Today had it’s ups and downs.  It was busy with getting the kids caught up on their homework.  That took us until lunch time.  Then Jacob was able to Skype with his class for about an hour and a half.  I didn’t sit with him through the whole thing, but I heard him giggling quite often.  I think he enjoyed himself tremendously.  I think Skyping will be good therapy for him over the next year.

Jacob did end up having a meltdown this afternoon.  I just hate those!  He certainly has every right, but it’s just heartbreaking!!!  Who wants to hear their child crying and say that they hate everything that they’re going through and they just want to die.  That heaven would be so much better.   This is all while he’s practically hyperventilating.   That’s enough to ruin your whole day.   I know that it’s probably going to happen from time to time.   He’s done so good so far.  I guess I can’t expect him to be in good spirits all the time.  It’s hard not to wonder if we’re doing the right thing…..that is why I have to put all my trust in God!

Thankfully this evening went much better.  He was calm and relaxed.   Tomorrow will be much better.  His cousins birthday is tomorrow, so we’re going to a museum in Grand Rapids and  out to lunch.  I know the kids will have a blast.  That will help Jacob get his mind off of things and mine too.  🙂 

Please continue to pray for Jacob.  Not only for his healing, but his anxiety and fear.   Thankfully this isn’t an ongoing thing, but when it hits – it’s not good!   We’re not going to allow satan to tell him lies and fill him full of fear.  God is bigger than all of that!   I could also use your prayers in moments like those.  It’s a helpless feeling!  We are so thankful for all of you!  You are truly amazing people and such a blessing!

I apologize I didn’t write last night. Time got away from me…..

Jacob had chemo yesterday morning at 9:00 and 10:00. He did pretty well, although I could tell that after a whole week of it, it was finally taking it’s toll. He didn’t feel that great and was extremely tired. He did end up trying to go down to the playroom, but didn’t make it very long. He certainly wasn’t himself. Hard to watch! He had to follow up the chemo treatment with 6 hours of fluids to flush out his system and then we were off! 6:00 we finally left. Jacob was pretty nervous to get in the car to leave. Afraid of getting sick from the car ride, but he did really well. Once we got to my sisters, he was a totally different kid. Up and at ’em with his brother and cousin Jayden. It’s amazing what getting out of the hospital can do. He did end up getting sick later on. I think it was too much too soon.

Today was much better. Slow to start off. He didn’t eat a whole lot today. Still not feeling the best, but looked better and he said he felt better. He played around with Caleb and Jayden, but took breaks often. Later on in the day, the sun came out and Jacob was excited to get outside and just sit in the sun on the porch. He said it felt good! He ended up eating a good dinner and did great the rest of the night. I think he’s on the mend and I’m sure he’ll only get better.

Please continue to pray for Jacob. I know it’s hard to remember all the time with every day life, but I know God is listening and wants us all to join together in prayer for my sweet boy. All your prayers mean the world to Ken and I, and we are so thankful for all of you – family, friends and those of you we’ve never met. Thank you!

I am so impressed with how well Jacob is handling this round of chemo. I’m sure it’s by the grace of God. Still no nausea. Maybe a little fatigue, but hard to tell if it’s from the chemo or just from being lazy. 🙂 He did end up throwing up last night, but he had just taken a handful of pills and they came up almost as fast as they went down. Then he was fine. It all came and went in a matter of seconds.

Today went nice and smooth again. He got up and ate breakfast. We were just having a friendly argument about him doing some homework when one of the volunteers stopped by and asked if she could take him up to the playroom. Normally, I thrive on being somewhat of a strict mom and sticking to my guns, but not with these circumstances – I caved! He had a blast. We played some basketball and then he did some painting. He also worked hard on a secret Mother’s Day project while I chatted with another Mom. He’s very proud of the gift that he’s working on. I guess it’s not quite done yet, but there was a lot of hammering going on.

After a couple hours upstairs in the playroom, we had some lunch and we decided to turn the computer on. Jacob’s Aunt Kim got him a laptop with Skype so he could stay in contact with family and school. We got it up and running and we were able to connect with Jacob’s class. It was so much fun watching and listening to them talk back and forth. He enjoyed it so much. That made his day! That went on for about a half hour and then they got down to business and did some work. Jacob’s teacher, Mrs. Paulsen, started their science lesson and Jacob got to follow along with his science book here in Grand Rapids. Amazing technology! He did have to start his chemo during that time, but it was a nice distraction for him. Thanks to everyone at Sawyer for getting that set up!

The rest of the day was pretty ho-hum after that. What can compete with that? We just relaxed and finished out the evening with watching funny YouTube videos. You get desperate trying to keep yourself entertained after being in a hospital for over a month. ha!

