Bennett hasn’t felt well today. This morning we woke him up to see about going to basketball practice and he just wasn’t up to it yet. We figured that probably was going to be the case but last night, he was feeling better and really wanted to go. He started feeling bad again this evening. His headache got worse rating it an 8 and his stomach feeling nauseated. He took pain medicine and zofran.

He felt a little better after dinner. We went to Giant City Lodge with Sid’s parents. It was good. Most of all, we enjoyed seeing all the geese by the refuge, pretty cool! Bennett and Hamilton both fell asleep on the way home on Lindy’s lap.

His headache really never went away this afternoon/evening so now we have tried bayer back and body, sometimes that helps. He really isn’t supposed to have it or tylenol because of having fever reducer in it so he can only have one dose, so he doesn’t mask a fever. We would of hoped by now the headache would be going away. It’s been 4 days since the spinal tap.

We tried something new last night. My sister suggested using the Neti Pot for his sinuses. We bought it last year but was afraid to use it since his sinuses were so blocked and didn’t know with having surgery. Bennett was good about trying it, he said he felt like he was swimming. I really was surprised it drained really quick through his nostril to his sinuses and than out the next nostril. So I am assuminig he had no blockage. Maybe if we do this periodically it will keep a sinus infection away.

We will check counts at our local hospital either tomorrow or Monday. The Dr. just wants them before Tuesday so she can decide about him taking his weekly methotrexate pills since his liver levels were so high. He has continued taking the 6mp daily chemo pills per Dr. orders except for the night in the E.R. I’m really curious if his ANC is dropping even lower. We pray it’s not. I’m afraid it might be since he has been so tired. May God strenghten Bennett and take all of these side effects away that he is presented with.

We pray God blesses you and your family especially during this time of year. Please remember our soldiers away from home and the people that are bound to hospitals and nursing homes. Also, praying for those that have lost loved ones during the holiday season. We have so much to be thankful for and Thanking God for those many things.

“Let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.” Colossians 3:15

Bennett is feeling better!! Hooray! His headache went from 7 to a 4 in a range from 1 to 10. His breathing has been fine, the most concerning problem we had, so we are so happy that it’s good! He still feels pretty tired today. He got up pretty early considering it was after 1:00 a.m. before he went to bed. He didn’t take a nap and played on the computer most of the day. The Dr. did not want him to try to go to school.

Him and Hamilton went outside late afternoon, and went out in the field and looked for geese. Right before dark, they had a flock that flew over them. The Big duck and goose hunter didn’t want to shoot at them. He has tried to tell Hamilton that instead of shooting them, it’s even funnier and more enjoyable to just watch them fly over and listen to them make noise.

I was thinking last night as I was driving Bennett to the emergency room and he was laying in the back of the car. I couldn’t see him and he wasn’t making a sound so unfortunately my fears kicked in and I was worried if he was even breathing.

Since he was having such trouble with his breathes and breathing, it really scared me. I prayed for God to take the fears and concerns away so I could just drive. As I was driving and it was getting dark, on I64 a big flock of geese flew over me. I didn’t have the radio on so I could hear them. I looked up in the sky and new that this was a sign from God telling me he is okay. You may think I am crazy and I pray all the time of not letting my imagination go or start thinking the worse but unfortunately each time he is sick, I know down deep, how things can quickly turn to the worse.

I’m always so thankful that it’s just my mind or the devil making my situation worse. I pray that God gives me/us faith and hope to continue thru this journey and all of life’s struggles. Once you know that your child has a life threatening disease, there is no relaxing or forgetting how even the bad times now could look good at a later time.

When you think things are bad just remember that there is someone else out there that would love to change places with you. I try to be careful not to complain of long Dr. appts, a trip to the E.R., a game that wasnt played, or my son lifeless in bed because I know many friends or even strangers that would trade places with me in a minute.

Unfortunatley, I also no others that don’t have one appreciation or comprehension of the blessings they have. I never wish anything bad on anyone but sometimes I wish they could trade places with Bennett and our family for just one month, one week or just one day because their priorities would change and hopefully their appreciation of people, friends, family, and time would be deeper, appreciated, and loved.

