Bennett’s ANC today was 1,045 from 825.  His WBC were 1.9 from 1.5 and neutrophils were 55.  Hemoglobin was 10.2 from 10.8 and platelets were down to 106 from 158.  We were hoping for a higher ANC especially since the WBC should be elevated from him taking steroids the last five days.  We pray that his bone marrow will continue to make more WBC and keep his ANC at a higher level.   He will continue taking 50% less of his chemo pills this week.

Bennett’s baseball team lost tonight 1 to 10 to Carmi.  They were a really good team with three home runs over the fence. Ouch.  Bennett did not get on base, he got out twice on 1st and strike out.  He had several balls go to him in left field.  He caught two fly balls and several grounders.

Well, Jr. High baseball is over.  Bennett has been playing baseball since March when he is was able.  He really does enjoy it.

We pray that even though he is taking less chemo that it will keep any leukemia cells away forever.

Happy 9^th Birthday

Hamilton!

Yesterday was Hamilton’s birthday. He had his birthday bowling party this afternoon. They had lots of fun! See pics below. I was able to get a few shots of Bennett without a hat on and show off his hair!

Bennett is feeling good. He had baseball practice this morning. He is sure excited and hoping they win the regional championship game on Monday.

He takes his last dose of steroids today. He takes Pepcid a couple times a day to help with heartburn. He goes on Monday to get his counts checked. We are expecting his ANC to be a lot better since the steroids increases those counts.

There was two bad wrecks on I57 last night. My Uncle was in one of them and is in intensive care unit in St. Louis. My Uncle lost his brother in the accident too. Please say a special prayer for them and their family.

We won! Bennett’s team beat Mt Vernon tonight in the regional tournament… 10 to 0 in 5 innings! Everyone on the team played awesome! We had no errors. Bennett had two walks and two singles. He made 4 steals and 2 runs. He got out once being picked off 1st base on a steal. He played left field and no balls went to him. This team beat us last time 2 to 8 so we were really proud of the boys for rallying back!

They play Monday night for the regional championship against Carmi! Bennett told me on the way home that he prayed 4 times during the game. He said he prayed to get a hit, he prayed that they win and he prayed twice that the end up going to state!

Before each game, the team runs out to the outfield and kneel down on their knees and say a prayer before the game. I asked Bennett who prays on the team and he said sometimes he does.

We are thankful that God has given Bennett the opportunity to play baseball and also do it well. It sure has lifted up his spirits and keeps him motivated.

Bennett is doing good.  He was catching up on what he missed yesterday at school.  He got almost all of his homework done yesterday at the Dr. office.

We were able to see our friend, Ryan yesterday, he still is in the hospital after his gall bladder surgery.  He hopes to be able to go home soon.  Our friend, Tyler  was admitted to the hospital too, we were surprised to see his Mom as his stay was an unexpected fever.   Our friend Ethan starts his treatments tomorrow in Philadelphia.  We pray these friends are on the road to recovery soon.

Bennett had practice tonight after school.  His team plays tomorrow afternoon in Carmi for the regional tournament against Mt Vernon.  Bennett really wants to win.  He has sure enjoyed this ball season.  He went to the Hitting Zone tonight.  He goes once a week but hadn’t been in 2 weeks because of being sick.

Thank you to those that comment on this site.  We read each one and it helps us to know that our support team is still there.

A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes.

Bennett’s appt went well.  He saw his main oncology Dr. and she thought he looked Awesome!  He had many compliments about his curly long hair.  The Dr. couldn’t hear any congestion in his chest.  He got an iv push of the chemo vincristine today.  He also had the pentamidine treatment that prevents pneumonia.

He weighed ……… drum roll please ……………………… 133 !  He weighs 6 more pounds from last month.  The Dr. was very pleased with his weight stating you are finally feeling better.  This is the most he has every weighed. I’ll never forget the times when he weighed only 101 during his treatments.  Bennett says it’s all muscle!

The Dr. checked his immunoglobin levels today.  He had these checked when he was in the hospital in May and in July and they were really low and he received an infusion of immune globin.  His IGG level was low at 429 but his Dr. didn’t want to do an infusion.  Normal range is 600 to 1,500.  His level was 378 in July.  The immunoglobin is part of the B cell that helps you to fight off infection.  She wanted it check since his counts had been dropping and he has been sick.

The Dr. decreased his chemo pills by 50% for the next two weeks because of his ANC bouncing around.  He took 6 methotrexate pills today instead of 13 which he takes weekly on Tuesday’s.  He will take one 6mp pill nightly instead of two through the week and 1 1/2 on the weekend instead of three. She hopes to increase it gradually in the next couple weeks if his counts improve. He started steroids today for the next five days too.

Thank you for all your prayers and support.  We are feeling more positive and confident after making it through very low counts and his bug the last two weeks.

Bennett’s ANC today was 825 from 420 last week! His WBC were 1.5 from 1.2 and neutrophils were 55 from 35.   We are sure thankful that it went up! It needed to be 750 to continue on his chemo treatment. He will start back tonight taking his daily 6mp chemo pills.

