10 Strong

The last month has been one of the busiest of my life.

Largely in part because I decided to join a group of women raising money for St. Baldrick’s.

St. Baldrick’s funds more pediatric cancer research than any other organization. You can find out more about St. Baldrick’s here and you can learn about our group, 10 Strong, here. You can also donate directly to my St. Baldrick’s fundraiser here. And you can buy a tshirt or bracelet (the proceeds of which go to St. Baldrick’s) here.

We’re trying to raise $50,000 by next Sunday.

Jeannett of Life.Rearranged is helping us with our efforts by hosting a series on childhood cancer. Every Monday for a month, I’ll be guest posting on her blog, sharing pieces of Brock’s story. You can read the first post here and find ways to help out here.

(Are you tired of links yet??)

Thank you for how you’ve loved and supported us along the way. You all have been the hands and feet of Christ to us and we are extremely thankful.

the end…but not…

We met with Brock’s oncologist last Wednesday for his last dose of IV chemo and to discuss an end-of-treatment plan.

Jay and I cried.

Not because it was the last dose of IV chemo.
Not because Brock was just 10 days away from the very end of treatment.
Not because we were remembering everything he’s been through.

We cried because Brock’s doctor walked in, sat down, and said

“So. I think we can stop the antifungal medicine whenever he finishes chemo.”

We’re scared to stop the antifungal because what if the fungal infection gets worse. But we’re scared to stay on it because it causes skin cancer. He’s already had one mole biopsied that came back as pre-canceorus, and he has 3 more than need to be looked at.

We’re scared. Or at least I am. Jay might be handling it a little better than me.

Pray that the fungal infection will heal completely. Pray that, as his immune system recovers from 3.5 years of chemo, it will be able to completely eliminate every last bit of aspergillus.
Pray that he stays in remission and that leukemia will never ever be a part of our lives again.
Pray that skin cancer will never ever ever be one of his diagnoses. (This is honestly, the one I’m most worried about).

Tomorrow night Brock takes his last dose of chemo. But it’s not over, friends. There are still things to petition God for.

However, thankfully, mercifully, so much more to praise Him for.

Q&A about the bell ringing

Wait…where do I go?
The Children’s Hospital at OU Medical Center. Follow the signs for OU Children’s Physicians Building. Go to the tenth floor and look for the crowd of people just north of the elevators. (I really hope it’s north…it’s midnight and I’m second guessing myself. It’s not a huge floor – you’ll find us. Promise.)

Can my kids come?
Yes! Please bring your children! I know it’s kind of at an inconvenient time with after school pick up, etc, but we’d love for your kids to come.

Are you still having a no-more-chemo party?
Yes! Immediately following the bell ringing, we’ll walk over to the 6th floor of the atrium for snacks and fun. Jay and I have been praying the weather will be nice enough for the kids to play outside in the new Children’s Village.

I want to get Brock a gift. What does he like?
Please do not feel like he needs a gift. The love and support from you all during the last 3.5 years has been gift enough! Besides, he JUST had a birthday and Christmas and he doesn’t need one single thing.

But I want to do SOMETHING to celebrate the end of treatment…
A small group of people known as Brock’s Warriors have worked very hard to have the Beads of Courage program brought to the Children’s Hospital at OU Medical Center. They did this after we (Jay and Vanessa) heard about the program and became very passionate about having it here to help children own their stories of cancer. This video is what started the whole thing in motion.
Brock now has a bead for every night he’s spent in the hospital, every poke, every chemo, every clinic visit, every ER visit, every surgery and ct scan and echo and ultrasound, every time he moved to the ICU, each chest tube, each spinal tap. He has a bead for everything that’s happened to him. A tangible way for him to share his story with others. 26 strands. 5.5 pounds. He can’t even wear them all because they’re so heavy. That’s what the last 3.5 years looks like.

