Bennett is doing really good. He has felt great the last several days. We hope this is a good sign of his counts climbing up. We went to church today and than he had baseball practice tonight. He did really well, it was very hot and everyone really had a work out. His team plays tomorrow night in the region tournament in Carbondale at 8:00 p.m. playing Washington Co.

Hamilton’s baseball team’s last game was Saturday in the World Series coach pitch tournament in West Frankfort. We won one and lost two.

We go in the morning to our local hospital to get counts. Depending on where his ANC is will determine the next step. Dr. wants his ANC at 1,000 or above to receive his chemo treatment on Tuesday. If it’s below she wants him to have more of the neupogen shots. We are praying that his bone marrow has taken off and his numbers have even increased more.

There is a slight chance that his ANC could be low tomorrow because he only had 2 neupogen shots last week. They normally give 4 to 5 shots to keep a consistent ANC. This makes me nervous but at least he got 2 and they worked.

“Though sometimes he leads through waters deep. Trials fall across the way, though sometimes the path seems rough and steep, see his footprints all the way.” verse 3 of There’s Within My Heart A Melody

5:00 p.m. Bennett’s ANC today was 1,092! WBC are 4.2 and neutrophils are 26. Wednesday his ANC was 1,156 and he got another neupogen shot later that day. His hemoglobin is 9.8 from 9.0 and platelets are 156 from 121! I’m really excited about these numbers because the neupogen shot does not effect these counts so his bone marrow is making cells!

We will get another CBC test on Monday morning. This will determine if the Dr. thinks he needs another neupogen shot because too low of an ANC or he can start chemo on Tuesday!

The Pony League won the sectional tournament! We beat Mt Vernon which has been a tough opponent by beating us three times through the season. It was a great game. We move on the regional tournament in Carbondale next week!

12:00 p.m. Bennett’s is doing really good. Dr.’s believe Bennett had a viral infection since cultures came back negative. When you don’t have a diagnosis I think it’s easy to use the word “viral”. Unfortunately though there are not many tests for viral infections so it is hard to really know. He did have some type of infection that caused the fevers and low counts. It makes us worry and uneasy of not having an exact diagnosis again.

I was able to talk to Bennett’s main oncology Dr. yesterday again. She wasn’t concerned about his low counts and sickness. She indicated it is very common for leukemia patients to get a type of bug that can’t be found since their immune system is suppressed.

We discussed his ankle issue again and she was fine with him to begin playing sports on it. If it begins to hurt than we will do another MRI. If not, she felt like the healing scar tissue he has in the ankle is not a problem.

The last few days at the hospital, Bennett was really feeling good. The Dr.’s, nurses and patients/family got to know the real Bennett. He did get a little cabin fever and let go by trying to make the most out of being in the hospital. We admire his energy, caring heart, free spirit and outlook on life!

11:45 p.m.  Bennett’s team is in the sectional tourney in Benton and played tonight against Mt Vernon; and won!  We play tomorrow night for the championship.   Bennett dressed and warmed up with the team, he didn’t play though.  He really thinks his speed has improved, he feels a lot better about running. Hamilton had a game before this one in the World Series in W.F.; we lost by one run in extra innings.  Both boys play again tomorrow night at the same time in different places.

We will check Bennett’s counts in the morning at our local hospital. We are praying for an ANC over 1,000 so he doesn’t have to get another shot and that his bone marrow is going strong!

“How precious is your steadfast love, O God!” Psalm 36:7

8:00 a.m. Hallelujah! Bennett ‘s ANC is 1,156! WBC are 3.4 from 1.3 and neutrophils are 34 from 6. No way, it’s unbelievable and such a blessing! It would seem so easy to give this shot in the past! Sometimes we don’t understand and have to trust the Dr.’s and ask for God’s help through prayer. Normally when Bennett has been in the hospital with low counts he was on the intense chemotherapy and they wanted low counts. The last time he was in the hospital, they didn’t drop this low for this long. These shots do not increase the other blood cells but they went up too; hemoglobin 9.0 from 8.5. and platelets 121 from 102.

Bennett should be discharged today, we are waiting to hear from the Dr. They start rounds at 9, we will have to wait for paperwork, etc. so hopefully we will be on the road late morning. Amen!

*4:30 p.m. We have been home a couple hours, the unpacking and trying to do a weeks worth of stuff is always fun. Bennett was so ready to be home. He was getting quite antsy. We ran into a problem and it took longer to be discharged. Everyone worked together and we got what we needed accomplished through our insurance co. and the hospital.