Hemoglobin went up to 10.8 from 10.0 and platelets went up to 158 from 108. Glad to see both of those getting closer to a normal range before he starts chemo again.  I gave blood today for our local blood drive at our hospital. They check hemoglobin now to get your iron percentage.  My hemoglobin was 14.7. I thought this was interesting of how low Bennett’s really is compared to a normal person.  Well maybe not normal, LOL     Normal hemoglobin range is 12 to 16.

Bennett’s cough, congestion and running is nose is so much better. The cough syrup really worked well that his pediatrician prescribed last week.

Since he started the maintenance phase in April, He has been in the hospital every other month for a fever or low counts. Anytime before when his counts got below 500, they dropped even more and he ended up being hospitalized. I was so afraid he was going to stay on this pattern especially since last week his ANC was 420 and he was sick. He was hospitalized in May for 17 days for high fever and in July for 8 days for very low counts/fever.

We are so blessed, thankful, and appreciative that God answered our prayers. Thank you for being Bennett’s prayer warrior.

Tonight was Bennett’s last home baseball game for Jr. High. We won against Sesser 11 to 1 in 5 innings. Bennett had two walks, double, 3 steals, and 3 runs.  He made a great hook slide into 2nd base and he missed their tag. It looked like he flew over the baseman head first. He played left field and had one ball go to him which was a fly that he caught. Below is a pic of the 8th graders.

We will be going to St. Louis for Bennett’s monthly chemo appt tomorrow.  His team has a game tomorrow night in Johnston City that he will miss.

“>Isn’t it funny how day-by-day

..nothing ..changes, .. but when you

look back,….everything.. is

different?” Things can change in a

second so we must enjoy and live

every minute!———– You have

to strive to do your best because no

one else can do it.———- You

have limitations but don’t let anything

hold you back———— Believe

in God and he will make all things

right——— Keep your faith and

God will carry you through——-

by Bennett Page-

“you have to believe or you will

accomplish nothing”

Bennett’s school got out early today and he ended up taking a 2 hour nap this afternoon before he had to get ready to leave for the baseball game in West Frankfort.  Well, the big game didn’t end on a good note.

Bennett started as pitcher and had a couple strike outs and a few walks too.  He pitched for about 5 innings.  Our team made several errors so half the runs they had was help from us.    He didn’t hit very good tonight with one time on base with a walk and had a run.  We ended up losing 7 to 10.  He has practice early tomorrow morning.  He is pretty tired tonight.

It’s been a strange week with him not taking his daily chemo pills.  You get into a routine of something and feel like something is missing.  Bennett’s kinda glad, it was a relief for him not to have to remember to take his chemo before he falls asleep at night.  We are hoping though his numbers are high enough so he can begin treatment again and keep our appt in St. Louis Tuesday.

His cough and running nose is getter better.  We go Monday for blood test to check counts.  We are praying for an ANC above 750 and that the rest of his numbers look good.

Things turn out best for the people who make the best out of the way things turn out.

Bennett is doing some better, he still has cough and congestion.  He started  taking a cough syrup (Rynatan) tonight that the Dr. prescribed that is supposed to help dry him up.  We sure hope it helps.  The Dr. said he could take it now since he wasn’t on chemo this week.

Bennett’s team played in Harrisburg tonight.  We lost 0 to 12.  Bennett and another player were the only ones that got a hit from our team.  Bennett only batted twice; striking out once and than got a double!   He played left field and had several grounders that went to him and a couple passed balls from the infield.  Our big game is tomorrow night against West Frankfort!

Bennett had a good day at school, getting a 100 on a hard test that he really studied for.  We are so thankful for these things.  It sure builds up his confidence when he is making the grades and makes hits or plays!  I am so proud of him for trying and not giving up.

If you have the will to win, you have achieved half your success, if you don’t you have achieved half your failure.”

Bennett is doing some better. He didn’t have a headache today, Yeah! I took him to his pediatrician in Marion because his cough and running nose has been sticking around for about a week and he finishes his last augmentin pill tonight. Plus with his ANC so low, we were afraid it could turn into something worse.

His ears, nose and throat looked good. The Dr. could hear a little crackling in his lungs so he ordered a chest x-ray. His Dr. thought the x-rays looked good, no pneumonia. He assumes it must be viral since no other symptoms of infection.

Bennett was talkative on the way to the Dr. today, this just helps reassures me he is feeling good. Hopefully he will continue to have good days. Last Monday at the Dr., he weighed 126 and today he weighed 131. Another re-assurance.

Bennett played in Pinckneyville tonight and we lost 3 to 4. Bennett had another off-night batting; getting out at first twice by grounders and a strike out. He was hit again tonight by another pitch in his ribs advancing to first.

Bennett played short stop, first time all season. He did pretty good. He had 6 balls in the short stop area and he made 3 outs. He caught a fly ball that he ran up on and than ending up diving to the ground and caught it. He felt good about the position for the first time and was pumped after the game – ready to play this position again as he knows now how to re-act to the plays.   Below are a few pics.

We are so thankful that Bennett is feeling better and he had a good report today from the Dr.  We pray that his bone marrow makes lots of new WBC and keeps all fevers and infections away.

We are saying special prayers tonight for our friend Ethan as he is having another scan tomorrow. And our friend Ryan is having his gall bladder taking out.   We pray for the healing of all the children at SLCH.

“Some people are always complaining because roses have thorns; we are thankful that thorns have roses.”