Bennett’s ANC today is 780 from 1,280 on Thursday. He had 1.3 WBC from 2.0 and 60 neutrophils from 64. We were afraid that his ANC wouldn’t hold at the safer range. We’re thankful it’s not any lower but would be more comfortable with it over 1,000.

His hemoglobin was 10.2 from 11.0 and his platelets dropped to 69 from 93. We pray that it’s just the chemo that he’s taking that is keeping his counts lower. The Dr. did lower the methotrexate dose to 10 pills from 12 which he will take tomorrow.

His liver levels were still high. One was 176 with normal range 15 to 47 and the other level was 475 with normal range 9 to 72. The biliruben is what they look at too and it was .80. We pray that these drop quickly as his stomach has really been bothering him.

Bennett is still not sleeping. For the 4 nights, he feels like he is only getting about 3 hours of sleep. The last two nights, he has had a headache and has taken pain medicine. He is really tired and exhausted but can’t get to sleep. He cat naps in the mornings.

When I brought him lunch he didn’t want to get out of bed so he ate lunch in bed. This afternoon he did go outside for about 20 minutes and hit some golf balls as Gma J watched. He ate pretty good today and had a snack this afternoon at Gma P. He did go to Hamilton’s game tonight, he was going to stay and watch his cousin’s Drew’s game but he was ready to go home. Ham’s team won 9-5!

He didn’t go to school today. We had hoped he would of felt like it. The class was going to the high school for testing and prepare for next year. I hate it that he missed it. Right now, he doesn’t see how he can go to school even for an afternoon. About an hour or two of even just sitting wears him out.

Please pray for Bennett that he will feel like going and walking this Friday night for his 8th grade graduation. I don’t want to push him too much but I really think if at all possible he needs to just go and experience this once in a lifetime accomplishment. May God give him the strength and willingness to attend.

Bennett is doing about the same. He has been really tired and still no energy. He has been having trouble sleeping at night. His stomach has really bothered him and he just can’t fall asleep. He ends up sleeping all morning because of being tired and not wanting to get up.

We went out to eat Saturday night and to a golf store. At the restaurant Bennett was laying his head down on the table because he was already tired.

He activity is very limited and when he does try to do something for an hour or so, he is ready to lay back down.

We had it planned for him to go to Sunday school this morning but he didn’t feel like going so Hamilton and I went without him. He did go later to Hamilton’s all star tryouts and sat in the car. He was already tired and was ready to go home.

Sid is done with storm work! He didn’t have to work Sat/Sun! We’re thankful to have him around home more!

We go in the morning to our local hospital to check counts. We pray that they are good. We hope his ANC is in safe range. Also, he has a busy week at school with graduation practice and graduation on Friday, we pray that he is up to going and his ANC is high enough for him to go. We are so ready for him to resume some normal activity. May God give Bennett the strength and energy to accomplish this.

When things go wrong as they sometimes will
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill
When the funds are low and the debts are high
And you want to smile but you have to sigh

When worry is pressing you down a bit
Rest if you must but don’t ever quit
Life is strange with its twists and turns
As everyone of us sometimes learns

And many a failure turns about
When we might have won had we stuck it out
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow
You might succeed with another blow

Success is failure turned inside out
the silver lining of the clouds of doubt
And you never can tell how close you are
It may be near when it seems so far

So stick to the fight with you’re hardest hit
It’s when things seem worst
That you MUST NOT QUIT!

www.clearvisionbiblestudies.com

Bennett is doing a little better. His stomach is still bothering him some. He said he felt so much better today than the last two days. We hope this continues and he can gain strength each day.

Hamilton had a baseball game tonight and they won 5 to 0 !!! Bennett was asked to umpire out in the field. I was surprised that he felt good enough to but by the end he was ready to quit. He was exhausted from standing through the whole game. He also had a headache that he didn’t have before. He took some tylenol and that helped. Yesterday was the first day not to take any pain medicine for the headaches!!! It had been a month for him to be on pain medicine so we’re thankful he doesn’t need it anymore!

