Nothing really new, which is good news! Bennett is gradually getting better but still has cough. He has been pretty tired. He has gone to bed early this weekend and also has taken naps in the afternoon.

We’ve stayed home most of the weekend besides going to church, Walmart and basketball practice. We’ve watched alot of CSI episodes and movies together.

Hope everyone in your family is healthy and able to stay away from the flu and colds.

“Whatever is true, ….noble, … right, … pure, … lovely, … admirable … think about such things … And the God of peace will be with you.” Phillippians 4:8-9″

Bennett is doing better. He still has a cough every once in awhile but he feels so much better. He looks better too. He has had this cough and cold for a couple weeks so we are very grateful that it’s going away.

Bennett had a basketball game in Carbondale last night. We won by around 6 points or so. Bennett played for about 1/2 of the 2nd quarter. He thought he played good, he had a rebound, assist, block, and a steal. Not bad in that short period of time.

Hamilton’s future Rangers team started games this week too. Sid is coaching the team. They won one and lost one so far.

After school today, Bennett saw hundreds of geese and ducks in the field. He went outside and watched them for about an hour. Brrrrrr…… He didn’t let the cold weather stop him. We are getting ready to watch a movie together.

A special day for our family today, our Uncle David came home after being in the hospital and rehab for about 4 months after the car accident. Thank you God for answering our prayers and blessing David!

Thank you for surfing on Bennett’s website! Hope you have a great weekend.

“The word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12

Bennett went to school today and than had basketball practice afterwards. He came home took a shower, ate a little, took his medicine and went to bed. He said he coughed some at school but not near as much from before.

Sid has his cold or infection back. He is running a fever and had a chest xray today that he won’t find out the results until the Dr. is back in the office on Friday. He started a new antibiotic today.

Bennett weighed 128 pounds yesterday at the Dr. office. His appetite for the last couple weeks has been less especially since his cold started. The steroids should get it going again.

His Dr. wants to keep him on the same dosage of chemo. She felt like the higher ANC from Monday was from the viral infection. We will check his counts in two weeks to see where they are at.

Bennett’s treatment protocol is 90 days at a time and than repeats itself all over again. He just started course 4 of the maintenance plan. He will have a total of 9 courses all together to complete and will finish in July, 2010. The total duration of maintenance therapy is 3 years from the start of Interim Maintenance I which he started in July, 2007.

We pray that Bennett does not have have any side effects from his current or previous treatments. It’s always a worry and a possibility.

There is never a day that doesn’t go by that we don’t think of how fortunate we are for Bennett’s recovery. God has provided us more strength, courage and ability than we ever knew we had.

“The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17

Our prayers were answered, Bennett was able to be sedated and have his spinal tap procedure with chemo injected into his spine today.

His oncology Dr. thought he may have have a viral infection. His lungs were clear so she felt like it was safe for him to go ahead with the procedure. She did switch his antibiotic to cephalexin from the augmentin. She said the methotrexate that he injected into his spine could interact with the augmentin.

We left at 6:00 a.m. and Bennett slept on the way there. He was able to work on some homework at the hospital and on the way home. He is really tired. He went straight to bed when we got home around 4:30.

His basketball team has a game tonight at home. Bennett wanted to go and watch, he cannot play because he missed school which he doesn’t really feel up to it anyway. He fell asleep and didn’t get up for dinner and slept all night.

His cough was so much better today. It is a deeper cough now and he does have some congestion. We pray that it is breaking up and he will be feeling better soon.

He had an iv push of the chemo vincristine and had his monthly breathing treatment to prevent pneumonia. He begins taking steroids today for 5 days. He has 26 pills to take now daily, he will continue the cough syrup as well.

We are so thankful his appt went well and that he doesn’t have a fever. I packed a suitcase just in case he did or had complications that we had to stay.

We pray that the chemo he received today and that he takes daily along with the steroids keeps his leukemia in remission forever.

“The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.” Jeremiah 31:3

Bennett’s ANC today doubled from last week to 3,773 from 1,827. His WBC was 4.9 from 2.9 which is really high. This isn’t good news, it is probably elevated because he has infection. His hemoglobin was 12.5 from 12.1 and platelets are 153 from 208. His liver functions were low which is great.

Bennett had a constant cough last night and this morning. We tried several things to help it but we couldn’t get him any relief. I’ve never heard someone cough so much. It’s every 5 minutes.

His stomach was bothering him last night too so he took some zofran. Possibly from all the coughing and he is coughing from his stomach muscles.

