Hallelujah!  My Dad was discharged from the hospital last night and is home.  He seems to be doing good when we visited with him today.  We’re so thankful all tests came back negative.  He just needs to take it easy and not work so hard in this hot heat.  The Dr. wants him to go on a cholesterol diet too.  We pray God continues to watch over him.

Bennett is doing good.  He hasn’t mentioned a headache so glad that is over!  His cough might even be better.  I didn’t notice him coughing. Especially in church,  I usually hear him but seems so far so good.  Bennett umpired two games yesterday and two games today in the afternoon.  He was out in the sun, humidity, and heat for about 5 hours.    He won’t get his regular bi-weekly blood work done, the Dr. thought he would be good to wait until his next appt in 2 weeks.. 

Hamilton’s all star team had a game at home yesterday.  He was able to help when the team took infield and they would throw the ball back to Ham to catch and give to the coach.  This afternoon, Sid took him to the park to hit balls in the batting cage.  Hamilton really wanted to practice and keep up with his hitting skills.  Ham’s counting down, 5 days until he gets his cast off!! 

We’re thankful for all of God’s blessings. We ask for God’s grace and love to be with us each day!

Please say a special prayer for my Dad.  He went to the ER at McLeansboro and was taken by ambulance to Evansville for overnight observation.  He was having shortness of breathe and felt like his heart was skipping a beat.  They did an EKG and it came back normal and blood work showed no signs of heart problems.  They have him hooked up to a monitor and watching him.

Bennett is doing better, his headache is tolerable. He has started coughing for the last three days and it was worse last night so he started taking cough medicine.      He had weight lifting and open gym early this morning.  His game in Carmi got rained out on our way there so they ended up playing a scrimmage game at home with each other.  It came a couple showers but they played in the rain.  Bennett fell once while throwing the ball but I think the grass was just slippery.  He was able to go to the Miner’s game tonight with Lindy and her family.

Hamilton’s in house team had a game tonight and Hamilton coached 1st base, he did a good job.  He helped warm up the team and got hit by a ball in his good foot.  It’s pretty sore tonight so he is icing it.  We pray it’s better tomorrow.

We take a moment to remember our friend Ethan that went to be God’s angels one year ago today.  We pray for his family’s healing.  Ethan is a one of a kind and always kept us smiling and guessing of what he was going to do or say next.  We miss him and we miss visiting with his family at the hospital. 

We pray that God keeps us all safe and healthy!  May he bless you and your family!

Bennett is finally doing better. Today was the first day that he didn’t take any pain medicine for his headache.  Yesterday he took a nap for 3 to 4 hours in the afternoon.  He woke up not feeling well.  He loves Toy Story and we watched the first Toy Story movie.  Today, he had his first summer baseball practice which is a Colt, sophomore team. Their first game is tomorrow at Carmi.

Tonight Bennett umpired a double header for the in house Bronco team.  Hamilton and I went to my great nephew and niece’s t-ball game first and than watched Bennett umpire.  He did great.  One of the coaches had a disagreement with Bennett and he stood his ground and did not get upset.  They checked and Bennett was correct in his decision.  I could tell he was feeling better, his calls were louder and with more passion.

Hamilton ended up playing with some kids at the park. Hamilton batted, ran or hopped and skipped around the bases and he made it home safely.  Ham said, Boy, that felt awesome and was fun!     The sitting out and just watching games is really hard for him.  I don’t think anyone understands until it is you going through it.  I think I’ve said that a time or two.  Really, I wish people would be more compassionate.    Also, realizing if they don’t have any sickness in their family, Life is Great!   We all need to be more positive and not to dwell or get upset about the things that don’t really make a difference.

“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain.  Live well, Laugh often & Love with all your heart. Dance as if no one were watching, Sing as if no one were listening, Work like you don’t need the money, Love like you’ve never been hurt, & Live everyday as if it were your last.”

Bennett is about the same.  He still has the headache. Yesterday he went to weight lifting and open gym for basketball from 7:00 a.m. to 10:30.  He went to the chiropractor after that for his elbow.  He had two games to umpire for the boys in house Bronco team last night which were some long games.    He was ready to get home and go to bed.  Today, he has rested most of the day.  His leg and stomach muscles are sore from lifting weights.  We pray that his headache pain starts improving!  Hopefully gradually it will, since it’s been a week since his spinal tap. 

Hamilton is the same too.  He was hoping to play baseball for his in-house team.  He hit the ball Saturday and had some good hits so he is so anxious to play.  It’s been a very different summer without him playing.  He is learning each day of other things he can do and not let his leg in a cast slow him down.  We pray that when he gets off his cast next Friday that his therapy will go well and he can get back into the swing of things very soon.

