Dear Family and Friends,
Jim had a relatively quiet day. After a pretty good night, he awoke early because Brandy, his office tech, was there to draw blood to check his counts. She brought a bag of bagels and they were fresh and delicious. A dear friend, Brandon, who was there to drop off a breakfast casserole, then surprised him. Marchon, his wife, made it this morning and Brandon brought it over nice and hot.What a breakfast, huge delicious bagels and a tasty hot casserole. Jim enjoyed both and ate like he used to, a lot! We are overwelmed by these acts of kindness and love. We can only say thank you to these people and everyone else who have been there for us. With all of the stress involved with this disease, there are times like these that make you stop and think of how blessed we are by having and knowing people like this. Jim's counts are basically the same. He will have to have platelets tommorrow, they are going down. He spent the afternoon resting and in the evening his family and he enjoyed dinner together cooked by chef Don an the barbecue an excellent meal. Don will be staying again tonight and that is ok. We ask our heavenly Father to Bless and watch over all who sleep in his home. We thank Him for the Blessings given to us, for having Jim home and hopfully, able to stay home. We ask Him to guide us to his donor, to bring forth that person who will be Jim's angel! We ask all of you to continue asking Him to help us and to do this often during the day. Amen. Sleep well Jim, tomorrow will bring new and better things.
Peace and love
Jim's Family
Sunday, September 8, 2002
Dear Family and Friends,
Jim had a relatively quiet night and day. Like most males, he watched football and rested. The visiting Nurse came in and drew his blood to see where his counts were. The results came back in the afternoon and so far the blasts are remaining low. They are there, but they aren't exploding. Thank You Lord for this blessing. Jim's bilirubin is dropping slowly and he is down to 6 and hopefully, will continue to fall. We need his liver in good shape for BMT. The last chemo they gave Jim has a tendency to irritate the kidneys and because of this, the kidneys are showing a little irritation. So far nothing extreme and we are pushing fluids and IV's. Jim has to go in and receive platelets and blood tomorrow because his hemoglobin is low and so are the platelets. We go round and round, but you know what, that's ok because we have Jim with us and for that we are so very grateful Lord! We are also pondering possibly hearing from UofM tomorrow about those two samples they are testing. We need a lot of prayers about this donor situation. We have a lot of possibilities and are waiting patiently, but we also realize we could be at square one. But if that is to happen we will go out and hold another drive until we find our match. We simply need to go to the main Man and present our case, and we might be blest with success. God knows what we need and therefore, I believe He will come thru for us. Don't lose faith, keep on asking. Jim needs all of your petitions to the Lord because He hears us!
Hear O Lord the sounds of these calls, hear O Lord and have mercy! Amen. Don and Jan prepared a superb meal, one of Jim's favorites. barbecued ribs! Delicious! Good job and truly enjoyed! Jim's dad is staying tonight and feels privileged to do so. Lord, please protect and watch over all in this house. Help Jim's body to fight this cancer, heal his liver and destroy this cancer! With You all things are possible, for that we do believe! Thank You for Your many Blessings, we are humbly thankful! Amen.
Thankful for our Blessings'
Jim's Family
Monday, September 9, 2002
Dear Family and Friends,
Last evening our dear Jim developed a fever. He was given Tylenol throughout the night and it helped to keep it down or not there at all. It was fluctuating all night. This morning, after speaking with his Dr., we were told to take him back to the hospital to be admitted. Jim is neutropenic, which means his fighter white cells are below normal. This is an aftermath of chemo. Jim was admitted around 2:00pm, and when admitted he had no temp. He needs platelets and blood transfusions, so it is just as well he is there to get these. He was medicated with Tylenol and Benadryl before starting his platelet transfusion. A side affect to the Benadryl is drowsiness. Well, for Jim it is sleepiness!! Jim will catch up on his sleep tonight.
Dear people, the current issue of Prevention Magazine has a very informative article on the power of prayer and healing. It states exactly what we have been writing for the last few months. It Works!!!
Sooooo let's go!!! Please do not stop asking Our Heavenly Father for Jim's healing---his donor---his peace of mind etc. We need all of you to join with us and keep on asking. We can do this together, because He knows what is in our hearts and He listens!! Hear O Lord the sounds of these calls, hear O Lord and have mercy! Lord have mercy on our Jim, Amen.
Jim's dad will be with him tonight and for that we are grateful. He will protect him and be there to take care of him. Lord, watch over them and please gently touch Jim and make him better. Thank You Lord for all of the Blessings You have given this family.
Peace
Jim's Family
PS. A big thank you to Family Practice for delivering another dinner to Jim's home today. We cannot express our gratitude for these wonderful meals and our thankfulness to these wonderful people!! We love all of you!!
Tuesday, September 10, 2002
Dear Family and Friends,
Yesterday, when Jim was admitted to the hospital to receive platelets and blood, his blasts, the cancer cells, were around 6,000. After his platelets were given they always do a blood draw to ck. the amount in the blood. When they drew that blood and the results were back, the count for the blasts was 66,000. Now you might ask what happened in a 12 hr. span, they increased so much? The answer is no one knows! There are a few other extenuating circumstances that we are not going into now, but people this is how fast this cancer can move. Jim's Drs. ordered chemo, the same that he was on last time. He will receive only 2 days treatment, hoping that will be enough to knock this cancer down flat! He is doing ok. as of now, and anxious to go home, which hopefully will happen tomorrow! We pray to You, Dear Lord, to please make this treatment effective and destroy this cancer! Amen.
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