He didn’t go to school today and I called his pediatrician again. He prescribed augmentin. He might be a little better tonight but he is still coughing frequently. His temperature has been 99.0.

His Dr. tomorrow will have to listen to his lungs and his airway and decide if he needs to be sedated for the spinal tap. We pray everything goes well and to the best interest of Bennett’s health.

Bennett has had a busy weekend. He was able to go duck hunting yesterday morning and afternoon in a hunting pit. They killed several ducks and Bennett brought home 3 mallards and 2 teals. He loved it! In between hunting, he went to basketball practice.

Today, he is pretty worn out. He is very tired and his cough won’t seem to go away. I called his pediatrician Friday because of his cough. He prescribed another cough syrup medicine, rynatan. It hasn’t helped so far either.

After church, we ate lunch with Jeremy’s family and Bennett came home and went to bed. We put vicks vapor rub on his chest hoping it would help but it hasn’t. It’s not a deep congestion cough which is good. We pray it goes away soon and that his cough doesn’t keep him from being sedated on Tuesday for his spinal tap appt in St. Louis.

He has a blood test in the morning. We pray all counts are good. Thank you for checking in and God Bless!

Bennett started the game tonight, he was really excited about it. He played about half of the 1st quarter and played all of the 2nd quarter than he didn’t play the rest of the game. He looked like he was pretty tired. He just didn’t have that extra spunk. He shot three different times in the deep left corner and missed. The team didn’t play very well, we had many turnovers and lost by 8 against Mt Vernon. They have early morning practice at 6:30.

As soon as I said Bennett’s cough was getting better, it seems he still is coughing quite a bit for being on medicine for 4 days.

I spoke to an acquaintance today (wife & mother of two small children) that has been battling cancer for a couple years and it’s returned again, My heart/prayers goes out to her and everyone that has to fight this horrible disease. It takes away so much of a person’s life. May God help us find a cure.

“Pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe Him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated Him at God’s right hand.” Ephesians 1:19-20

Scooter and Special K

We went to see the Harlem Globetrotters at the SIU arena in Carbondale tonight. We were thankful that Bennett was not as tired tonight after practice and felt like going.   The boys loved the game!  It was really funny and cool! The Globetrotters Scooter and Special K were Hamilton’s favorite. He was able to get some autographs too.

Bennett’s cough is some better.  He is not coughing as much but still does.  His runny nose has improved.  He is really looking forward to tomorrow night’s game at home against Mt Vernon.

We pray for Bennett and all of the 9west kids to be in remission forever!

“Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you.” 1 Peter 5:7

The boys went back to school today, they had a real long Christmas break. Bennett had practice after school and as soon as he got in the car from picking him up, he said he was exhausted. He is tired after school and practice sometimes but tonight he just didn’t have any extra energy. He decided to stay home tonight and not go with us to the varsity high school basketball game.

He usually doesn’t miss these games so I know he really needed the rest. He made the right decision and I’m glad he is not pushing himself overboard.

He took 10 methotrexate pills this morning before school and took his daily 6mp pills.

His cough is some better. We pray that it continues to improve and hopefully goes away. Especially before his appt next Tuesday. He has to be sedated for a spinal tap with chemo and I know that will not do that with congestion and upper respiratory so we will continue to keep an eye on it and call his pediatrician again if the cough medicine doesn’t clear it up by the end of the week.

Bennett’s counts were really good today! His ANC was 1,820 from 1,827. Hemoglobin was 11.9 from 12.1 and platelets went down to 150 from 208. His liver levels went down from 191 to 140! They are still a little high but thankful they didn’t go up. Dr. will keep him on the same dosage of chemo this week.

Bennett’s cough has gotten a lot worse. It sounds much deeper and coughed most of the weekend. I took him to his pediatrician today and he thought it was allergy related! Really good news! I was worried it had moved to his chest. He prescribed him some cough syrup (tussionex). He also indicated to continue taking (claritin) allergy pill and begin using nasal spray. He took a dose of cough syrup this afternoon and at his cousin’s birthday party tonight, he wasn’t coughing as much! Happy 2nd Birthday Isaiah!

Bennett went to the SIU basketball game last night with the church youth group. He invited a friend and spent the night with him. It was a good game even if they did lose to Duke.

He had basketball practice today and is looking forward to their game this Thursday at home. It’s been almost a month since they have played and they only have about a month left of games. They only have 3 home games left and Bennett will miss next Tuesday’s home game because of all day treatment in St. Louis.

“One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so He could lay His hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples scolded the parents for bothering Him. But Jesus said, “Let the children come to Me. Don’t stop them!” Matthew 19:13-14