Bennett’s ANC is 2,778. His WBC are 6.8 and neutropils at 41. Hemoglobin is 15.2 and platelets at 309, all in normal range. His follow up appt in St. Louis is tomorrow. 

Bennett is feeling so much better. He finally got over of having a fever, he had a fever for about 7 days. He had an upset stomach for about 9 days and by last week started feeling good.  His sinus infection has improved and hopefully gone away too.

He has been wearing his boot when he can. He can’t drive with it so he takes it off and puts it back on when he is done.  His foot isn’t soar anymore. It isn’t swollen or bruised so that’s all good signs.  He has started umpiring baseball games and it’s really difficult to wear the boot during that time.    He may have to wear it longer but we’ll see when he returns to his follow up appt in about 2 1/2 weeks.

 We are so blessed and thankful that Bennett is doing good.  We have some friends that are not doing as well and it sure breaks your heart to hear of them having a difficult time.  Please pray for all the children fighting this horrible disease or the side effects from their treatment.  God Bless.

Bennett is doing a tad better.  He still has a temperature at 101.6 this evening.  He is eating a little, he is making himself eat so he take his antibiotic.  He didn’t feel like going to school but he did for one class because it’s too difficult to make up. So he made it through 2nd hour and missed 1st, 3rd, and 4th hours of school. He came home and went back to bed and that’s all he has done all evening.  It’s just going to take a little time to get over this, we just pray it doesn’t get worse.  God Bless everyone!

Where to Begin?

Bennett’s first Dr. appt was as the orthopedic Dr. in Herrin regarding his ankle/foot. The ortho Dr. confirmed that he has 3 fractures in his foot in the tibia, calcaneus (heel), and near his ankle.  He also has low grade sprains in his foot and heel ligaments.  He has a lession on his distal shaft on his tibia but this Dr.,  the radiologist and St. Louis Children’s Hosp. radiologist agree that it’s not cancerous!  Amen!  There was a question at first and thought he may need a bone scane with his history of leukemia!  Praising God for the good news!  (that fear of hearing the nasty six letter word, we’ll never go away)

The ortho Dr. decided to put him a “boot” that he will have to wear 4 to 6 six weeks.  He should wear all the time except for showering and sleeping.  We have another appt in 4 weeks and he’ll decide than.  Bennett will have to do physical therapy after the boot as well.  There were several places on his foot that were swore to the Dr. touch and the Dr. knew exactly where they were at after viewing his MRI.

Next Dr. appt was to check about his fever.  It hasn’t been as high today but has been around 100.  The Dr. said his sinuses were blocked so he probably has a sinus infection.  She was concerned because his temp was so high so she did a influenza test and mono test, both came back negative!  We also did a CBC blood test. His ANC was 11,096, His WBC were abnormally high at 15.2 which means he probably has an infection.  Your WBC will increase to try to fight off the infection.  His hemoglobin was good at 15.0 and platelets good at 166.   

This makes about the 5th or 6th sinus infection he has had with one about every month.  This time, it’s only been just a few weeks away.  He was prescribed doxycycline. Dr. is going to refer him to a ENT Dr. to look more into his sinuses.  He has sinus surgery back 2 years ago and the ENT Dr. at that time didn’t go any further into it because she didn’t want to interfere with his chemo treatment plan.

He is feeling some better already compared to last night today. He had such a severe headache that he didn’t want light, food, or noise.

We pray he continues to feel better and God heals his broken bones.

“Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. ” 1 John 4:11

Bennett is not feeling well. He has had a 103 temp after school. It’s down now to 102 after Tylenol. He felt bad at school too with a severe headache, sinus pain, and his chest hurting. He has been in bed since he got home from school laying in the dark. He’s head is the worst and he’s thrown up once. He went to the Dr. 10 days ago and got a z-pac for a sinus infection. He has started feeling better but now even feels worse than before.

He has a Dr. appt with the Herrin Orthopedic at 9:00 am in the morning. I hope he feels like going. We’re anxious to hear what the ortho Dr. wants to do with his ankle and hopefully learn more about the stress fractures and sprained ligaments.    Thank you for your prayers.

We have good news and bad news!

Good news is that Bennett’s MRI showed no disease in ankle or foot.  The radiologist in Herrin first thought he saw something suspicious and may need a bone scan to further investigate.  The first thought was that there maybe leukemia in his foot.   We talked to his oncology Dr. on Thursday late afternoon and she wanted a radiologist from Children’s to read it.  They wanted us to get a copy of the MRI and over night it.  We decided to take it to the St. Louis hospital on Friday so we could receive the results sooner and by Friday afternoon, we heard back from his oncology nurse.  God answered our prayers and the SLCH radiologist said no sign of disease!!  Praise the Lord! 