Bennett did a good job calling the game. He had a couple close calls that he quickly had to make a decision, both were against our team but the right call. One call was against Hamilton sliding into 3rd base on a steal, Bennett called him out. Ham wasn’t upset which I was surprised. They both are maturing which is good to see.

Sid is still working on the storm. He has moved and is working by Harrisburg. He has been doing this for a week working about 112 hours, isn’t that unbelievable and actually crazy. His cold hasn’t gotten any worse, he started antibiotics the next day that it started which we believed helped.

Thank you for your support. Hope everyone has a blessed weekend.

*1:15 p.m. Bennett’s ANC today is 1,280!! I can’t believe it. His WBC are 2.0 from 1.4 and neutrophils are 64 from 43. It’s unbelievable of how his counts can double in 3 days, blessings from God. I’m not going to get too excited until they stay at a safer range for few times. Seems he has been bottoming out and bouncing around with these numbers that guide are life. His hemoblogin went up to 11.0 from 9.7 and platelets are up to 93 from 68. Let’s hope this all continues.

We saw the ENT Dr. for a follow up appt. She said his nose, ears and throat looked good. She did a scope up his nose with a camera on it. We got to see it, pretty wierd. She said it looked good except for some crusting. She said it looked healthier and not as inflammed as before surgery. We reviewed again his condition before surgery and he had more diseased cilia with severely thickening. The mucosal was thickened and this enables secretions and oxygen to transport through. It will take months before it improves. I asked about what was mentioned before about allergy testing and she indicated that is not necessary at this time unless he shows problems of sinus infection. She said he was seeing enough Dr.’s and going through enough right now. She wants to see him again in six months but we found out when we were making follow up appt that she is leaving and going to Cardinal Glennon. Bennett wanted to stay at Children’s ENT instead of following her.

Bennett lost another 4 pounds today. He weighs only 120 pounds. For the last month or so, he stayed at the 124 but had lost 10 pounds at the beginning of April. He had gotten up to 134 in March. I had hoped he would gain some back since he was just on steroids which usually increases his appetite. The nurse in the clinic did a CMP blood test and his liver levels are really high this could be the cause of his stomach hurting therefore he is not eating as much.
She also did a blood test of 6mp metabolic panel. This is to see how his body is metobalizing his 6mp chemo pills. It will take about a week to receive results.

We are in the clinic and nurse started the IVIG infusion of immune globulin. It will take 2 hours to complete. He was given tylenol and benadryl to help with any side effects, we pray he doesn’t have any. The nurse indicated the immune globulin is the part of the blood that keeps your body from attacking the good cells. Bennett’s has always been low so we are giving him more to help keep his counts up therefore helping fight off any infections.

Bennett doesn’t feel well today either. He is getting worse instead of better. He just feels crummy. He is tired/weak and his stomach hurts. He took some pepto bismol today but that didn’t help much.

He has trouble sleeping and was awake at 5:00 a.m. and went back to sleep around 7 a.m. He slept until around 11:00 today but didn’t really get out of bed until lunch time at 1:00. He did got to his cousins this afternoon for couple hours to get out of this house and play lego.

Hamilton had a ball game tonight that was canceled because of rain. It worked out because Bennett didn’t really feel like going.

Sid is still working night and day with the same long hours. He has started getting sick with a cough, hoarce, and doesn’t feel good. I’m back to santitizing and wiping down the house so Bennett doesn’t get any worse.

We are going to our local hospital at 7:00 a.m. to get counts. I want to know what they are doing, praying they are going up. His ENT Dr. appt is at 9:30 and than we will go to the clinic for his 2 hour infusion.

It’s been days,weeks, and months since Bennett has felt good at all. We pray that he wakes up tomorrow and he is back to his old self.

Bennett doesn’t feel well today. He doesn’t have any aches or pains really, just doesn’t feel good. He didn’t sleep well last night. He slept until around noon today. This afternoon he didn’t do anything but lay in bed. He didn’t feel like doing anything tonight either so we changed our plans to stay home.

