Bennett is doing okay. He feels pretty good other than his skin irritation. His arms are looking better . It started to bleed tonight in the crease of his arm and they are starting to peel more. One of his legs looks better and the other one looks about the same. It’s pretty red. He took benadryl today to help keep it from itching. The benadryl makes him tired so it’s hard for him to stay awake all day .

I had him to stay home today from school and probably will stay home all week. The steroid cream that we apply twice a day is really thick and white. It reminds me of destin baby cream. I know it wouldn’t be too cool going to school with all that noticeable cream on him.

He worked on some school work today. He is trying to make up what he has missed so far this week; hoping to be caught up by Monday and be ready to try to go to school.

Hamilton came home tonight with a fever and headache. I am hoping it is from his tooth/gum that he had worked on today.  His gum was going over his front tooth so the Dr. cut the skin away.  He doesn’t have any other symptoms so we are praying it is not a bug.

We were going camping tonight for the whole weekend. We are going to go turkey hunting for the first time. Not sure the boys are in the best shape to tackle this. I know Bennett has been looking forward to it for a long time.

One day at a time……

Bennett is doing about the same. He was pretty tired on the way home. I told him he was pretty sober today. He didn’t have too much to say and things really didn’t matter. I think he was ready to be home in his own bed.

We saw Bennett’s primary oncologist today. She thought his legs looked like poison ivy/oak. We’re not sure how he could of got that but we both agreed that it looked different than the sunburn on his arms.

His Dr. gave me good news and hope. She indicated that we will get this worked out. I had already feared the worse. (No sun, no baseball, no golf, no fishing, no hunting or no playing outside) She said we are not going to limit his outside activity, it’s too important. The Dr. didn’t think the sun would go through his clothes which I had already feared that. She also indicated that the sunscreen lotion works better than the spray. When Bennett did get this a week ago Sunday, he did wear sunscreen spray. We really don’t know why it kept getting worse and so severe. We just pray he doesn’t happen again.

The Dr. wants us to call if it gets worse. She indicated it could take another 2 weeks before it heals. I have been giving Bennett benadryl which makes him tired but it does seem to help it from itching.

She also said we would keep a close eye on him to see if the methotrexate he takes on Tuesday’s increases or causes sensitive skin or a rash. She said it was a low dose and shouldn’t of had any baring on his skin irritation. She would rather not change the dosage of the chemo but if needed she would.

We also think that his skin could be super sensitive because of the radiation he just had a month ago.

I asked the Dr. if he could get another blood test to check his hemoglobin and not wait two weeks. She agreed that we should go Monday for a CBC test. She also wants him to get another blood test to check other levels in his blood to make sure the methotrexate isn’t causing any problems.

Well we are off to a bumpy start with his maintenance phase but hopefully soon we can get on a consistent schedule. I teased Bennett that he couldn’t wait the whole month to see all the nurses and our 9W friends.

“Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord.” Psalm 31:24

It’s never a dull moment!  We called the clinic and the Dr. wanted to see him.  We arrived at 10:30 a.m.  The Dr. thinks he might be allergic to the sun but it’s really hard to say. She said with all the chemo that has been in his body that even a small piece of dirt up his nose could cause irritation. 

We had good and bad news with his counts.  His ANC is 2,278!  Yeah!   His other counts had dropped. His platelets went from 207 to 110 and his hemoglobin went from 11.7 to 7.3 from two weeks ago.  The Dr. was concerned that his hemoglobin had dropped so low.  She is assuming that his body is trying to fight off the sunburn and is causing the counts to drop.

She wanted to run other blood tests and urine test to see if he was showing any other signs of break down.  All tests came back negative. Amen!  It sure does make you worry and wonder.

Because of his hemoglobin being so low, they gave him one unit of red blood.  This explains him being so tired over the weekend.  Since he had an allergic reaction to the last time he received a blood transfusion; he was given Benadryl and Tylenol.  That all went well.

Bennett will need another unit of blood tomorrow.  We left at 5:00 p.m. from the clinic so we decided to stay the night and go back as soon as they open in the morning.

Bennett’s sunburn is starting to peel on his arms and is looking some better.  His legs still don’t look good.  There is more of a rash on the bottom of his legs and is still really red with some discolor.  The Dr. gave him steroid cream to put on it.

 We ended up going to the movies and watching the football movie Leatherheads.  We didn’t really like it. Not enough action.

