Bennett is doing good. He went to school yesterday and today! He is so happy to be back! He is already making plans with his friends to do stuff! It sure was tough on him having to be a hermit and not really go anywhere. He made the best of it but I know it sure is a great feeling to be Free! Free to go into a grocery store, free to go to a party,  free to go to a ball game, free to go to school and free to go anywhere- anytime!

He does get sick to his stomach occasionally. He has been taking mepron every night which is really thick yellow stuff. It looks like yellow paint. This is the medicine that he has to take to prevent pneumonia. He was doing the breathing treatments once a month but because of the national shortage of pentamadine, he had to switch to this about 1 1/2 months ago. It’s gross and makes him sick. He doesn’t take liquid medicine very good anyway.

He is going to try to do deer hunt as much as possible for the next 4 days to get his big buck with the huge rack. Praying that he does!

His next appointment is Friday at St. Louis which he will receive an iv push of vincristine and iv drip of methotrexate.

Thank you to everyone that checks in on Bennett and is one of his prayer warriors!

“The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayers.” 1 Peter 3:12

We are so happy!  Bennett’s ANC today was 1,560!!  It has been about 5 1/2 weeks or so since his ANC has been this high.  It took that long for his counts to recover from the last treatment phase that had the chemo Arac.  He doesn’t get this chemo again until February.  The chemo drugs that he receives this phase shouldn’t effect his counts that much. So we are hoping that he will be able to go to school for at least 2 months or so.  It sure makes our family life a little more normal when he is at school.  It is good for him to get the in-class instruction from his teachers and for him to see his friends.

It is such a relief to not have that burden or fear that he is going to touch something or someone is going to be sick around him and than he might become very ill.

We are so thankful and praising God that his counts have come back up!  May God continue to bless Bennett with enough white blood cells so he can be in public places!

“Give unto the Lord the glory due to his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.” Psalm 29:2

Bennett is doing pretty good.  He has been sleeping quite a bit lately.  He had a stomach ache this morning right before we were leaving for church, I wasn’t sure if he was going to feel up to going but he wanted to go. His stomach has bothered him throughout today.

He has been to his self lately and spending a lot of time at home.  I have encouraged him to have a friend over but he seems content just hanging with Sid, Hamilton and I.  We’ve been spending a great deal of quality family time together.

He has a blood test in the morning to check his ANC at our local hospital.  His counts will determine if he will be going to some school this week.

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20-21

Happy

Thanksgiving!

This is a great time to stop for a moment and think about all of the blessings we have, God has blessed us with so many!

Thank you to all our family, and friends for their love and support! Thank you to all of the Doctors and nurses that we have met and are a part of Bennett’s miracle! Thank you to the almighty God for giving us the chance to experience life at it’s fullest!

Here is my two favorite Indians! They both are in 2nd grade in these pictures.

—–

Bennett - 2001             Hamilton - 2007

“And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful for all of your blessings. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Colossians 3:15-17

Everything went well today at Bennett’s appt. We were in and out of the clinic in 2 hours which is record breaking time. It doesn’t take a minute for the 3 nurses to give Bennett 3 shots in his leg muscles but than he has to wait one hour to make sure he doesn’t have any acute side effects.

The x-ray on his hip came back normal. Thank you God! Bennett really likes to get me all shook up, he asked me, “Would you cry if they find a tumor in my hip?” “I wouldn’t”, he said, “I’m tough and nothing scares me.”  One minute I won’t to choke him and than the next, I want to hug him!  He is one amazing young man!

Traffic was horrible today, the worst I have ever seen it so please be careful if you are traveling tomorrow and allow plenty of time. We will be going to Sid’s aunt Sharon’s in Newton IL for Thanksgiving. Bennett is looking forward to seeing everyone.

Bennett will have a blood test Monday morning to check his ANC so we will know if he can go to school some next week. He is going on 6 weeks that he has been out of school. Tonight he went to a friends house which is the first time he has been out in awhile. His next chemotherapy appt is next Friday.

“His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by glory and virtue.” 2 Peter 1:3

Bennett’s appt went well today. The spinal tap went good. He has had several of these and I still can’t get used to him being sedated. He’s not a sleep, he just talks a lot and acts loopy. Today, he sung hear comes Santa Claus to me. He always sees double of everything too which bothers me. I am always thankful when he returns back to Bennett.

The methotrexate he got today was an iv drip that took 20 minutes instead of a push but than the vincristine is a push. He weighed 118 today, losing 4 pounds in the last couple of weeks.