“Now faith is the substance of things hope for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in me.” John 14:1

We just got home from a 5 hour ER stay in St. Louis. Bennett felt really bad this afternoon. He had a severe headache and his stomach hurt. He also was having problems breathing. Kinda hard to explain he said, shortness of breathe and just seemed like he could never really catch his breathe. His nurses at school and the nurse/Dr. in St. Louis was concerned and thought he needed to be looked at. Bennett and I both prefer to drive to St. Louis and to be seen by this hospital since they are more familiar with his situation. We were lucky when we got there and actually was seen by the Cares unit in the E.R. instead of the E.R. staff. We both like this much better. I also was able to talk to the oncology Dr. on call. He left it up to us if we wanted to be admitted but Bennett didn’t feel bad enough to stay at that time. He also needed to get home to see his girlfriend:)

The Dr. checked his counts, And OH BOY! What a drop. His ANC tonight is 992 from 1,825 four days ago. His WBC are now 1.6 from 2.5 and neutrophils are 62 from 73. His ANC has gone from 2,442 to 1,825 to 992 in a matter of 9 days. His hemoglobin is 11.8 from 13.3 and platelets are 102 from 164 so those are dropping too. THe counts we want to drop is his liver levels but they went up to 301 and 656 which is critical. They were 90 and 227. The bilirubin total did drop to 0.6 from 0.9 and that’s the liver function they watch even closer.

The Cares Unit Dr. thought he must have a virus causing his counts to drop. This is always the answer I believe for anything unknown. The headache we are assuming is because of the spinal tap on Tuesday. The breathing difficult might of been caused from the pain of the headache or just anxiety. I’m not sure I agree with that either because he has felt a lot worse. When we arrived his blood pressure was 90/50. Dr. gave him a bolus of fluids because she thought he might be deydrated. His blood pressure improved to 130/60.

They did a flu swab and it came back negative.. Yeah! They also took blood cultures and we won’t know the first results until tomorrow and they usually let grow for 48 hours to a week. They don’t really expect this to be positive since he isn’t running a fever.

Oh yeah, this morning we went to Good Sams Hospital in Mt Vernon to re-check his chest x-ray and it was negative! So the early stages of penumonia are gone! Hooray! They Dr. tonight thought his lungs were clear and this would not the cause of his breathing problems.

Bennett is feeling better. His headache was better later in the night and now early morning is doing much better. The Dr. doesn’t want him to go to school tomorrow because of his issues. This is disappointing as he has his first final exams tomorrow. He missed the freshman basketball game and he hated to miss it especially since he had heard he might get to play a little more because another player was out sick.

We’re thankful Bennett is feeling better but he is not fully recovered yet. I am praying his counts go up because it’s never a good sign when they keep falling like they are, this usually means trouble. Thank you for prayers, we really need them especially he doesn’t want to be sick or in the hospital on or near Christmas.

Bennett is doing Great! So far so good! He felt pretty good today considering his procedure and treatment that he had yesterday. He has a busy time at school, trying to catch up from the school work he missed and exams start on Friday.

The freshman team won by 2 points tonight, Bennett didn’t get to play. There was a sophomore game afterwards though and he got to start the game. He also played every quarter and made a basket. He really looked like he had more energy and happier to be playing with this team. We hope he can keep this up and hopefully will return playing on during the freshman games soon. His team plays at Eldorado tomorrow night and than they don’t have a game until January. We hope he is able to go to practices and get his time in and does well.

We will go in the morning to Good Sams in Mt Vernon to have a re-check of his chest xray. We pray that it is clear! He is still coughing some and nose is still running at times. He still is taking a claritin pill daily but haven’t really seen any signs that it has helped. He has been taking it for a month and half.

Thank you for your prayers. We thank God daily for hearing our prayers and answering them.

What a busy day. We left home at 7:00 a.m. and got home around 7:30 p.m. and went straight to the hospital and home. His Dr. thought that his lungs sounded clear so he was able to receive his spinal tap with chemo, it went well. The Dr. gave him one bolus and two bolus of fluids afterwards to help him from getting a spinal headache. She had to use a bigger needle this time so she did an extra bolus afterwards. He received all of his normal fixin’s, iv push of vincristine, iv infusion of immune globulin, and breathing treatment. The Dr. indicated this she wanted to keep up the antibodies in the immune globulin throughout the winter season to help his immune system.