We are praying that his skin gets better soon.  And his counts go up and he has no allergic reaction to his blood transfusions. 

Bennett is doing fair. His legs and ankles are not swollen like they were last night which is good. His legs though are still pretty red. His arms today are more pink.

Bennett has laid in bed all day. We told him that he probably didn’t need to go anywhere today. And to keep his legs propped up and not to walk very much; thinking this might keep them from swelling again. He has been pretty tired and has slept quite a bit.

He is pretty aggravated and just wants this rash/sunburn to be over. We are guessing that maybe he allergic to the sun. I’m still confused though of why he got worse after 4 days; you would think it would be clearing up by than. Maybe the methotrexate pills he took on Tuesday added to it?

He has a blood test at our local hospital in the morning. We are anxious to find out what his counts are especially his ANC. It’s been two weeks since his last blood test. We have never waited this long in between blood tests so we are a little antsy.

As soon as the clinic opens at 8:30; I am going to call his nurse and see if a Dr. will see him. We are hoping that they can give him something to relieve the pain and help this to go away.

Please pray for Bennett’s comfort and healing.

We had a good evening as a family tonight. We went to the Japanese restaurant in Carbondale. It was fun and good. Hamilton did quite well eating with the kids chop sticks.

Bennett was really tired today, he slept all morning. This is unusual for him here lately so it was kinda hard to see him in bed especially since he went to bed early at 10:30. We know he needs his rest so we let him sleep until he was ready to get up around 11:30.

He went outside later in the afternoon. And wore long sleeves and long pants while he hit a few golf balls around the yard.

We stopped at a couple places after dinner tonight and Bennett was having trouble walking. We got home and he took off his pants and long sleeve shirt. And his legs were beet red. His arms are still red but were not as beet or cherry red as the bottom of his legs.  His legs and ankles were also swollen.  I don’t understand it and it’s very upsetting. I gave him some Benadryl and he sprayed more solarcaine on his legs and arms. It really hurts, he says. I don’t think he is allergic to the aloe vera or solarcaine that we have been using but we can’t figure out why it’s worse.

He said he wanted to go to the hospital and get this all cleared up. I asked him if he wanted to go tonight and he finally said no not tonight. We will see how it is in the morning and decide from there. If it is some better than we will wait until Monday and ask the Dr. to see him in the clinic.

“The sheep that are my own hear and are listening for my voice; and I now them, and they follow me.” John 10:27

Bennett is doing fair. He is having problems with a skin rash on his arms and legs. First it started out as a mild sunburn on Sunday. He used sunscreen and sat mostly in the shade at the ballgames he went to on Sunday but managed to get a small sunburn. It was doing better. We put aloe vera on it every morning and night. Now, it seems to be worse. The last two days it is very red and really hurts him. And he hasn’t been in the sun. I gave him more Benadryl tonight thinking that might help. We also put solarcaine spray on it.

I knew he would be more sensitive to the sun because of being so pale. Also, the chemo methotrexate that he takes on Tuesday can also cause an extra sensitive to the sun. But he hasn’t been in the sun really this week and when he has; he used 50 spf sunscreen.

Today he played golf with his Dad but wore long sleeves. His arms and bottom of his legs tonight look like he has been in the sun all day.  It is very red and looks like a rash almost.  We are very concerned and I will discuss with the Dr. on Monday if it’s not better. Bennett is pretty upset about it.

It’s very discouraging if he is going to be so extremely sensitive to the sun. How can you play baseball in the summer and not be exposed to the sun? Please pray that his rash/sunburn goes away. Also, that he somehow can be outside while the suns out and that sunscreen keeps him from getting burnt or causing a rash.

We have been in the hospital when cancer patients are admitted because of a bad sunburn. Now I know and understand. We thought, well they just got too much sun and wasn’t paying attention. Now, I am wondering if it’s unavoidable?

God has a way of working things out. We pray for his help.

“Moreover let us exult and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that pressure and affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance.” Romans 5:3

Bennett is doing good. He has been having weird dreams lately. When I woke him up this morning , he was really tired and sluggish. I wasn’t sure if he was going to get up for school. Almost to the last minute, he got up and got ready. He told me he had a dream and thought it was so real. He dreamt his ANC was 163. I told him that when he probably woke up, he thought he couldn’t go to school and took awhile to realize what was going on.

