later this summer for a trip that will create tons of great memories to make up for lots of painful ones. Thank you again for all your prayers and support! We're so thankful for Jonathan's recovery. To God be the glory! |
AuthorOur family has been through non-Hodgkin's lymphoma with our 4 year old and throughout it all we felt God's presence. My life verse is Romans 8:28. "God works all things together for good..." Archives
February 2017
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