He started taking steroids again, 7 pills daily for 5 days. He will continue taking caffeine pills for another couple days, hoping this will keep the headaches away too. He even drank two mountain dews today after his procedure and he really doesn’t like them.

The Dr. indicated that she thought it was okay to see the ENT specialists which he has an appt on January 7th which was the first time we could get in. I asked and she agreed that he may just be sensitive to everything because his counts are low and he doesn’t have the white blood cells to fight them off like someone else. She said after he finishes treatment, it will take 6 months for his counts to go back to normal range and possible all of this sinus stuff will go away.

The Dr. kept his chemo pills the same as before. She was okay with his anc at 1,800, they really want his ANC to be 500 to 1,500 which is unbelievably low to me. But this is all part of his treatment. A lower ANC will make you more tired and weaker too.

We did stop by Good Sam’s to try to get his re-check of his chest x-ray but found out that they can’t do it until the 10th day which is Thursday. I was just trying to save a trip and getting him out of school again. We pray the early stages of pneumonia are gone. His last dose of augmentin is tomorrow.

So far he feels okay. He slept all the way there and all the way home. He was really tired but managed to find a little energy to leave for Lindy’s basketball game as soon as we got home.

His basketball team had a game last night but Bennett didn’t get to play the first game which was the “A” game, assuming because he had been out for a week. I really hate it for him. He was on a roll and really playing aggresively and liking it. Now, it seems he has to start back over which can be disappointing. He played the second game which was the “B” team. Bennett started and played but he isn’t used to playing that kind of ball with no plays. His team plays again tomorrow night at Waltonville.

It’s hard not to be worried with all the possibilities of severe issues that can develop. We pray that Bennett has no side effects from the spinal tap, sinus infection and pneumonia are gone, and that his counts stay in a good range. Some days we feel so blessed and fortunate, other days are not so easy.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and he shall direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6

Bennett’s ANC today is 1,825 from 2,442 from only five days ago. WBC are 2.5 and neutrophils at 73. Hemoglobin is at 13.3 and platelets 183 which are great. We are so thankful his ANC is still good and didn’t drop too low with his sinus infection. His liver levels are high at 90 and 227 but bilirubin total is in the Dr.’s range at 0.90

He really feels much better. He still is tired but has more energy. He had basketball practice this afternoon and he went and practiced. This is his first practice in about a week. His cough is much better. He can hear and the feel congestion in his chest. We pray that the early stages of pneumonia are gone. We will re-check the x-ray either Tuesday late afternoon on our way home from St. Louis or on Wednesday.

His basketball game has been changed to be at home tomorrow night instead of at Massac. We hope he is able and up to playing. We missed cheering for him last week during our tournament.

Since he sounds much better and feels much better, I am assuming he will have his spinal tap with chemo injected and his regular monthly chemo treatments. We pray this is the case, we want all the treatment he can get to help this disease from every coming back. He started taking caffeine pills yesterday. The Dr. wants him to take 4 throughout the day but so far he has only taken two and still had problems sleeping last night. He will take these through Thursday next week and it’s supposed to help him from getting a severe headache from the spinal tap. He will also have an hour bolus of fluids before and after the procedure plus lay flat on his back for an hour so we pray this keeps him from getting sick from it.

Thank you for your prayers, we are so blessed that his illnesses didn’t turn into anything worse. God is Good!

Bennett is feeling better. He is still tired but hopefully each day will gain his strength. He did go to school today and came home and worked on homework. He said he barely made it through school all day. He took a nap and we woke him up to go to the freshman tournament. His team played Pinkneyville and the won by 2 points so they placed 3rd. He went to the game sat on the bench with the team but didn’t dress or play.

His cough is better, we’re so thankful. He doesn’t cough as much and it’s not as congesting sounding. We pray each day he continues to improve and hopefully will be good as new next week.

In the newspaper, Bennett was mentioned for honor roll for first nine weeks, he received merit which we were proud of especially since he missed couple weeks of school because of the Alaska trip. He has a lot of homework to make up from just missing 2 1/2 days this week. Him and Lindy worked on more homework after the game tonight.

