Bennett went to school today. We decided to not get the blood test this morning from our local hospital. We figured that his Dr. tomorrow will want to do blood work anyway. This way he could go to first hour P.E. since he has missed so much of it in the last 2 weeks. He said they played dodge-ball, one of his favorite.

He took about 2 hour nap after school. He didn’t take a nap all weekend, it must of been the weather today.

His mouth is still bothering him, he still has the sores in his mouth. His blood pressure was better tonight at 132/85. We will see what his primary oncologist says tomorrow. We haven’t seen her in 4 weeks. She has been busy or gone the last few times we saw a Dr.  There is actually 8 to 10 oncology doctors that we see from time to time but we have one main one, Dr. Shenoy that makes all the decisions if possible regarding his health care.

He will receive an iv push of the chemo vincristine and 3 shots in his leg muscles at the same time of the chemo PEG Asparaginase.

“The will of God never takes you to where the grace of God will not protect you.”

Bennett has a had a good weekend and has felt pretty good. His blood pressure has still been running high. It was 130/80 late this afternoon, hopefully it will stay more in this range. Please pray that his Dr. on Tuesday will have some answers and come up with a solution to get it lowered.

Saturday, he had a busy day. He got up around 6:00 a.m. to go fishing at Rend Lake with one of my co-workers from the Mt Vernon bank. It was windy but they managed to catch a mess of crappie. Bennett really enjoyed himself especially since he hasn’t been fishing with all of the latest technical gadgets on a fishing boat.

I figured he would take a nap but instead Sid and the boys went to my Mom/Dads and went four wheeler riding for a couple of hours late afternoon.

He really took advantage of the beautiful weather by staying outside all weekend.

“The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for his founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.” Psalm 24: 1-2

Today marks the 8 month that we have been living with Bennett’s leukemia. Someday’s it seems like this nightmare has lasted forever. Other times it seems that this dream has gone by so quick.

It’s easy to become aggravated and upset that we cannot control of what is going on with Bennett’s body. We can though control of how we choose to accept this biggest challenge in life.

Bennett at times has said he is glad that this has happened to him. That he is going to beat this and win. I believe that God has chosen Bennett to go down this path and set the example for others not to take anything for granted and to have a positive attitude when their road because bumpy. We have learned in the last 8 months to have a different outlook on life and to enjoy all of the good things. Some of these good things are very small and others don’t even see them. We look at each day so differently now and God has blessed us with this gift!

Whoever said, “Winning isn’t everything……………………….!”

Never had cancer!

Bennett went to school day and is feeling the same. His mouth sores are still bothering him.

The home health nurse gave him his chemo Arac and anti-nausea med zofran after school. She took his blood pressure before giving him the meds and it was 138/90 and after the chemo, it was 144/100. When I talked to SLCH today, they went back and looked at his blood pressure from his clinic visits. His blood pressure has been gradually going up and it was before he took the steroids. I went back and looked at his blood pressure when he had this same treatment back in March and April and it was good. My notes showed that it gradually was going up from August 16th. They seemed not to be concerned until recently since it is hitting the 90 range. Today the Dr. said that they may do additional blood work to maybe figure out what the problem is on Tuesday when he comes in for his appt. They indicated to call if the top number reached 150 or the bottom number reached 100 over the weekend. Well today after the chemo it did but they felt like that was because of the chemo drug. We will check his blood pressure over the weekend a couple times a day.

The home health nurse de-access his port so he was able to take a shower this afternoon. He repeats this same phase in January.

He is feeling good and looking forward to the weekend!

“From the rising of the sun to its going down the Lord’s name is to be praised.” Psalm 113:3

Bennett is still doing good. He went to school today and after school, we met the home health nurse. He got Arac and zofran again. The nurse took his blood pressure when she first got here and it was high at 132/90. She checked it again after his chemo and it was 142/90. I will call and discuss this with SLCH. They thought it maybe high because of the steroids he was on. He has been off those for 2 1/2 weeks. I pray that the doctors can get this under control, it makes me nervous.

His mouth is still bothering him. The sore is now a big sore instead of an indention on the bottom front lip. He asked for pain medicine tonight and is continuing the magic wash. He is doing a good job to make sure he brushes his teeth and uses periogard to make sure no infection doesn’t set in.

Tomorrow is his last day of Arac and the home health nurse will de-access his port. His next treatment is Tuesday at SLCH and he will get a blood test Monday at local hospital to check counts.

Thank you for all your prayers – God is answering them, we are very happy of how Bennett is holding strong through these treatments!

Bennett went to school after 2nd hour missing P.E. since his port is accessed. The nurse met us at the house after school to give him the chemo Arac and zofran. His blood pressure was higher today at 140/90. I asked the Dr. yesterday about his consistent higher blood pressure results and he said it was o.k. until the bottom number was over 90 for several days. Needless to say I have been keeping a record because this is too close for me.