Thanks again for all your messages and jokes (Ms. Tami). Jacob enjoys reading every one of them. I wish we had the time to answer back to all of them. Please know that they are all very much appreciated!

Please continue to pray for Jacob everyday! We are so thankful for all of your messages and your amazing donations, but nothing is more important to me than praying for my dear son. That’s worth millions to me! I am so amazed at how well he is handling this whole ordeal. I know that he is an amazing kid, but I also know that from your prayers and God’s grace and love, he will make it through this.

Sorry I haven’t written in couple days. Been a little busy with family and having fun!

Saturday was wonderful! Beautiful weather and Jacob had a blast walking around the yard and playing with his brother and cousins. They ended up going over to their farm across the field to check out the cows, but that trip wasn’t very long due to the smell. Jacob’s been pretty sensitive to smells lately. Ken helped Jacob climb a tree or two. Shh! Don’t tell his physical therapist. I couldn’t believe how much better he looked in just a couple days. I think just being out of MFB and around the kids did wonders! He was a totally different kid and got around wonderfully.

Sunday was bittersweet. We got up and the kids had an Easter egg hunt out in the yard. They had so much fun with that. They each had their own color-coded eggs that they had to find. It was fun to watch. Later, we all went to a restaurant for lunch. There were 23 of us all together. From both my side and Ken’s side of the family. It was nice having everyone together. The worst part of the day, was Ken having to go home early evening. It was nice having him here since Wednesday night. We hated to see him go. One thing that happened yesterday, was that Jacob started losing his hair. I knew it was going to happen, but I didn’t think this soon. It was hard to watch him pulling out gobs of hair. It broke my heart, but he didn’t seem too bothered by it. There is still a lot left on his head. It just looks a lot thinner. He might have a shave job done tomorrow. We’ll see how he feels.

Today we got to the hospital at about 11:30. First of all, I must say he did a fantastic job with getting his port accessed. He just said “Ouch!” with the first poke and got a little teary-eyed with the second, but huge improvement compared to last week. I think all those prayers are helping tremendously. We had to wait around for the results and found out that they were perfect! I couldn’t believe they were so good. His wbc counts were more than doubled from when he first got them checked before he started chemo a couple weeks ago. All of his counts were good. Some phenomenal. What a blessing! Thank you Jesus!!! We then had to wait for a room to open up and didn’t get in one until 5:30. We kept busy in the playroom playing games and playing the Wii. He is too good at playing that. I didn’t stand a chance. 🙂

He had his first chemo medicine administered at 9:00 (which takes an hour) and the nurse is currently hooking up the second one (also an hour). Please pray that Jacob will have little to no side effects and that he gets a good nights sleep. We currently have a flu bug going around in the family, so hopefully we (the Stielers) don’t get it. Especially Caleb since he’s staying with them.

Please continue to pray for Jacob! I was shocked at how high his counts jumped from Thursday. I know prayer works! Common side effects from the chemo meds that he’s taking this week is nausea, low blood pressure and blood in his urine. They also will have IV fluids running 24 hours a day to keep his bladder and kidneys from being damaged. We appreciate all your prayers. We know God is looking out for Jacob and I’m still putting all of my trust in Him.

What a great day! Jacob had a couple therapy sessions this morning amd then off to the hospital. First of all, I must say, Jacob did awesome with the needle situation. I believe it must have been all your prayers! He did cry and said that he hated this, but who doesn’t? I was impressed! I could tell the anxiety level wasn’t there like every other time. They did have trouble with the port again. They accessed the bottom one and couldn’t get it to work, so they tried again with no luck. They then accessed the top one and thankfully got the blood out right away. Because they had trouble with the port a couple of times already, they decided to stop messin’ around with it and just do a die study on it. They sent us down to xray and everything was fine. They said that the ports can be tricky and sometimes you have to do “port” gymnastics to get them to work. The blood counts came back. Some were higher, some were lower. At least they’re not as concerned about him being out and about with the germs. They still want Jacob to plan on going in on Monday. If his counts are better, then he’ll be hospitalized for a 5 day stay for chemo. If they’re still low, then they’ll send us back home and wait.

We went and picked up Caleb today so he could spend our last night here with us. We went out to dinner at Quaker Steak and Lube to celebrate. The kids thought the restaurant was awesome! A great way to end the day before our release! 🙂

Thanks for all your prayers! I believe they worked wonders today. Please continue to pray that Jacobs blood counts will continue to rise over the weekend. And of course, his overall healing!

Happy Easter everyone!

Praise God! He is risen!