Bad news is that he has 3 fractures and a couple sprained ligaments in his ankle/foot besides lots of swelling and fluid.   He will go to a orthopedic Dr. in Carbondale to see what they want to do, we are assuming he may have to wear a boot.  The shortest of these fractures is 5 cm long and the longest is about 6 cm.  We believe they are stress fractures which we will receive more detail next week from the orthopedic but we believe one is in the heel and other near the ankle. 

Nothing showed up in the x-ray he had a week or so ago.  This is all from him falling on his ankle while playing catch.  He has had problems before in the past with stress fractures in both ankles.  We believe that his bones are weak from all the steriods he took with his 3 1/2 years of treatment.  It’s a frustration but defintely something we can deal with as long as he stays healthy and cancer free!

“Everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.” Matthew 7:8

Bennett has been a little sick with headache, coughing, and a sore throat.  His sinuses have really bothered him so Friday he went to the Dr. and she prescribed him the zpac which he has one more day left.  He is feeling some better.

About a week and half ago, he fell after catching a ball in his girlfriend’s yard and hurt his ankle and foot.  Twoweeks ago, he got an x-ray and it came back normal. When he went to the Dr. Friday, he showed her his ankle again and she decided to order a MRI on it.  He will have the MRI this Thursday at Herrin Hospital.  We pray it’s normal and it just needs time to heal.  It’s very sore to walk and is really bruised.

We had an awesome weekend. Hamilton was baptized and it was a beautiful service.  We are so proud of him.  He has been going to confirmation class for the last two months.  It is such an amazing and proud feeling for our family.  We pray that he continues to grow in his spirtual faith!  What a blessing!

“All of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death. Therefore, we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.”  Romans 6:3-4 

WOW!  Bennett’s ANC is Awesome at 3,965 from 2,940 from a month ago. His WBC are 6.5 from 6.0 and neutrophils are 61 from 49. His hemoglobin is good at 14.7 from 15.0 and platelets are good too at 175 from 199.  We are so thankful all his counts are Great!  He has his monthly Dr. appt in St. Louis tomorrow. We expect the appt to go well since his counts are good and he feels good too. He has been keeping busy going fishing. He goes every chance he can.  He also has a new girlfriend that he has been spending a lot of time with and seems very happy.

We think of all the children still fighting this horrible disease. We pray for the cure. Many children are hospitalized fighting cancer or the side effects from the chemo. We ask God to bless them and their families.  

We are thankful for our blessings and all of our good health!  God is Good!

Bennett is doing Great!  We are so thankful!  Nothing really new to update other than he is doing good and that’s the best news ever!  His next monthly Dr. appt is next Tuesday in St. Louis.  We are nearing the one year anniversary in 4 months that he hasn’t had any chemo.  Amazing!    Thank you for your continued prayers!

Bennett had his monthly Dr. appt in St. Louis yesterday, Sid took him and all went well.  Dr. was pleased to hear that he hadn’t been sick anymore which were very thankful and appreciative!  All the nurses was happy to see him and chattered away.

My family has been donating snacks to the Ronald McDonald room at the hospital and also for the patients at the clinic where Bennett has his appts.  Both places appreciate it very much and I appreciate my families support in helping families and children enjoy a nice snack while in the hospital or at a clinic appt all day.  I remember when Bennett would look forward to see what snacks he was going to eat for the day, sometimes the little things are very important!

Thank you for your continued prayers, we’re blessed that Bennett continues to do so well, we never take it for granted.  Every night I ask God to keep Bennett in remission forever and Thank him for all his blessings.

Bennett had blood work completed yesterday. His ANC was 2,940 from 2,132 last month. His WBC were 6.0 from 5.2 and neutrophils were 50 from 41. His hemoglobin is 15.0 from 13.9 and platelets are 199 from 185. All his blood counts are Great and we are so thankful.

Bennett has been feeling well, we hope all the winter colds and flu are over with and he continues to stay healthy and feel good.

He has been busy keeping the time clock at Future Rangers basketball games.  He likes to do it, he knows the game well and sure likes the extra money.

Bennett & Hamilton went hunting with Grandpa Johnston today at a game reserve. They didn’t have school because of Casmir Polaski holiday.   Bennett got a hen pheasant and 6 quail and Hamilton got a rooster and 6 quail.  The boys enjoyed the hunt and had a beautiful day to enjoy it.

Bennett & Hamilton pheasant & quail hunting

Our friend Dalton is in the hospital in St. Louis with pneumonia in both lungs. We pray for his healing and that he feels better soon. Our other friend Jeremy was able to go home today after several weeks in the hospital after his stem cell transplant.  We ask for blessings and healing for all the children in the hospital.

“The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him.” Ezra 8:22