Bennett was completely exhausted last night after baseball practice. He didn’t feel well at all. He wasn’t hungry and only ate a few bites of apple all night. His body ached and I recommended him to take some Tylenol to help. He became nauseated and ended up getting sick to his stomach. He was able to finally keep them down. He woke up today feeling better and wasn’t as sore.
We stayed up watching the NCAA championship and just talking about his situation. He is really unhappy about having to stay home and unable to go to school/public places. He has been out of school this go around for about 2 months. He was disappointed in himself at practice and he just hated that he really didn’t feel up to 100%. He replayed the whole practice with me. He pointed out the things he thought he did well and the things that he knew he didn’t. He just got so tired. With his anc so low this is probably making him more tired and weak. He knows his limit, he knew he was tired but knows he has to push himself to get better. We praise him for not giving up!

He’s expecting too much too soon, it was only a few weeks ago he was in the hospital, getting blood transfusions and intense chemo and radiation.

He has big dreams of the day that he will feel good, his counts are higher and he’s back in school and playing in a ball game. This whole journey is a mental challenge along with a physical one.

We had decided to sign him up for the Hitting Zone which is an hour of instruction from the Rend Lake College baseball coach. He is going tonight along with Hamilton and this will help him build confidence and strength in the game of baseball.

Thank you for love, comments, prayers, and support!

Well, we have some good news and bad news.  Good news is that Bennett’s ANC went up!  Bad news is that it’s only 567 from 304 and it needs to be 750 to begin treatment. And we really want it to be closer to 1,000 and 1,500 to go back to school.   His white blood count went up from 1.6 to 2.1 and neutrophils went from 19 to 27.

Bennett was bummed as he really is ready to go back to school and get back to life!   It’s just so tough for him to try to get all of the school work completed by himself. We try do what we can in the evenings either through home schooling or home bound teaching.  I reminded him he’s only been delayed two weeks compared to four weeks in the past. It just seems forever and it still could be longer.

His other counts were good. Hemoglobin went from 9.9 to 10.6 and platelets went from 216 to 241.

He did go to Pony baseball practice tonight for their first practice.  He was really excited about going. Since it’s outside and not really that close to very many people, I felt like it was safe for him to go and definitely a morale booster.  He did good for his first time out on the field but he will have to gradually work up his strength.  He is just so darn skinny.

Thank you for checking in on Bennett, we appreciate your support!

“Little children, you are of God and have defeated and overcome them, because he who lives in you is greater than he who is in the world.” 1 John 4:4

Bennett, Grandpa and I went fishing for about an hour and half this afternoon. We caught a good mess; some pretty good size bluegill. Bennett started fishing for catfish and he caught two nice size ones. The sun was out and it was a beautiful day!

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Bennett has been doing o.k. but he has been more nauseated lately. He doesn’t feel like eating in the mornings and than by lunch he is hungry but when he starts eating, he becomes full quickly and nauseated. He really enjoyed dinner this evening but he just has to eat slow and small bites. He is still taking one to two anti-nausea pills daily.

We had several things and plans we wanted to do this weekend but with Bennett’s really low counts we decided it was better to just stay home as a family. I asked Bennett about having a friend over and he really didn’t want to mess with it. This is discouraging after the great weekend he had last weekend.

Bennett is thinking his ANC is going to be 2,000 when we go for his blood test on Monday. This tells me he is so ready to be normal. He is really becoming bored at home and when your home all the time, your energy level is just not there. It’s so hard to get motivated. To me it’s depressing but he comes around and plays a lot with Hamilton. Hamilton is such a great little “big” brother! I know this all has to be hard on him too, please pray for Bennett and Hamilton’s strength.

“Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples! Sing to him, sing praises to him, tell of all his wondrous works!” Psalm 105:1-2

I was visiting another cancer patients website that asked for signatures for a petition regarding childhood cancer awareness postage stamp. Please take a moment and sign the petition. They need our signature to make this happen. If your interested, the website is: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/childhood-cancer-awareness-postage-stamp.

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We have gotten to know this loving family that is fighting the same disease as Bennett and they only live about 10 minutes away. We have visited with them the most at SLCH. Tyler is a Great kid! Please support the Tyler Jones Benefit! And pray for Tyler’s healing! Thank you!

THOMPSONVILLE – Tyler Jones’ wide smile hides what lurks behind, and Thompsonville school students and residents are pulling together to help his family.

A first-grader at Thompsonville Grade School, Jones was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia on Jan. 22.

A benefit is being held from 5 to 9 p.m. Saturday, April 5, in the Knights of Columbus Hall, 110 S. Monroe St., West Frankfort. Dinners are available for purchase from 5 to 6:30 p.m., and an auction begins at 6:30.

You may follow his treatment or sign his guestbook by visiting his website: www.caringbridge/visit/tyler.jones.com

Bennett is doing pretty good. He worked on some homework tonight with his homebound teacher and cousin Niki. It sure makes a difference not being in school everyday and getting the in-class instruction but Bennett is keeping up with his schoolwork.

I think Bennett has been to school only about 1/4 of the time this whole year. We sure did make the right decision in him repeating last years grade. I can’t imagine him trying to learn new work this year and than going into high school next year. He is gaining an extra year in his Jr. High years to attend school and be a kid. We are praying he can go to school everyday and enjoy the school activities/events next year!

Bennett’s mouth sore on his bottom lip is much better but he still has the one in the right hand corner of his mouth. He is taking one vitamin C pill daily now.

During Bennett’s last hospital stay, we were able to see several patients that we have met. Everyone has a story and it is horrible that these children have to suffer. When we see a patient or parent in the hallway; sometimes we don’t have to say a word to each other but just smile because you have a good idea of how each other feels.

One 9W friend received her angels wings last Saturday, please say a special prayer for Belinda’s family. Our friend Ryan is back in the hospital and hasn’t been able to eat since January. Yes, January. Please pray for the healing of everyone that has cancer especially the children.

“Blessed is he who considers the weak and the poor; the Lord will deliver him in the time of evil and trouble.” Psalm 41:1

We won the lottery! – oh yeah April Fool’s!

Bennett is doing pretty good. He got sick to his stomach while eating lunch today and didn’t eat anymore. He did better for dinner but he really doesn’t have back his appetite. He went on a car ride with Gpa/ma Page to see the high waters around town this afternoon- they saw a bunch of ducks! He worked on homework and is outside playing with Hamilton.

I looked back on Bennett’s counts and boy was God blessing us while he was in the hospital, he took his lowest count of 84 and in 4 days brought it up to 435 so we could be discharged the day before Easter! They really dropped quicker this time possibly because of the radiation taking them down. I thought maybe they were recovering from the radiation during that time and now the chemo AraC has started killing his good cells and dropped his ANC. (just a prediction – especially since it usually takes a couple weeks after the eight doses to affect his counts). Your mind has a way of trying to figure everything out even before it happens but we really can’t predict Bennett’s ANC! ( but I do have some facts that leads to me to believe it will be a couple more weeks at least before he is out of the severe stage.)

The last time he was on this same phase that he just finished, his ANC dropped from 1,272 to 480 on October 25th. He finished the phase on October 30th and ANC was 153. It took until November 19th for his ANC to reach 884. And he had this same treatment back in May and on May 29th ANC was 570 dropped to 224 on last day of treatment on June 5th and it took until July 2nd to reach over 500. So, 3 weeks one time and 5 weeks another to recover.

If his ANC had stayed up than I would be wondering: Now did this last treatment phase really do what it was supposed to do? Did it really get any of the lingering leukemia cells if it hasn’t kept his white blood cell count low?Thank you for your prayers, comments, and support!