Bennett has been doing good.  He worked on some schoolwork this morning with Gma Johnston. Him and Sid went fishing somewhere close to the house but didn’t catch anything.  He tried to make the best of his last day at home since we are hoping that it’s the last.  As far as we know, he will go to school Monday.

He had baseball practice this afternoon and it ended up sprinkling so they practiced in the rain.  Bennett isn’t able to run as much as the other players do but he does what he can. It seems that he gets tired easy.  I am sure it’s just going to take awhile to gain back his strength and energy.  It’s just so difficult to watch.

He is so looking forward to this weekend.  He is going with one of his friends to a baseball tournament that a lot of his friends is playing in at Murray, KY.  He has been asked to go for about three weekends in a row so he is very excited to get to go. I am already having a separation anxiety without him.  We are happy he gets to go.

“The humble shall see it and be glad; you who seek God, inquiring, for and requiring him, let your hearts revive and live!” Psalm 69:32

Bennett is doing pretty good.  He has been eating a little more which is good.  He is still having pretty bad heartburn.  He says it really hurts at night when he is laying in bed.  He still is taking the pepcid and it seems to help for awhile.

He had a really busy day.  He did some chores around the house. Chores?  He hasn’t really had any in a long time.   He went with Grandpa/ma Page to Mt Vernon.  He worked with Niki on school work this afternoon. Than went to Hamilton’s baseball practice.  He is really tired tonight and is planning on going to bed early.

He is counting down the days. He is so looking forward to going back to school on Monday. Also to go places in the evenings and weekends.  It has been a long couple months. We are so thankful the weather is changing and just in time.

“Hear, for I will speak excellent and princely things; and the opening of my lips shall be for right things.” Proverbs 8:6

Bennett is doing pretty good. He played 5 holes of golf this morning with his Grandpa/ma Page. They walked the 5 holes. Him and I went to lunch together. Our 2nd lunch outing in a week! Boy, are we glad his counts are up so we can do this. He took a nap this afternoon because he was really tired. Sid took the boys to the park tonight to hit in the batting cages. We are thankful Bennett is up to it.

Yesterday at the clinic, Bennett weighed 114. He has lost 6 pounds from a couple weeks ago. He should gain some back if his appetite increases with the steroids.

Bennett had heartburn today which is a side effect from the steroids. He has started taking pepcid to try to relieve this. The steroids really have so many side effects that we are praying Bennett doesn’t get any.

I asked the Dr. yesterday of what she wants Bennett’s ANC to be while his on maintenance. She said 500 to 1,500.     500?   I never dreamed that they would want it so low. We were disappointed to hear this. An ANC of 500 is too big a chance to catch all the flu bugs going around. They will change his chemo pills as needed to keep his ANC within this range. So he could take more or less. We are so praying that his ANC stays more around the 1,500 mark or that we can keep it there.

The chemo pills that he is taking will kill the white blood cells making his ANC lower than a normal persons. The Dr.’s really want this because if the chemo is killing white cells than it should kill any leukemia cells. It prevents any leukemia cells from growing or multiplying.

Bennett will go on a bi-weekly basis at our local hospital to get a CBC test so we know where his counts are. So our next one will be a week from Monday. We are dying to know what his ANC has done since last Monday at 870. We have decided that by this Monday it should be over 1,000 and he will go to school.

Thank you for checking in on Bennett, love to all!

Maintenance!

Bennett started the maintenance phase today! Hip! Hip! Hooray! He will be on this treatment phase until July 2010.

Bennett’s appt today went good. He had a spinal tap with chemo injected into his spine. He slept for about an hour afterwards. He also received an iv push of vincristine. It was time again for the breathing treatment of pentamadine which prevents pneumonia so he did that as well. We went to Olive Garden for a late lunch to celebrate a special day.

I recall several months ago, that this day seemed to be a long ways off and this will be a day to celebrate. We are so thankful to have all of the intense chemo and radiation behind him! I guess the unknown has me a little apprehensive though.