And each child that starts treatment for cancer at Children’s has the opportunity to do the same. Thanks to Brock’s Warriors.
This small group of people have been funding the program on their own for the past 2 years. After much discussion, Jay and I feel like the best way for someone to honor Brock and his accomplishment of finishing chemo is by giving to the Beads of Courage program at OU. We want every child to continue to have the opportunity to tell their story of courage and hope. If that’s something you’d like to do, please contact Jay or I. (If you donate through the Beads of Courage website it won’t go directly to the program at OU.) We’ll also have a little basket set up at the bell ringing where you could drop in your support. Please do not feel obligated to do this. We’re only mentioning it because people have asked and because it’s something we’re more comfortable with than gifts for Brock.

You all have been an invaluable means of love and support during the last 3.5 years. We could never thank you enough! We’re hoping you can all join us on the 12th!

Finally

A day that, for a time, we truly thought we would never see.

And you’re all invited.

Evermore

Thank you for praying, friends. Over and over and over God has been faithful to answer. I don’t understand it but I’m so thankful.

Brock came home from the hospital last night. FINALLY recovered from a 2+ week long tummy bug.

Jay has had the most mild case of the flu in history. He only had a fever for 1 day and has just felt a little tired since then. I’m so thankful because I cannot manage this crazy life without him and his help. He does so much more than you know.

Reese is still sick. After 5 days on antibiotics her ears weren’t any better. We’re trying a new antibiotic now and if she doesn’t show improvement in a few days we’ll have to go see an ENT.

The good part about the last 3 weeks of sickness that our family has endured is that it’s taken my mind off these last few months of chemo. It’s caused time to speed up and I can’t believe Brock only has 3.5 weeks of chemo left! 3.5 weeks! I really can’t even believe it. I hope it doesn’t sound faithless to admit this, but there were times (I’m looking at you, November 2009) when I truly did not believe we’d make it to the end of treatment. And here we are. I’m amazed. We are thankful every day for the Lord’s mercies on our family. I posted this line from a song on Facebook last week:

“Every step we are breathing in your grace. Evermore we’ll be breathing out your praise.”

It sums up exactly how I feel about the last 3.5 years.

More prayer requests

In case you missed the last post, Jay has the flu.

Prayer Requests:
- that Jay would recover VERY quickly. Like, supernaturally-only-God-can-do-this kind of quickly.
- that Brock, Jaycie, Reese, and myself will not get the flu.
- that we will get moved to a bigger room so that Reese (who is nursing) can stay up here with me.
- that Brock’s gut will start working. (that’s what’s keeping us here)
- wisdom for the doctors
- rest and patience and provision for our extended family as they step in and help care for the girls.

Bad to worse

Brock’s still in the hospital.

Jay has the flu.

An update and prayer requests

We’re back at our second home – the hem/onc floor at Children’s. Brock’s had diarrhea for almost 2 weeks and we’re just not able to keep him adequately hydrated at home. They’ve run lots of tests (norovirus, c-diff, etc) and they’ve all come back negative. We did an X-ray of his belly this morning and the surgeons have ruled out any kind of obstruction. A few doctors have told me they think he has an ileus and a few others have said they think he just had a virus that has disrupted his intestines ability to absorb his formula (from his tube feedings). We’re waiting to hear from the GI doctors about whether or not they want to switch him to a formula that’s partially broken down.

Prayer Requests:
- that the doctors would have wisdom in what’s causing the symptoms and the best way to treat them.
- that Brock would be happy while he’s here at the hospital. Despite all the time he’s spent in a hospital, he doesn’t remember much of it and isn’t used to it. The older he gets, the harder this is on him.
- Reese has a double ear infection and is pretty miserable.
- I’ve had pain in my thumb/wrist for over 2 months now. I finally went to the doctor yesterday and got a steroid and a fancy new spica cast. Pray that those 2 interventions help because the next step would be surgery.
- Pray for Jaycie as she handles the stress of our family being separated and getting shuffled back and forth between parents and grandparents. (We couldn’t do this without our parents’ help.)
- Pray for Jay as he leads our family. We’re so thankful for him.

Thank you for loving us and praying for us.

Home but back again

Brock came home last night but we’re taking him back to the ER this morning. Still vomiting, diarrhea, dehydration. 2 weeks of it now. Appreciate your prayers.

Back in

Brock was admitted last night for dehydration. I’ll post more later.