The video below is from the Benton Middle School basketball banquet on March 29th, 2007 when Hamilton received the Best Ball-boy Award and Bennett received the Courage Award. Following that, Bennett says a few words about the award.
NOTE: Slower computers and dial-up internet users may experience choppy video.
Who remembers this game???
NOTE: Slower computers and dial-up internet users may experience choppy video.
Traffic was pretty busy today around the river. We arrived at SLCH at 8:15 a.m. The nurse had trouble accessing Bennett’s port to do a blood test to verify his blood counts. Sometimes the port gets a blood clot in it, she added some medicine into the port to clear the line. This delayed the transfusion by an hour. Also, things were moving slow today in the blood bank, it took another hour to just get the blood that they need to transfuse.  We were able to begin transfusion of 2 units of red blood cells around 10:30. His body accepted the blood, no side effects have occurred. We left the hospital around 3:00.
We go back to SLCH on Monday to get a blood test to check his counts again. We are waiting for his ANC to reach 750. Currently today it is at 168. His ANC has to be at 750 before we begin the next phase of chemo therapy which they want to begin on Tuesday.
Thank you for your uplifting prayers.
We received the results back from Bennett’s blood test today from Good Sam’s in Mt Vernon. His platelet count is good at 110. White blood cells is at 0.9 with ANC at 171. This is the lowest ANC he has had since he has been diagnosed. This is a crucial level and a significant chance of him getting an infection since he has very few white blood cells to fight off infection. His hemoglobin today was 7.9 which on Friday it was 6.8 but than received a RBC 1 unit transfusion so we thought it would be higher. The normal range for hemoglobin is 11-13. We will be going to SLCH in the morning leaving at 6:00 a.m. to receive 2 units of RBC because of his hemoglobin being low. The transfusion takes 2 hours per unit so after his blood test and seeing the doctor we are expected to be at the hospital for 6 hours or so.
He has to take it easy the rest of today and not get out because his ANC is so low plus his hemoglobin (carries oxygen) is low. I am checking his temperature periodically to make sure he doesn’t have a fever which is the first sign of infection.
“Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, Your faithfulness to the skies.” Psalm 35:5
May we find assurance today in the boundless love of the Lord.
Bennett was feeling better this morning. He went for a drive with his Gpa and Gma Page. This afternoon though he had severe pain in his stomach that wouldn’t go away until I gave him some more pain medicine. He slept for about 3 hours this afternoon. He felt pretty good tonight, ate a good dinner.
Hamilton had some pain today in his legs and I picked him up earlier from school. As you pray for Bennett, please pray for Hamilton. I think this is an extremely emotional time for him as well.
Bennett will go to Mt Vernon tomorrow to get lab results on his blood counts. I requested this so we are not waiting all the way until Friday when we go back to St Louis to find out what his counts are.
Thank you for your uplifting thoughts and prayers for our entire family.
“There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you, would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish…”
Philippians 1:6
Thank you God, for teaching us to remain, to endure,
and in the end to finish.
Bennett has been really tired and in some pain. His legs have really bothered him along with his back being sore. He complained of severe chest pain yesterday but today that is better.
He has hardly moved today. Just laying in bed and watching some TV. He doesn’t even feel like playing his xbox or other games.
He has been running a very mild temp at 99.2. I called the oncology doctor on call and she said that it’s Ok and to call if it stays at 100 during a period of one hour.
Please pray that he will feel better soon.
If you have tried to leave Bennett a text or voice mail message, he can’t get it. I washed and dried his phone last Thursday. I guess I thought it was dirty. Hopefully we’ll get it replaced in a week or so.
Wow! What a long day, we left at 6:15 a.m. and didn’t get back home until 6:30 p.m. We are thankful to be home though.
Bennett’s blood test showed that his platelets were low at 37. They must be at least 50 to undergo his surgery today. He had to receive a platelet transfusion before undergoing his tests. He did fine through the bone marrow test, spinal tap, and the injection of chemo into his spine. His biggest worry was when was lunch?! He couldn’t eat since 12:00 midnight Thursday so he was starved when all the tests were over. He was finally able to eat around 1:00.
His RBC (hemoglobin) count was also low at 6.9, this explains him losing his balance. Hemoglobin carries oxygen. He had to receive a transfusion of RBC as well which took about 2 hours.
His ANC is at 480. Anything less than 500 means a significant risk of developing a serious infection and not being able to fight off infection. He has 2 preventive medicines that he uses twice a day to keep mouth sores from coming. This is because he doesn’t have enough WBC to fight off infection in his body including his mouth.
The preliminary tests came back on the bone marrow and spinal test. Final results will be in next week. The preliminary results came back clean! Amen! No blasts. The first phase of chemo therapy has been a success! This means we can continue with the next phase of chemo therapy and he should not have to have radiation.
Thank you for all your prayers, God blessed us and heard our concerns. Please continue to pray for Bennett, that his body accepts the chemo treatments with very few side effects. The next phase seems to have a lot more chemo drugs and more frequent.
Bennett felt pretty good today. The only thing that troubled us both is that he lost his balance and fell three times. He had some severe pain in his wrist and hand too. We believe this is a side effect from the chemo. He is going to cheer on the Saluki’s tonight and watch the game with his buddy, Trey.
Go Saluki’s!