Bennett feels good. He slept on the way to and from St Louis. We made it home just in time to get his baseball stuff and go to his baseball practice at 4. I reminded him that he just had a spinal tap and chemo so don’t over do it. It’s okay to rest if needed. He is not up to Bennett #35 standards yet on the field but considering he looked good and didn’t once stop.

He had to take nine steroid pills today and two 6mp chemo pills. We are trying to get organized with all of his pills. He takes different doses on different days. The chemo methotrexate is only weekly on Tuesday which is 13 pills. I figured it up and he has to take 75 pills this week of chemo and steroids.  Each month he will have an appt at St Louis to get an iv push of vincristine. Every 3 months, he will have a spinal tap also. He will continue this for 2 years and 3 months. (not that we are counting) LOL

This all seems a little scary. He is starting a new phase that is supposed to be easier. Until he gets started though; we are not sure what he can or can’t do. We pray that Bennett can go to school, play sports and be able to enjoy life to the fullest.

We are praising God for getting him through this far!

“Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge him, and he will direct and make straight and plain your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6

Well, good news and bad news with Bennett’s CBC test. His ANC went up from 567 to 870! Yeah! He starts the maintenance phase tomorrow! The bad news is that his ANC is not high enough to go to school. Probably by next week, it will be above 1,000. His white blood count is still low at 2.9 from 2.1. His neutrophils went up from 27 to 30. So not a real big jump.

I know Bennett has to be getting tired of always staying home. He hasn’t been to school since the first part of February. He went some in January but missed a lot in December too. The good news is, once he starts, he should be good to go the rest of year! His treatments in St Louis will be monthly. Hopefully the weather will be better this week so he can at least go outside.

His hemoglobin is almost normal at 11.7 from 10.6 last week. Normal range start at 12.5. Platelets went down which has me wondering. They went from 241 to 207 but still in good range.

We will leave at 6 a.m. in the morning. Bennett will have a spinal tap and methotrexate injected into his spine. He will not be able to eat or drink in the morning until after the surgery. He will also have an iv push of the chemo vincristine. He starts taking the steroid dexamethasone for 5 days and starts taking the chemo mercaptopurine (6mp) by mouth daily. Also,  on a weekly basis every Tuesday, he will take the chemo methotrexate by mouth.

Thank you for your prayers. Please pray for our friend Ryan that is still at SLCH and has a bacteria infection. He still hasn’t been able to eat. He sure does inspire us daily!

“An I am convinced and sure of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will continue until the day of Jesus Christ, developing and perfecting and bringing it to a full completion in you.” Philippians 1:6

Bennett is doing okay. This morning he felt nauseated and took some zofran which seemed to help. He had been wanting to go to Walmart for several weeks to pick out some turkey calls for turkey hunting. We went early this morning before anybody was there.

Him and Hamilton have been playing together all weekend. From playing outside with their air soft guns to playing war on xbox. Bennett has worked on school work trying to get caught up with his class so when he goes back to school he will be at the same place as them.

We go in the morning to our local hospital for a blood test to check counts. We are praying that his ANC is high enough to go to school. His ANC needs to be over 1,000 to attend school. It must be 750 or higher for him to start the maintenance phase which would be on Tuesday. Last week his ANC was 567. The last time his ANC was over 1,000 was on March 10th over a month ago and it was 1,065.

Thank you for your prayers, love, and support.

“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

I am wearing a pair of shoes.

They are ugly shoes. uncomfortable.

I hate my shoes.

Each day I wear them, and each
day I wish I had another pair.

Some days my shoes hurt so bad
that I do not think I can take
another step.
Yet, I continue to wear them.

I get funny looks wearing these shoes.

I can tell in others eyes that they
are glad they are my shoes and not
theirs.

They never talk about my shoes.

To learn how awful my shoes are
might make them uncomfortable.

To truly understand these shoes

You must walk in them.

But once you put them on,

you never can take them off.

I now realize that I am not the
only one who wears these shoes.
There are many pairs in this world.