Last night was the Honor’s night for the Middle school that Bennett was invited to. I hated he couldn’t go. He grades have been 4.5 or higher this year. This is an accomplishment for Bennett; as in years passed, he was satisfied with average grades. He is missing the fun stuff that goes on at the end of year.

His oncology nurse said that Bennett should continue taking his chemo pills. He took 12 methotrexate pills today and he takes 3 6mp pills every night except for on the weekend, he takes 2 6mp pills. His protocol states that he continue on therapy unless his ANC his 500 or below or platelets are 50 below. It bothers me that he is taking the same dosage that we gradually just got him back up to. I don’t think his ANC is going to get much higher until the Dr. lowers the dose. They want his ANC to be between 500 and 1,500. It’s just on the lower end and to low to feel comfortable.

We go Thursday for a follow up appt with the ENT Dr from the sinus surgery. He also has a appt at the oncology clinic to receive the IVIG (immune globin) infusion. These are the antibodies that helps your body fight off infection. The Dr. has agreed to give him this infusion for the next several months. Hoping this helps his body fight off infection so we don’t have another unusual episode.

Hope everyone is counting their blessings especially with all the storm damage around.

Thank you for checking in. Keep praying for Bennett to recover. It took him awhile to get this down so I guess it’s going to take awhile to gradually build back up.

Bennett’s ANC today was 602 from 840 from last Monday. Yeek! His WBC were 1.4 from 2.1 and neutrophils were 43 from 40. Hemoglobin is 9.7 from 11.5 and platelets are only 68 from 203. It worries me that his platelets dropped so much. Normal range is 150 to 450. Bennett’s platelets hasn’t been this low in over a year when he was going through intense chemotherapy. It makes me wonder of what caused them to take a drastic drop.

We’re disappointed that his ANC went down and now we are closer for him to get a severe chance of infection. Unfortunately, he will not be trying to go to school. It’s too big of a chance since his ANC is so low. He still doesn’t feel very good either. His stomach bothers him some and energy level is the same.

Sid is still working about 16 hours everyday and getting about 6 hours of sleep. My Mom and Dad got power today but there are so many people still waiting and could be for a week or so.

Hamilton had a baseball game tonight. We won 6-2! Bennett went to the game. I’m sure glad it’s baseball season instead of basketball. It’s so much better for him to be outside and not sitting close to anyone except for family because of his low ANC. We don’t want him picking up a bug.

We pray Bennett’s counts rise, his fatigue subsides, and he stays in remission forever!

Bennett’s appetite was better today. It seems for the last week, he has picked at his food. Tonight, he ate the most which is so good to see. He ate 1/2 sandwich and a personal pan pizza. Yesterday was the last day of taking steroids and usually this does help increase his appetite.

We went to eat at Rend Lake College Golf Course with Gpa/ma P. for lunch. He hasn’t been doing much this afternoon. We watched several episodes of CSI together.

Sid left home today around 4:00 a.m. and assuming he will be home late tonight to go to bed and do it all over again tomorrow. He may be working on this storm for at least a week. We’re thankful that Sid can sleep in his own bed while working in this storm but hate it that our friends, neighbors, and surrounding towns have been affected.

We will go in the morning at our local hospital for a blood test. We pray that Bennett’s counts is in safe range. He seems a little more interested about maybe going to school so hopefully he will feel up to it and his ANC are high enough to go.

We’re thankful for everyone’s prayers and that Bennett is gradually feeling better. I can’t wait for the day that he can resume normal activity without becoming fatigue.

Trees and more trees on road in Galatia, pic by Sid

(Photo taken by Hamilton in our yard)

Our flower bed that spells “PAGE”

Happy Mother’s Day to Mom J. and Mom P.! And all the special Mother’s in our life!

Being a Mom is a special “gift” that God has given to us. May you enjoy it, cherish it, and live it!