He had practice tonight. He did pretty good. It was a great night for it. Not too hot and no sun.

He has been getting a rash on his neck last night and tonight. I first thought it was from maybe the sun or a sunburn. I gave him some Benadryl last night and when he woke up this morning, it was gone. Than he got it again tonight with no sun out. I gave him more Benadryl tonight. We will keep an eye on it.

I went with Hamilton and his 2nd grade class today on a field trip to the zoo. It rained off and on. We had a good time with Hamilton’s friends and their Mom’s. Below is a pic. Which one is the monkey?

Bennett is doing great! He has had a good time at school and so happy to be back these last three days. Last night, he took his 13 methotrexate pills besides his 6mp chemo. So far today, he hasn’t seemed affected in anyway by taking them. Wouldn’t that be great news?

Bennett cannot swallow pills; only capsules. So everyone of his chemo and steroids, I put in an empty clear capsule. The one good thing is that these 13 pills can be put in 3 capsules. Well, they are bigger capsules. He likes this much better. We put all of his medicines in a capsule because he can’t stand that chalky taste. A little more work but it’s worth it to keep them down.

He had baseball practice today after school. He did good. I have to brag on a catch he made. He was on third base and the ball went over his head. He jumped up, raised his arm up and caught it. It happened so fast and before I knew it, I was yelling, Whoo Hoo!

He ran some with the team tonight. They do sprints to first base plus run around the field a time or two. I told him not to run but of course, he did some. He got hit in the sheen tonight with a fast grounder. So far he hasn’t said that is bothering him but the seems of the ball left an imprint on his leg. When it happened you couldn’t even tell by his expression that he got hit. He really needed that actually. Sounds weird, I know but he has been a little scared of the ball. Now, he knows he can handle it. Unfortunately, it’s part of the game of baseball.

Sometimes in the car, he gets nervous or afraid if a car is too close by or turns in front of us. It’s like after you’ve been in an accident your a little jumpy. I believe he fears of getting hurt. And time will heal this.

Thank you for being a part of our support base. We appreciate the continued prayers!

“In everything I have pointed out to you that, by working diligently in this manner, we ought to assist the weak, being mindful of the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Acts 20:35

Bennett had a great day at school! He said it went well. He feels good about all of his classes and in some classes he is ahead in his work. This is good for him so he doesn’t get all stressed out over being in school and than loads of work on top of it.

He had baseball practice this afternoon. It went well. He did good. I thought he hit the ball great. He didn’t agree though, I guess he wants to do better. I can tell an improvement from just last week. He said tonight that he lost his balance, strength, and muscle this past year but he was going to gain it all back. He has been lifting weights each night before bed.

After his practice, we went to Hamilton’s baseball practice. Bennett worked with a few of the boys hitting grounders to them.  I thought he would be too tired and ready to go home  but he wanted too.  We are very thankful that Bennett made it all day at school and to practice. He has come along way in just a few weeks.

His legs are really sore and we are thinking this is from all the running he did at Friday night’s practice. I reminded him that we need to gradually work up to running.  After putting it all into perspective, he basically went from being in bed to playing baseball out on the field in the matter of weeks.  We are so proud of him!

We always remember our friends from SLCH.  Please pray for all the special people that are suffering from cancer especially the precious children.

Bennett’s home! Boy was it weird not having him around. We all missed him. Thank goodness for cell phones. He had a great time at the baseball tournament in Murray, KY this weekend. He enjoyed going and watching his friends play. They got to hang out at the hotel some and swim. I’m sure it was like a vacation for him. It was so good for him to finally get out of the house. Maybe this time next year he will be able to play on this traveling team.

His last dose of steroids was on Saturday. Yeah! He took nine pills a day for five days. Plus he was taking Pepcid to help with the heartburn twice a day. It is some better. He doesn’t have to take them again for three weeks. He takes the chemo 6mp every night. It is supposed to be taken at bedtime on an empty stomach. He can’t drink milk or citrus drinks with it.

He is going to school tomorrow. It’s been 2 1/2 months.  I am sure he is anxious and nervous. I am praying that he fits right back in. I’m sure it will take some adjusting too but I know he will be fine.

He doesn’t get a blood test tomorrow. The Dr. wants it every other week so not till next Monday. It will be different not knowing where his counts are every week. They don’t expect any drastic change in his numbers so we have to trust that.