Some people ache daily as they try
and walk in them.

Some have learned how to walk in
them so they don’t hurt quite as much.

Some have worn the shoes so long that
days will go by before they think about
how much they hurt.

No one deserves to wear these shoes.

Yet, because of these shoes, I am a stronger person.

These shoes have given me the strength
to face anything.

They have made me who I am.

I will forever walk in the shoes of a
person who has beat cancer.

Author unknown

Bennett is doing good. His stomach isn’t bothering him like it was which is great. He still only eats a little bit and eats slow. His hair isn’t growing back yet and I just noticed a few days ago that he has lost about half of his eyebrows.

He has been lifting weights the last few days. He hasn’t said anything about his legs bothering him anymore. He wanted to go with a friend out of town for the weekend but I told him no for his safety . He was very disappointed. I told him hopefully by next weekend he can get out with friends and not have to worry about catching something. I reminded him that it could be worse, instead of being home, he could be in the hospital. Several of our 9west friends our in the hospital now, we are praying that they get better soon.

We are very thankful that Bennett hasn’t been sick or run a fever. It’s so serious with his counts being very low. We have been extremely careful. I sanitize the house daily; spraying Lysol and wiping down the kitchen, his room, door knobs, etc. You get where you are a germ freak and paranoid.

Bennett is so ready to go to school and do normal things. He is getting tired of being a hermit. Considering; his attitude is good and makes the best of his day.

“Keep the charge of the Lord your God, walk in his ways, keep his statues, his commandments, his precepts, and his testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may do wisely and prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn.” 1 Kings 2:3

Here are a few abbreviations and words that I use often and their definition.

1. CBC = complete blood count which includes red blood cells, platelets, and white blood cells.

The CBC blood test draws blood from a tube into an electronic counter. It counts the red blood cells, platelets and white blood cells until it reaches a count of 100 cells. They than will do a manual differential to find the percentage of the types of white blood cells.

2. ANC = absolute neutrophil count is the white blood cells times the % neutrophils. Normal ANC is above 1,500. Below 500 is very low and 500 to 1,000 is low.

3. RBC = Red blood cells contain pigment, hemoglobin which carries oxygen from the lungs to the other tissues that need it. They normally live 4 months.

4. Platelets help blood clot and keeps you from bleeding when you are cut. Low numbers lead to bruising, nosebleeds, and internal bleeding. They live 7-10 days.

5. WBC = White blood cells are called leukocytes and their types are phagocytes (eaters) and lympchocytes. Types of phagocytes are neutrophils, monocytes, eosinophils, basophils. They all live just hours except monocytes lives for days.

6. Nuetrophils are white blood cells that play a vital role in the body’s immune system. They are the primary defense mechanism against invading bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites. (low counts can lead to susceptibility to severe bacterial and fungal infections).

7. Lymphocytes are white blood cells with the small lymphocytes called T cells and B-cells which are the major cellular components of the adaptive immune response.

8. B cells respond to pathogens by producing large quantities of antibodies which then neutralize foreign objects like bacteria and viruses. B cells remain in the bone marrow to mature, while T cells migrate to and mature in a distinct organ, called the thymus.

Bennett’s leukemia was in the precursor B cell of the Lymphocytes.

Bennett is doing pretty good.  His legs have been really sore and are bothering him; we are thinking this is from baseball practice of using different muscles he has not used and being weak.  He has been rubbing ointment on his legs to help.

He has had a busy day.  He went to Marion with Grandpa/ma Page this morning. He stayed in the car but it was good for him to get out of the house.

He worked on school work this afternoon with Niki and than tonight he went to Hamilton’s baseball practice.  He hit balls to the boys in the infield for practice.  He really enjoyed working with them.

This week is flying by, I hope Bennett feels the same way. Before he knows it, it will be Monday again and time for another blood test.  We are praying his bone marrow is making new white blood cells and brings his ANC up to a safer level.

“How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you? 1 Thessalonians 3:9