Please pray

Luke is running very high fever. I took him to the doctor and the strep test came back negative but the doctor was suspicious because his tonsils look very red and inflamed. Because of the situation with Jon and his counts being so low she put Luke on an antibiotic. Please pray that his fever will not spike again tonight. He is also only able to take Tylenol because of an allergy to NSAIDS so it is very difficult to keep his fever down with only tylenol. The baths do wonders but he isn't always real open to that at 3AM. Jon has stayed away from him but of course had contact with him before we realized what was going on. Pray protection around mostly Jon but also the twins.

My favorite picture of this season of life.

This was taken last Friday at the infusion center.  The nurses were so sweet and even though you are supposed to be 12 years to come in, they let my sweet baby boy Luke (4 years) in.  I could never tell you how happy he was.  Luke was the happiest boy on the face of this earth that he got to see his daddy get his medicine.  He was SOO cute.  He just kept smiling from ear to ear.  This is normally Jon's worst day but I know I saw him smile big on this day!  Luke was very interested in how the medicine gets in daddy so we were able to try to explain it to him as he watched it drip in.  It is sad in some ways and of course I cried when I saw how big Luke hugged Jon, but I also know that our kids will see first hand how God can heal and the miracles He works in our lives.  There are times that I get too focused on how sad it is that my kids are seeing their daddy sick .  How sad it is that he struggles to give the kids what they need right now.  It is sad that my children are constantly saying "daddy sick."  It is sad that they can't even hardly get near him because of the possibility of germs.  I just focus on the sadness of all this.  But again, I know this will make an impact in our kids lives when they see their daddy enduring and persevering the hardest thing he has ever been through.  And when they see the healing power of Jesus.  

This has been a really hard week for Jon.  It started out strong, we thought.  But by Tuesday, he was already going down hill. By Wednesday he could hardly crawl out of bed.  Please pray.  Jon is very discouraged.  He is weary.  He is tired of being "sick."  He is tired of being tired.  He is tired of not living his "normal" life.  Please pray for him.

Also, will you please pray for Judy, Betsy, Belle and Mr. Stancil. These are 4 people that we have gotten to know in the infusion room and they are also going through chemo.  They are all very sweet and have been great to us.  They have become our friends and been an encouragement to us.  Pray that God will heal them of their cancer.

Jon's weekend

Jon got extra anti-nausea meds last week along with extra fluids Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.  His day Saturday was the best he has had although don't get too excited, he is still suffering, but a definite praise!!  He usually barely leaves his bed and barely moves all weekend.  But yesterday and today he walked in the neighborhood.  He has eaten and drank great.  He still feels nauseated but again, not as bad as usual.  He has actually sat on the couch and watched basketball on his new 55 inch flat screen.  If you know Jon, this will tell you how sick he has been:  He did NOT fill out a bracket this year.  He is that bad!!!

He is going to try and go to work tomorrow!!  And the rest of the week!  Please pray for him because his white counts are very low.  Please pray that he will not pick up any infection as he teaches next week.  He is taking neupogen shots to get his counts back up which I get to give him:o)  Pay back!!  How many couples can say they have given each other shots  and we have only been married 8 years!! Its bonding.

So, I left my twins in Atlanta with my sister and my mom.  They have had a great time and will come back Monday.  Jon's sister and parents have been here taking care of Jon and Luke.  I worked Saturday and then I'm using this time to take care of Jon and conquer my MANY piles that have slowly gotten worse since this process began.  By the way, I HATE it being this quiet!  It is SO weird but I know this was the best thing for Jon.  It is also weird not to have to make sure every door, gate, cabinet, etc is closed (for my little wild man Ryan), and make sure everything is up and out of his reach.  It has been strange for sure. I will be glad when we are all back together as a family.

Luke recently got to see Scott McIntyre in concert.  He is the blind guy from American Idol.  He did a little concert in Bluffton and Luke LOVES music and American Idol so I took him.  He got to meet him and that was really cool!  Now he just wants to meet Ryan Seacrest.  Here is a picture although it is fuzzy.

Day 4 chemo

Jon is having a rough go this round.  It has been just much more intense.  All the side effects he has started Monday!  And they have just gotten worse throughout the week.  The NCAA Tournament starts today so the nurses reserved Jon a front row seat to the action:o)  Yes, that is a very fake smile on Jon's face.  Please pray for him.  They have given him extra fluids because once we leave the infusion suite he doesn't eat or drink anything.  Jon will also begin taking shots to boost his white counts starting on Saturday for 7 days so pray the shots will help his counts so that he can do his last round on time.