We talked to his primary Dr. today about his legs, feet and hip bothering him. He told the Dr. when he was deer hunting and putting on his overalls and boots that his hip would lock and hurt. The same thing happens when he is text messaging on his phone sometimes, his fingers get stuck and he can’t move them. She ordered an x-ray of hip today to make sure that the predisone steriod that he has had in the past hasn’t damaged his hip bone. I don’t think his Dr. will be in the clinic tomorrow to find out about the x-ray but we will sure ask.

If he continues to lose his balance frequently or bone/joint pain is worse than they may have to give him a lesser dose of the vincristine.  We pray that these side effects are tolerable so he can continue getting this chemotherapy drug.

He has another appt tomorrow in the clinic for the PEG chemo which is given by 3 shots in his upper thighs. They give this chemo in the muscles to prevent more severe side effects.

“I know that whatever God does, it shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, and nothing taken from it.” Ecclesiastes 3:14

The next phase of treatment that Bennett begins tomorrow is called Interim Maintenance II and is 56 days long. He has 7 different days of treatment in the next two months. The chemo called methotrexate will be an iv push this time which he hasn’t had it administered this way. Depending on what his ANC is at each treatment will depend on how much they give him.

The vincristine he had in the last phase caused him some pain in his leg, arm, and hand muscles. He also has fallen while walking because his legs/feet are numb and his coordination isn’t like it used to be. We will let the Dr. know as he has had this for several months. She had said before that she may have to lessen the vincristine dose if it gets worse.

Please pray Bennett doesn’t have any severe side effects from this treatment phase and that the chemotherapy kills any remaining leukemia cells.  Thank you.

Day 1 - November 20th - iv push vincristine & methotrexate and spinal tap with chemo injected

Day 2 - November 21st - PEG Asparaginase (which is 3 shots in his leg muscles)

Day 11 - November 30th -iv push vincristine & methotrexate

Day 21 - December 10th - iv push vincristine & methotrexate

Day 22 - December 11th - PEG (3 shots in legs)

Day 31 - December 20th -iv push vincristine & methotrexate, spinal tap with chemo injected

Day 41 - December 30th - iv push vincristine & methotrexate

Day 56 - January 14th - start next phase if ANC is 750

Bennett’s ANC today was 884 from 297 so he is able to start treatment tomorrow and Wednesday! It still isn’t high enough for school but maybe by next week it will be. Instead of having a severe chance of infection, now he has a slight chance with an ANC of 884. His hemoglobin was 10.6 and platelets at 184.

He wasn’t as tired today as I thought he would be which is good. He worked on some homework through out the day.

We leave at 6:00 a.m. in the morning for his appt and we will come back home when he is done because Hamilton has a Thanksgiving play tomorrow night. We will have to drive back over Wednesday for his 2nd day of treatment.

We are glad to get started and move ahead and finish these next two phases. If he isn’t delayed anymore he should be done with these last two intense phases by the middle of March. Beginning the maintenance phase after his counts recover.

“He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6:8

Bennett had a great time deer hunting and camping at our deer camp. He saw SO many deer. If you ask me, he was too picky. He had some really good shots and wouldn’t shoot, the 8 pointer he passed up, his Dad got it Saturday. Bennett wouldn’t shoot a doe either, he was afraid that it would scare any bucks that might be lurking behind.

He really wanted a buck with a nice rack and he waited patiently. He saw one with a huge rack but he just didn’t get a good enough shot to get him. He saw the big buck again tonight but it got too dark before he had the right shot.

Hamilton and I had a good hunt too. Him and I went out in a blind and saw two doe’s Saturday. Hamilton and Sid went out Saturday and Sunday night but didn’t have a good enough shot for Hamilton to shoot.

Hopefully the weather won’t be too cold for the next deer season in a couple of weeks. And Bennett can get his trophy buck!

Bennett is doing good. He was really tired this morning and slept in. The deer hunting kept him going so I know tomorrow he will be exhausted. He has a blood test in the morning at our local hospital to check counts. Hopefully his ANC will be 750 or higher to begin treatment on Tues/Wed!

Thank you for your continued prayers, God keeps blessing Bennett!

Here is a couple pics of Sid’s 8 point buck.

Bennett is doing well. He is having a blast camping and hunting. We are camping behind my Dad/Mom’s house. He got up bright and early this morning to head with his Dad to their deer stand/blinds.  Bennett said he saw about 4 bucks and several does at different times this morning.  The biggest one was eight points but he wants to wait; in case he can get a bigger one!

It has been a challenge to keep everything sanitized while camping  for Bennett. With his very low ANC; we have to be extremely careful. We are praying for no infections or no fevers while his ANC is so low.

This is a pic of the Page Burger Gang in front of our deer camp!