Bennett got another neupogen shot today before we left. Apparently for the drug to work and keep your counts up, you need several shots in a row. They wanted to prescribe Bennett with 3 shots to get at home the next 3 days. With a little confusion the end result was decided to give him one today and than check ANC on Friday morning. If his ANC is not at 1,000 or more than we will have to go to the clinic and get another shot on Friday. They want his ANC to be 750 by next Tuesday so he can start taking treatment again. He had to stop his chemo pills and hasn’t taking any in almost 3 weeks.

Bennett feels really good and is getting ready to go to Hamilton’s double header game tonight.

Thank you for everyone’s prayers and support. Bennett won another battle again!! Thank you God for blessing us!

“For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise.” Psalm 96:4

8:30 a.m. Bennett’s ANC is 78 from 55. WBC are 1.3 and neutrophils are 6. Hemoglobin is up to 8.5. fro 8.1. and platelets are 102 from 63! His monocyctes are up to 38 from 4 two days ago. This is good because you have to first have monocyctes that turn into neutrophils. So eventually neutrophils will go up causing a higher anc. This is good to see, his bone marrow is making cells but we just have to wait for all these cells to mature into bigger white blood cells. His temp was good thru the night and this morning it is 99.1. Another day in paradise.

*1:15 p.m. Bennett’s doing good. Him and Hamilton have been racing in the halls. Bennett’s free of his iv pole and needle in his port. They de-accessed him because you only can have the same needle in for a week. He was able to take a hot shower. Hamilton and I both were fortunate to get hair cuts today. On the 10th floor, they were giving free hair cuts to patients and family. What a great ministry. We have had fun visiting with all our friends. We were glad to see Dalton today which was our roommate in May. Ryan is here this week too, hopefully him and Bennett can go to the teen lounge today together. Last week our friends Ethan and Tyler were both here, it sure helps pass the time and a comfort to see a friendly face in the hall. We are one big happy family, we all can really relate.

*6:30 p.m. Bennett’s had a busy day. Him and Hamilton played more in the hallway playing catch. While I took Hamilton to meet my parents, Bennett and Ryan played WII in the teen lounge. Bennett was accessed later and than back on his iv fluids.

We have great news, and a blessing. The Dr. on the floor overrode Bennett’s study for him to get a neupogen shot. He got it in his leg. The medicine hurt more than the shot. This neupogen (G-CSF) shot is to stimulate the bone marrow causing it to make white cells. We have asked about these shots in the past and was told that they couldn’t give them to him because of being on the study (research) and had to wait for his bone marrow to produce. It can be overridden though if the Dr. feels it is in the best interest of the patient. The Dr. felt like it might be couple weeks for his marrow to do it on it’s own and it is dangerous to stay neutropenia as long as Bennett has especially his critically low number.

There is a chance that if this shot works that his ANC will go up high enough to be discharged soon. They hope even tomorrow. Amen! The miracle of medicine is Great but God is the ultimate healer/physician!

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10:00 a.m. Do you ever feel like a yo-yo? Do you ever feel like your life is a roller coaster? Sometimes I feel like we are riding the screaming eagle and Bennett/I both hate roller coasters.

Bennett’s ANC today is 55. This is where we started almost a week ago. It’s the lowest it has been since Tuesday. WBC’s are 1.1 from 1.3. Neutrophils are 5 from 12. Hemoglobin is 8.1 from 8.2. Platelets are 63 from 68. We started at an ANC 54, than 117, 140, 154, 90, 156, and now 55. We are thankful for our blessings that Bennett is feeling pretty good and his fever is gone. His temp through the night was 98.4/97.9. At 8:45 a.m. – 99.5.

4:25 p.m. We have had a busy day. The boys went down to the teen lounge for about an hour and played play station together. The child life specialist gave us a pass to go while it was closed so no one was in there to spread germs. Bennett has such low wbc that any little thing can get him back down again. Sometimes when you have low counts, that even your own body’s bacteria can make you sick because you don’t have enough cells to fight it off.

We sure have enjoyed having Hamilton here so much that he is going to stay the night again tonight. It’s really good for Bennett/I both to have him here. He is so helpful. Plus him and Bennett have played well together. It has really put a spark back into Bennett’s eyes and smile.

Bennett’s temp has been 98.1. His gums are really red again. This is probably because he is neutropenia and now being neutropenia for several days. Bennett’s ankle has been swollen a little off and on since we have been here. We try to keep it elevated as much as possible.

*9:00 p.m. Bennett’s temp has gone up to 100.2. We were hoping it was going to stay normal and the bug he had is gone. He is still getting the antibiotic meropenem every 8 hours by iv. He also has been getting iv fluids from the first day. He is still doing and eating pretty good. : We have been watching the home run derby! Boy, Josh Hamilton is amazing!

