Little Lake Spaghetti Dinner Benefit May 21

Great News!

From Erin:  Great news!!! Jacob’s PET scan came back negative! You can’t imagine our relief. We also found out that he will start chemo on April 11th instead. He may or may not have to come back for P.T. after that. Praise God!!!

 

Iron Man relaxing after a day of  good news!

The Move to Mary Free Bed

Jacob has made the move to Mary Free Bed. Today will be a quiet day – just meeting everyone here and learning what the routine will be for the next couple weeks. He will be heading back to Helen DeVos Hospital on April 18th to have his port put in and his first round of chemo. We’re still awaiting answers on his PET Scan. If that comes back clear, then we only have to worry about the cancer in his one vertebrae.

Ken and Jacob have already found the air hockey table in the play room. Unfortunately Ken won, so we’ll have to work on that. 🙂 Jacob has his own wheelchair that he’ll use when he’s not in P.T. or O.T. They usually put a sign on the back of the chair to identify who’s it is…..Jacob’s chair says “Iron Man”.

A Little Time for Fun

Jacob had a good day today. He got to play with his cousins for a while and even got out of his wheelchair and pushed it around for a few minutes. He enjoys scaring his mom by doing things himself instead of waiting for help.

 

He had a bladder exam at 3:30 this afternoon, and tomorrow morning is his PET scan (to check the spot discovered on his brain during a previous scan). His bone marrow tests came back clear! Praise God! If his PET scan results come back negative, that will mean the cancer has not spread and is confined to just that small spot on his spine. Please continue to pray for Jacob!

 

Tomorrow night, Ken will be making the long trip back down to Grand Rapids from Marquette to be with Jacob, Caleb and Erin through the weekend, which everyone is very excited about. The family also got a chance to learn about all of the wonderful and incredibly generous donations from their family, friends and even complete strangers today. They were speechless! It will be such a blessing for them!

 

Thank you all!

 

 

 

More Waiting…

Jacob now has to wait until Thursday to be moved to Mary Free Bed. They want to do some more testing on him because of a spot on his brain that showed up on one of the last tests they did. It is most likely nothing, but they want to be sure before he can leave to start physical therapy. They should get the results back from the bone marrow test tonight, but if you haven’t noticed yet, nothing is ever for certain when it concerns doctors, hospitals, or an illness like Jacob’s.

Thank you everyone for your prayers. You have no idea what it means to all of us!

Another Good Day

Jacob is doing well again today, after a successful bone marrow test that lasted around a half-hour. The official bone scan results also came back today and they were normal, just as the doctors predicted. This is wonderful news as it means that the cancer is only concentrated in the small section of his spine where part of the tumor was removed.  Later this afternoon, someone from Mary Free Bed will be stopping by to evaluate Jacob, and if a room is available, he will be transferred there tomorrow to begin physical therapy. Although everyone was a little let down that Jacob wasn’t able to return home, as once expected, they understand that it will be best to keep the progress going with therapy so that he does not lose his will and strength.

Jacob also took his diagnosis very well, despite the fact that his Grandpa passed away only a short time ago after a battle with cancer. Ken and Erin continue to reassure him that his situation is much different and full of hope. He is definitely a strong boy who is handling this ordeal far better than many adults would in his situation!

Earlier today, Jacob was able to spend some time drawing – something that he loves to do and is so talented at. Hopefully we will be able to get some of his artwork up on the site in the near future!

Thanks again all for your continued thoughts and prayers!

A Change of Plans

For those of you who didn’t see Rachel’s (Jacob’s aunt) comment on the last post, the doctors have decided that Jacob wont be going home tomorrow as planned. Now they want him to stay and start physical therapy immediately so that he doesn’t stay confined to a wheelchair longer than he has to be. The plan is to move him to Mary Free Bed sometime tomorrow.

Everyone is a little let down that Jacob wont be able to go home tomorrow, especially Ken, who had to make the long journey home today for work, and was hoping to bring his family with him.

Jacob’s Diagnosis

The doctors have discovered that Jacob’s tumor is in fact cancerous; a rare form called Ewing Sarcoma that is found in the bones. This will mean a long road to treatment over the next 10 months. The type of treatment (chemo/radiation) that Jacob will receive will depend on the results of the bone scan done yesterday, and the bone marrow test that he will have tomorrow morning.

On a more positive note, the doctors have decided that Jacob should be strong enough to go home tomorrow, as they are so impressed with his strength and progress. This means that he might even be able to return to school later this week! In a couple of weeks, after his back has healed, he will then return for treatment. Everyone is hopeful and the oncologist even told the family that she believes that Jacob will fight through this and grow to be an old man!

We ask that you continue to pray for Jacob and that the results of both the bone scan and bone marrow test come back negative. We truly believe that your prayers help, as it is in God’s hands now.

Thank you!

Good Day!

Today was a good day for Jacob and he was in high spirits! His cousins came for a visit and he was able to get out of his room to hang out in the lobby where they all enjoyed the motion-activated wall. He was even able to get out of his wheelchair and take a few steps! Everyone is very pleased with his progress and he has come a long way since his surgery the other day.

Jacob was also very surprised to hear of all of the people that have been praying and sends the message: “Thanks for praying for me guys. Love you!”

 

Saturday Morning 3/26

Jacob is doing fairly well today so far. He got the drain tube out of his back and hopefully that’ll relieve some discomfort. He will have another CT scan of his back this afternoon along with a bone scan. Please be praying that the Dr.’s don’t find anything else.

–Saturday morning (3/26) from Erin’s Facebook page