Bennett is a little better.  He still has his headache.  I’ve been giving  him 2 pain pills about every 4 hours so this seems to help to get him through the day.  He umpired two games yesterday and than came home and went to bed.  He slept for several hours.  We woke him up to go gar-ing with Hamilton and I in the creek.  Hamilton got his first gar with a bow and arrow.  You wouldn’t know he had a cast on his foot.  Hamilton misses playing baseball, he is happy though that he now can ride the four wheeler and mow the yard. 

Lindy made it home safely from her famiy vacation.  She went to Sunday school and church with us today.  Bennett didn’t feel well but had already committed to umpiring, so he umpired two games this afternoon.    At least there was a nice breeze and cooler today.  Sid and Hamilton went bow fishing and Hamilton got a few, he really likes it.  Him and Bennett have been practicing with their bows, getting ready for deer hunting too. 

Hopefully in a couple more days, Bennett’s head pain will go away and he won’t have to take so much pain medicine.  We’re thankful that he has been able to keep going and hasn’t had to be hospitalized after the spinal tap.

Bennett is not feeling well.  He slept in and got up in time to go to the chiropractor.   We went to lunch and he only ate  a little bit.  While I was taking him and Hamilton home, his head was hurting so bad that he had to lay his head down in the car. As soon as he got home, he laid down in his room in the dark with no noise for a couple hours.  I had given him another pain pill.  By the time I got home from work, he was in a lot of pain again.  I gave him two pain pills this time and it seemed to give him some relief.     He hopes to feel better next week so he can start participating in summer high school sports. 

He has been still going to the chirpractor this week every other day for his elbow.  Last week with holiday, he missed four days and by Tuesday this week, it was bothering him a lot more.  We asked his oncology Dr. on Tuesday if she had any suggestions. She said that the nerves do take a long time to heal. And with him receiving the chemo vincristine that effects your nerve endings, it would probably take even longer. She thought to wait on having a MRI and continue with the chiropractor if it helps.

Hamilton is crutchless and cane-less!!  he just started today walking by himself on his cast.  He limps along a litte but finally fees confident to not have any support with it.  This sure makes it easier for him to move around.  There for awhile he couldn’t hardly move and required “baby”care.  Him and Sid went fishing tonight. They both caught a cat fish on Rend Lake with the boat.    Bennett and I ran to Marion to eat and go to a hunting store.  I sure enjoyed the one on one time with him. 

We continue to pray for Bennett’s healing keeping him in remission forever.  All of these side effects are tough to see him go through but it’s all worth it!

Bennett is not feeling well. His head really started bothering him this morning and has got worse all day.  He tried tylenol and drinking a mountain dew but that didn’t phase it.  At Lunch and after work I gave him a pain pill and I’m not sure that really helped either.  He said the pain is an 8 or 9 on a scale of 1 to 10.  He tried to do a few things today to keep busy. He worked on his duck blind.  He laid down a couple times with the light and t.v. off  too.  

He was already set to umpire two games tonight for boys bronco so he went ahead and did that with the headache.   I hope he did okay, I was worried that he might get aggravated easy since he doesn’t feel good.  We watched him for a little bit and he did good.   He got hit four different times by the ball standing behind the catcher while umpiring.  He so far only has one bruise on his leg.     We pray this headache doesn’t last long and he feels better soon.

So far so good. Bennett feels pretty good from his spinal tap treatment yesterday. His back is pretty sore where they did the procedure. We’re thankful that he doesn’t have any headaches but we’re not holding our breathe. It usually takes 2 to 3 days before he gets headaches and gets down. We pray this doesn’t happen this time. A few people asked us yesterday how does it feel to have his last spinal tap but honestly it’s too early to get too excited knowing that he may get sick. His Dr. told him to take it easy this week and to limit his physical activity. Since there is no school, we agreed to hold off on starting any summer sports activities until next week.

Yesterday did go well. We had alot to get accomplished and we spent about 8 hours at the hospital so it made for a long day. Besides his usual immune globulin infusion, breathing treatments, and vincristine chemo; he had 3 liters of fluids and had to lay on his back for an hour after the procedure. The extra fluids is to help him from getting dehydrated and help with the headaches. When he woke up, he was starved and it was about 1:30 so I fed him his usual cheese fries while he had to lay flat. He weighed 139.7, we both thought he would weigh more.

The Dr. kept his chemo pills the same. She said even though his ANC was higher at 2,400 that she wouldn’t change anything. Only one more month and a week of taking these!!!     He started yesterday taking prednisone for the next five days. He will be so glad to stop taking them. The side effects from steroids is almost greater than some of the chemo pills he takes.

Hamilton is doing good, he has really learned how to move and walk around on his cast using his cane. Him and Sid went to their in house baseball game tonight, Hamilton has really done pretty good lately about not being able to play. Him and Bennett have been keeping busy together.

“Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.” Psalm 36:5