Thank you for your prayers. We appreciate your comments and knowing that so many our praying right along with us.

“For I know the plans, I have for you, declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 27:11

8:30 a.m. Today is day 5 in the hospital. Bennett’s ANC went up to 156 from 90! Yeah! WBC are 1.3 from 1.0 and neutrophils are 12 from 9. His hemoglobin went up to 8.2. from 7.7, he was going to have to have another blood transfusion if it didn’t go up. His platelets are 68 from 42! Hopefully now his counts will continue moving up, we are so thankful they did. Amen! His temp this morning is 100.2. It was 99.7 through the night.

*12:30 p.m. Bennett’s temp at noon was 99.1. Sid and Hamilton spent the night last night and came back early this morning. Hamilton’s baseball’s games this afternoon was rained out! Another answer to our prayers! The urine, blood, and mouth cultures are still coming back negative. They are taking him off acyclovir because his mouth is better and the culture came back negative.

They checked his immunoglobulin (IGG) level today and it was at 378. Normal is 608 to 1,572. They checked this in May and it was 396. He received a transfusion in May and will today. Immunoglobulin is made of the B cells of the WBC that if it’s too low than it is very difficult to fight off any infection. They will infuse immune globulin which is boosting his immune system some time today. With any transfusion there is a chance of slight or severe side effects; praying for none. We are checking to see if this needs to be checked periodically so it doesn’t get too low and maybe help stay away from the hospital.

I asked the Dr. today if there was anyway to check the level of chemo in his blood and how his body metabolize it. She indicated there was no test but there was a gene test to see if he had the specific gene that metabolizes the 6mp pill he took daily. Just wondering if his body is holding on to the chemo too long in his body?

Bennett is feeling pretty good. He has been awake sine 9:00 a.m. Him and Hamilton have been playing games and watching T.V. together. We went to the garden together; it’s a beautiful day! Sid and I left the boys and went to eat at Applebee’s in walking distance for lunch, very nice to get out!

*7:00 p.m. Bennett is done with the IGG infusion. It took 3 hours and he is doing good with it. He slept through it because he was given benadryl to help with an allergic reaction. We are praying that this increase of IGG will help him fight off the virus so his counts will come back up. His temp was 99.1 at noon and 98.6 at 4. Sid went home and left Hamilton here at the hospital. He is going to stay the night with us in the room, it’s good to have him here! Bennett wanted him to stay too. Bennett is feeling pretty good. We went for another walk to the garden (below is a pic) and just ordered pizza.

8:30 a.m. We are very disappointed, sad and scared. All counts dropped. Bennett’s ANC is 90 from 154. WBC went to 1.0 from 1.1 and neutrophils are 9 from 14. Hemoglobin is 7.7 from 7.8. Platelets are 42 from 55. His temp is 99.7 this morning and has been at 99.5 all night.

Bennett slept from 6:00 p.m., never getting up from his “benadryl nap” and slept all night. He woke up this morning for nurses to get vitals but he is back asleep.

His main Dr. looked at his blood smear to see if she could see anything causing his counts to drop. She did not find any leukemia cells. These would show up on his blood test but she just wanted to make sure that none are in his blood. We are praying none are in his bone marrow. He has everyone around here stumped, what is causing his counts to drop? Could it be a viral infection causing the fevers and low counts? There are no tests that can detect viral. God, hear our prayers and keep Bennett safe and healthy.

*12:30 p.m. Bennett woke up around 9:30 and ate some cereal. He feels pretty good. We spoke to the Dr. on the floor and she made me feel better. I noticed on his CBC that the lymphocytes have gone up from in the 60′s to 80. We don’t really keep track of these WBC but they too are to help fight off infection. The Dr. indicated that if he has a virus infection these will be high. His are high, normally range is 21 to 55. She really thinks that Bennett’s bone marrow is weak (slow responder) because of all the chemo and this infection is suppressing his bone marrow and it might take awhile to recover but it eventually will.

His temp is 99.1. He ate a pizza for lunch. His mouth is still bothering him. They have switched his pain medicine to percocet and that seems to work and keep him from itching.

*10:30 p.m Bennett’s temps was 98.4. at 4 and 99.5. and 8. The mouth culture came back negative. They are going to keep him on the acyclovir antibiotic because it seems his mouth is better and temp is lower. We are thankful that his temp is low grade. He hasn’t had any pain medicine for his mouth since 2:30. Sid and Hamilton came tonight after their games. Below is a pic of Hamilton hanging out in Bennett’s bed watching T.V.  with him.   They won the first game and played for the championship next. They lost that game placing 2nd. All the boys got very nice trophies which was pretty impressive. Below is a pic.