Hamilton has been real sweet and helping with take care of Bennett since he has been sick. He has helped cook for him and brings him stuff. It’s always so much enjoyable with the two are getting along, sometimes that brotherly love kicks in.

We pray Bennett’s x-ray next week is clear. St. Louis indicated that he will not need a re-take xray before his sedation for his spinal tap at his Tuesday appt. We won’t know if the spinal tap is a go until the Dr. and anesthesiologist checks his breathing and lungs.

Hope you and everyone in your family is healthy.

“Casting all your care upon him, for he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7

Bennett is maybe a little better. He didn’t go to school today. He is just so weak and no energy. He stayed in bed all day and slept for the most part which is good. He got up in the afternoon and took a shower and he said it took everything he had to get through it. I remember many days while he was going through extensive treatment that a shower was quite a chore and many days just didn’t get done.

He is eating pretty good which is a good sign. He looks a little better, his eyes don’t look so drained. He hopes he feels up to going to school tomorrow. He still has his cough and sounds very congested and deep. His nose is still runny. He has two more days on the z pack and than a week on the augmentin. We will check his counts on Saturday or Sunday.

Since he didn’t go to school today because of being sick, he didn’t go to his game. I hate that he is missing his Freshman basketball tournament especially at home court. Unfortunately they lost against DuQuoin so they will play for 3rd place tomorrow night. We hope Bennett can go and root them on.

Thank you for your prayers and your posted comments. Try to stay warm in these bitter winds!

Bennett’s ANC today is 2,442 from 2,664 from 10 days ago. His WBC are 3.3 and neutrophils are 73. This is good news. We were concerned that they could of bottomed out because of the infection. We pray that they continue to stay good, this is an important piece of his body to fight off the sinus infection and pneumonia. His other counts were good, hemoglobin at 12.6 and platelets at 164.

I spoke with his St. Louis nurse and she indicated that his oncology Dr. was fine with the antibiotics he is taking. She was concerned with what his counts would do so I was glad I already had them checked this morning. She also wants them checked weekly until he gets over this. Since his counts were good, she said he could continue taking his chemo pills. We were concerned and wanted this resolved because today he needed to take his weekly dosage of 9 methotrexate pills besides his 3 daily 6mp pills.

Bennett stayed home today from school and rested all day. He was really tired and slept most of the day. He got up tonight and ate supper and took a shower. He is trying but just doesn’t have a lot of energy.

May God’s will be to heal Bennett of this sickness quickly and that it doesn’t turn into a lengthy process as many of his other illnesses have been in the past.

Bennett is sick. I took him to his PAC and he has upper respiratory infection, sinus infection and the early stages of pneumonia. We figured he had something going on with his sinuses because he could feel the drainage, his cough was bad with a running nose with fleme coming up. His PAC wanted to do a chest x-ray just in case which we are used too, he has had numerous chest x-rays. The xray showed subtle opacity in the left lung and early stage of pneumonia. She prescribed augmentin and the z-pack plus refilling his tussionex cough syrup. She wants the x-ray repeated in 10 days. He also cannot participate in basketball games or practices for about a week. Bennett was disappointed as tonight started the Freshman tournament at home all this week. We heard his team won beating West Frankfort tonight playing again Wed night against DuQuoin. Bennett is also frustrated that he is having sinus problems again. Dr. said he had alot of mucus built up in his throat and definitely was sinusitis.

Bennett came home from school and slept a couple hours. He was going to go to his game to just watch but he was too sleepy and tired. Sid and I thought it was best to stay home this evening and we will just see how he feels tomorrow for school.

I called his nurse in St. Louis and she was going to check with a Dr. to make sure they were okay with everything and didn’t want to change anything. Hopefully as long as he doesn’t run a fever or get worse, we are free from a hospital stay. Next Tuesday is his chemo appt in St. Louis and his supposed to be sedated for a spinal tap. I’ve already started praying that the spinal tap goes well and he doesn’t get a headache or fever from it. Now we also need to pray that his pneumonia/sinusitis is better so he can receive the treatment.

Thank you for checking in and say a prayer that Bennett is well soon. For all the kids sick this winter season and especially the cancer patients that have a low immune system.