Welcome to our 100th post! I wish it was the news that Eli is no longer neutropenic and we’re going back to the Ronald, but unfortunately that isn’t the case. In fact, Eli’s counts haven’t budged. For the last several days his white blood counts have been bouncing between 0.0 and 0.1! So, here we sit bored in isolation until the counts rise. Some good news is that Eli is eating really well and drinking really well. Also, the meds have gotten the diarrhea under control, so we aren’t spending all day running to the toilet. I don’t know if I mentioned before, but the pain when urinating has finally resolved itself. One of the reasons they picked this kind of chemo for Round 7 was because it didn’t cause the bladder to bleed. They wanted to give him a break so it could heal and it seems to have done just that! So really, the news is pretty boring in that we have to wait for Eli to not be neutropenic anymore before we can get out of here.
The week of January 21st is when they are going to schedule his scans to see how much progress we made from Round 7 of chemo. Scans are always a bit nerve racking, but we are more and more thankful that we are getting them done HERE in NY when we hear horror stories of kids getting “clean bills of health” at other hospitals, only to discover at Sloan (where they have more sensitive equipment tuned to finding neuroblastoma) that they aren’t cancer free after all. It is so nice to feel like you are getting the most confident report of cancer activity in your kid.
If I’m being honest, I feel a bit drained right now and it’s not because of Eli’s situation at all. In fact, I feel like he is doing well right now and we thank God for that. However, in the last 24 hours, I have received several different pieces of bad news from other families and they could use your prayer. We met a little guy named Lincoln (Lincy) from Texas back in October when we were here for surgery. He was battling Rhabdomyosarcoma and was supposed to start his last round of chemo this month before being completely done. Unfortunately, he got a virus that his little body couldn’t beat and he passed away Saturday night a month or so after his first birthday. We get close to these families, so when one loses their long fought battle, it really affects a lot of us. Please pray for Lincoln’s parents, Jim and Carlina, as well as his older brother and sisters, Gracyn, Addy, and Hendrix.
Also on Saturday evening I found out that some friends from Atchison, Kansas were in a car accident Thursday night. Four siblings were driving back from visiting relatives in Texas and a semi lost two tires and one bounced over the median and landed on their car going down the Interstate. Their parents were following behind them in another vehicle. Luke (23) was driving and was killed instantly. Anna (20), Ethan (19), and Julia (16) are all being treated at a local hospital. Anna is in critical condition and was a bridesmaid in my brother’s wedding. This is a great Christian family and they undoubtedly could use your prayers as well.
I hate for this post to seem depressing. Thankfully we can say with confidence that Lincoln is in Heaven right now as one of God’s little children and Luke is also benefiting from the moment he made that commitment to follow Christ and is in His presence today. So while it is sad when loved ones are taken from their families, it is such an encouragement when you can know that they are enjoying being with their Creator. We are thankful for those that are faithful in praying for us and our friends. We are thankful that Eli is getting better. We are thankful that we can learn and grow from these trials and become better people because of it. We are thankful for the peace we can have in our hearts because we know God cares for us. We are thankful for you.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 – “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”