He went outside and played football with Hamilton before it started raining again. Thank you God for the needed rain today! I couldn’t believe Bennett was running to score a touchdown when I went outside. He assured me that they weren’t tackling each other. Bennett said, Hamilton is faster than me, I know this has to bother him but it doesn’t stop him from playing.

Yesterday at the clinic, Bennett weighed 122. Finally, he gained some pounds from his added food intake. He gained 5 pounds from last week.

Bennett asked me to shave his head tonight. He finally got tired of the sporadic pieces of hair and wanted it gone. He was holding on to what he had but it just wasn’t enough anymore. I think it looks better; he said it was o.k. Even though he acts like it doesn’t bother him, I know it must or he wouldn’t of waited this long to shave it.

He has been sleeping for about 2 hours this evening. The zofran by iv does make him sleepy compared to the pill.

I went back and looked at my notes and his last blood transfusions was on March 23rd and March 28th. This is really good! It seems his white blood cells have been lowered and killed more than the red blood cells and platelets. He has had very low ANC at times but his red blood cells and platelets have been low but not low enough for a blood transfusion. White blood cells which make up the ANC cannot be transfused. Yesterday he received 2 pints of the red blood cells and looks like no side effects! Amen!

“Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.” Psalm 100:2

Another 12 hour Tuesday for Bennett. This morning was running real smooth, we arrived around 9:15 and by 10:30 we had counts and the spinal tap was complete. It went good, the Dr. was glad to see that his spinal fluid was clear. He said this is always a good sign that there are no problems. Bennett wanted me to record it on my cell phone so I did so he could see of exactly of what a spinal tap with injected methotrexate is all about. Today made the 10th one he has had.

His ANC was 1,368. Yeah! He is ok to go to school this week as long as he feels good. His hemoglobin was down today at 8.1. He received 2 pints of red blood cells today.  His hemoglobin has been lower before and didn’t receive a transfusion but they felt like since he had a headache a few days ago, looked pale and was still getting more Arac this week that they would go ahead and do it while we were there.   The blood transfusions took 4 hours. We really didn’t mind the long day. It was needed and a productive day. The waiting for 4 hours with nothing accomplished is what was frustrating last week. It has been several months since Bennett has had a blood transfusion. Please pray that he doesn’t get any severe side effects from it.

He received an iv push of Arac and will get it for the next three days at home from home health after school. He is also taking zofran by home health and than also by pill so he can take it every 6 hours.

His mouth is really bothering him. He asked for pain medicine this evening plus began the magic wash. The Dr. said he had to keep his mouth clean and he doesn’t want to get infection in it since it is so raw. His bottom lip is also puffy/swollen from the sores inside his mouth. Hopefully this is just temporary.

“When wisdom enters your heart, and knowledge is pleasant to your soul, discretion will preserve you; understanding will keep you, to deliver you from the way of evil.” Proverbs 2:10-12

Bennett felt like going to school today and even participated in P.E. He isn’t able to do as much physical activity as he would like but he sure tries.

Bennett mouth is really bothering him. He mentioned it the other day but now it’s pretty bad. There are indention’s in his gums where his braces lay on the bottom lip (about 1/2 inch) and also in the upper right hand corner. I am sure it is the chemo that is causing his lining of his mouth to be sensitive and causing the sores. He didn’t have this side effect with this chemo before.

The nurse told us to just wait and do the blood test when we get there tomorrow. He has to get another spinal tap with chemo injected and also an iv push of Arac. The worst part that Bennett doesn’t look forward to is not being able to eat/drink until it is all over. Sometimes he his nausea from just not being able to eat.

He was really tired after school and slept but gradually felt some better.

“I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations.” Psalm 89:1

Bennett is doing good! He feels fine and has had a fun weekend with friends!

We are so thankful for each day that he feels like getting up and doing something. He really has had a great week considering the treatments he has had. It’s such a wonderful feeling!

I have been so worried about Bennett getting sick to his stomach having nausea and no energy that I have failed to be thankful that Bennett hasn’t had any severe side effects from the chemotherapy! There are some leukemia patients that have had severe side effects like a stroke, severe damage to organs or never see a clean bone marrow test. We are so appreciative that Bennett is doing so well with his treatments and is able to continue the treatments as scheduled in his treatment plan. I have been so upset of how long his treatment is going to last, all of the chemotherapy he is going to have to undergo and everything that he isn’t able to do that I haven’t stopped recently to realize of how worse it could be. For this, we praise God!

“Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy. And I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God.” Psalm 43:4

I ran across this and really liked it! I could really relate – especially with the banking example! LOL

A bank credits your account each morning with $86,400. It carries over 0 dollars to the next day. Every evening you lose the balance you failed to use during the day. What would you do?

Withdraw and spend every cent, of course!

Each one of us has such a bank. It’s name is TIME. Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off what you have failed to invest. If you fail to use the day’s deposits, the loss is yours. There is no going back.

Invest in every second towards improving health, happiness, relationships, success and your faith! The clock is running. Make the most of life today!

Treasure every moment! Yesterday is history! Tomorrow is a mystery…….. Today is a gift! That’s why it’s called the present!