Another night of anxiously waiting to see what his counts are going to do. We are praying that his numbers begin and continue to increase to a safe zone.     We praise God for your presence and faithfulness to our family. We appreciate the amazing amount of prayers and support. God is comforting us through his love that is merciful and gracious.

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8:30 a.m. Bennett’s temp at midnight was 100.0 and at 4:00 a.m. was 99.5. His ANC is 154 from 140. WBC are 1.1 and neutrophils are 14. His hemoglobin went down to 7.8 from 8.0. Platelets are 55 from 57. It is a mystery and concerning of why his bone marrow is suppressed and not making cells very quickly. The chemo he has taken recently shouldn’t bring them this low nor the temperature he has had. Every patient is different and we are finding that Bennett is very sensitive to everything. We are praying that he will pull through this quickly and nothing serious is keeping his bone marrow dormant.

*1:30 p.m. Bennett’s temp is 101.1. They took more blood cultures and gave him Tylenol. Shoot! We were hoping the fevers were gone. He just woke up about an hour ago, he was really tired, he went to bed last night about 11:30. We got a room mate this morning so that woke him up a little bit but he went back to sleep. His mouth is still bothering him. They took cultures of his mouth, should know results tomorrow. They have increased his pain medicine to 10 mg oxycodone that he will get every 4 hours along with the magic wash. He did eat a star crunch and a go-gurt.

*6:00 p.m. Thanks Dave for letting out our secret of Bennett and I entertaining ourselves racing on the 9th floor in a toy car (iv pole and all) ! What happens in hospital, stays in hospital,  LOL

Bennett’s temp at 4 was 99.1. He started itching all over his body and we think it might be from the oxycodone he has been taking so they will switch that pain medicine for his mouth to something else. He was given benadryl to stop the itching and now that has put him to sleep. Our nurse told us that the mouth sores and mucositis is probably caused from him being neutropenia (anc below 500). They did start him on an antibiotic called acyclovir which is an anti-viral drug just in case.

*9:00 p.m. Bennett’s temp is 99.5. He is still asleep from his “benadryl nap” and hasn’t ate supper. We are praying tomorrow brings an overflowing amount of blood cells to bring his counts above dangerous trenches!

“For whatever things were written before were written for learning, that we thought the patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.” Romans 15:4

Happy Anniversary Sid!

9:00 a.m. Bennett’s temp all night and this morning is staying at 100.2. His ANC is 140 from 117! WBC are 1.0 and neutrophils at 14. His hemoglobin stayed the same at 8.0. Platelets went to 57 from 51. The urine and blood cultures are still negative.

He weighed 121 pounds in clinic on Tuesday. He has maintained that weight for a month or so. His ankle is looking good. His Dr. called an orthopedic Dr. but they didn’t want to see him, didn’t think they could do anything different. The scar tissue that is there will just have to heal. He even ran to the elevator pulling his iv pole a few times yesterday. We went to the garden a couple times as he was bored.

*2:30 p.m. Bennett is doing good. His temp at noon was 99.5. His mouth sores are really bothering him, his gums are very irritable and red. He is taking pain medicine and magic wash every 4 hours to help relieve the pain. It hurts for him to eat but he is eating pretty good considering. He ate some cereal and microwave pizza. We watched a movie together called Next, it was pretty good.

*8:30 p.m. Bennett’s temp is 99.7. His mouth is getting worse. He can barely eat. Besides the 2 or 3 mouth sores, his gums are very sensitive and hurt. The pain medicine is helping some but it seems it is getting worse than better. He tried to eat a piece of pizza and couldn’t because the crust was too tough. He did eat 1/2 turkey sandwich. He likes star crunch and ate one of those.

He had to do another urine culture tonight because the other one from Tuesday came back with some bacteria but they thought it might of been contaminated so they have asked for a repeat to check for sure. They have started the “go fish” tournament early at the nurses station. There are four patients playing with the nurses tonight. Last night, they played until midnight. It’s good to see him out of bed.

Nel the hospital dog came by to see Bennett today. We thought his outfit was cute and the best won he has worn. He had a cubs hat on with it marked out.

We are praying Bennett’s counts continue to go up. We hope they are high enough for us to go home plus no more fevers and negative cultures. This was another scary time for us.  When we went into the clinic on Tuesday after we went to the outpatient lab, everyone was looking at Bennett with concern and was worried of how sick he was since his counts were critically low.  We are praising God that his counts are gradually moving up.

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble on it’s own.” Matthew 6:34