The kids got to have a great time at my grandfather's (their great-grandfather's) house on Sunday.  He pulled them in his tractor for a hayride.  He used to take us for rides as kids on the tractor--a great memory.  This is my dad's dad.  Everyone had a great time!!  Hopefully it will be a great memory especially for the older ones and hopefully we will be able to do it again soon.

Jon is back to normal!

The weekend was pretty good, but Monday Jon started feeling completely "normal."  He said that he virtually has no side effects at all from the chemotherapy. So he gets to enjoy one solid week of normalcy before he begins again.  He officiated a soccer game last night and felt great.  He will do 2 more this week.  It is amazing to see how he comes back to life!  It is so encouraging.  Thanks for your continued prayers.

This week in the life of Luke, 4 yrs old.  He wanted to know where Daddy's boo boo is exactly.  He now is too smart and knows it is more serious than the bandaid that Jon has on his rib area that was put there to symbolize for our kids his cancer in his lungs.  He asked how babies get into Mommies tummies.  He came out of the bathroom the other day and said, "Momma, don't freak out!!  But I had to use a different soap."  I can picture him coming home from middle and high school saying "momma, now don't freak out, but..."  I can't wait:o)  I LOVE the age 4!!

A tough weekend/beginning of week

Sorry I haven't written.  There is literally no time!  We got back to Hilton Head on Friday at 5.  We literally left Piedmont at 1pm and did not stop!  Kids slept a lot and we just kept on driving!  Couldn't have done it with Jon's sister, Sara and without my sister getting all kids ready and to Piedmont with full stomachs!   This is definitely a TEAM effort!

Saturday was terrible for Jon.  It is horrible to watch him in misery.  I am so emotional these days!  I just get so teary eyed watching him suffer.  But we know God will use this to heal him so he must go on!  Sunday was a tiny bit better.  Monday was better but then around 3 nausea hit and it was really bad.  So he was unable to work today (Tuesday).  There is only one medicine that is keeping his nausea down and it is a more powerful drug that we are just not sure he can be on while working.  Please pray that some of his other meds will begin to work.  The main things that Jon is having to overcome is nausea, indigestion, and extreme fatigue.  He had the same side effects this round as the 1st round, only this time more intense and seem to be lingering longer.

On a very positive note, both of Jon's tumor markers that were elevated because of the cancer are back to NORMAL!!  We are so grateful and give the glory to God.  We know he is the one healing Jon!

I decided to do a little ahead with my Bible Study Friday at treatment and guess what the focus verse was?  JOHN 15:5!  Again, I got teary eyed.  And soon after that one of the nurses came over.  She was talking to me about what an encouragement we were.  She started telling me that all the infusion nurses at this particular center are Christians.  She went on to tell me that it is so sad to see people in the infusion room that believe the drip is healing them when it is really God.  I had to share Jon's blog with her and of course she cried.  It was just so encouraging to hear her talk about her faith and to know that all these nurses that are taking care of Jon know that it is not this medicine that is healing him, but that it is The Lord our Healer, Jehovah Rapha.

Thanks for praying and for all you are doing to get us through this time.  We appreciate it!

Food For Thought

So this is actually Jon writing my first post throughout this process.  Donna is much more articulate using this format than I, but I thought that I would share something with you all that God has taught me this week.  So the theme for my bible study this week has been allowing God to prune us and shape us so that we can bear fruit for Him.  The main verse derives from John 15:5, and its says "I am the vine; you are the branches.  If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."  Obviously God is shaping me even as I write these words through this whole process. I guess God is just trying to re-teach me something that I didn't learn 6 and half years ago.  I guess I better hurry up and learn whatever it is He is trying to teach me:).  Anyway, the one phrase that the author wrote really touched me, and I hope that you too can gain strength from it.  The author is talking about a joy that only God can give us.  " God longs to bless us with abundant life and joy, and not just any joy.  Christ's joy!  Perfect, full, magnetic, and contagious!  The joy of Jesus comes to the believer only one way: transfusion, an intravenous drip from Vine to branch!"  For me, every time I see the chemo drugs drop into the tube, and flow through my veins, I think that instead of the drugs dripping through my body, it is actually Christ's joy that is dripping through my veins.  It is my prayer that His joy will shine through me, not just through this process, but for the rest of my life.