Sorry I haven’t written in a few days.  I’m sure you can all imagine that we are enjoying our time at home and being on the computer is one of the last things that I want to be doing, but I’m sure many of you are wondering how Jacob is doing. 

Thursday was our big trip home.  Jacob did great!  Quite tired for the first few hours of travel.  He said he felt tired and weak, but ended up perking up late morning after having an apple and did fantastic for the rest of the trip.  It was a much better trip than last time since Caleb wasn’t sick this time around, which made it much more bearable.  Ha!  We even beat Ken home from work.  🙂

Friday, Ken had to work.  Afterwards, Ken wanted to treat the kids to a movie.  We usually only do that about once a year, so it’s a pretty big treat.  We went to see Kung Fu Panda 2.  Very cute!  Although Cars 2 comes out at the end of the month, so I’m sure we’ll have to go see that too.  🙂  After the movie we went out to eat.  It was good, but very greasy.  After having greasy popcorn and a greasy dinner, none of us felt very good.  That was a bad decision on my part, but seemed like a good idea at the time.  Lesson learned!!  Jacob ended up getting sick on the way home.  It was probably a good thing so it didn’t sit in his gut like the rest of us.   We had to run up to the hospital to get some Neupogen, which are the shots that I have to give Jacob to stimulate his bone marrow to make more white blood cells.  We were supposed to get some delivered here on Thursday, but they accidentally sent it to my sisters instead.  🙁  Oh well, it all worked out!

Saturday was just a nice day to sleep in.  It felt good!  Just laying around being lazy.  🙂  Morgan (from Jacob’s class) and her dad Brad stopped by.  He was so thoughtful and got Jacob a NMU football game helmet signed by all the players.  What a wonderful gift!  Jacob is so excited to display all of his sports stuff in his room that he’s been getting.  Everyone has been so generous! 

Today was church.  What a great sermon our Pastor Kevin gave!  It was all about being tested by God.  It sure felt like the message was for us.  It was about growing in our relationship with God from what we learn from the tests and trusting Him.   All I can say is that I am trusting Him.  God is the only one who can heal Jacob and get us through this, so trusting Him is all we can do!!!  After church we went and got some flowers to plant and came home to plant them.  It was nice to make the yard seem more like home and the way it usually is.  Ken wanted that too!  He wanted things to look the way it normally does.  It helps a little.  The boys had a blast having a squirt gun fight.  It was fun watching them run around and listening to them giggle.  🙂  Tonight we headed down to Browns to get an ice cream cone.  Maybe not the best decision, but sometimes ya just need to splurge a bit!  It was delicious!!!  🙂  When we got back, we had a 2 on 2 basketball game.  Jacob and I against Ken and Caleb.  I hate to brag, but we won!  Ken claims he didn’t try his hardest – Whatever!!!  What a wonderful day!  It’s sad though to think it’s Sunday already and we only have a week left.  It all goes by way too fast!

Tomorrow Jacob will have to have chemo again.  It’ll be in Marquette at least.  Hopefully it won’t take more than a couple hours.  Please pray that he won’t have any side effects.  Normally he does fairly well with it.  It’s just the Vincristine, which usually just makes him tired and that’s it.  Wednesday we’ll have to go back in to get his blood counts checked.  Hopefully they’re good so he won’t have to have a transfusion.  If they’re low, we’ll try to get him an appointment in Marquette.  If he can’t get in there, then we’ll have to leave early back down to Grand Rapids to get the transfusion.  Please pray that everything is good and that it all works out! 

Thank you for your continuous prayers for Jacob.  I believe that is why he is doing so well with it so far.  Please pray that he keeps doing good and that his counts stay up so we can stay on schedule.  Also, we have a big decision coming up about what kind of radiation Jacob will have.  There are pros and cons with both.  Please pray that we will have the knowledge to make the best decision for Jacob and our family.  Thank you again for all your prayers and messages!  We appreciate all of them.  🙂

Yesterday was a decent day.  Very hot and humid here.  Not my favorite kind of weather, but I’ve been complaining about the cold for so long, I guess I should just keep my mouth shut!  Jacob and I had to leave my Mom and Dad’s up in Pentwater to come to the hospital to get his blood counts checked.  We got here at 11:30.  I will remind you that on Friday, his neutrophil count was only like 170.  It needs to be at least 1,000 for them to do chemo, so they didn’t want to start chemo on Monday like they always do.  But we had to come so they could check it anyways to see if it had changed from Friday.  It was over 26,000!!!  Can you believe it?  I know all of your prayers helped.  I was so happy!  God is so good!  So, we were off and headed back to Hastings.

This morning we had to be back at the hospital at 11:30 again.  They already knew he was ready for chemo, so it was just a matter of getting him hydrated and wait for a room.  We got in a room at 2:30.  That was a record!  Usually it’s not till late afternoon.  They started chemo at about 5:30.  This stay is only a 2 day stay, so today he had Vincristine, Cytoxan and Doxorubicin.  Tomorrow will only be the Doxorubicin.  We’ve come to the conclusion that it’s the Doxorubicin that his body really does not like.  We thought it was just a coincidence the other times he’s gotten it, but since it happened again…..he throws up within minutes of them starting to administer it.  None of the other ones effect him that way – not that quick, just that one.  Poor little guy!  And that will be the one that he has to have tomorrow too.  🙁  Other than that, he’s doing okay.  He took a nap for over an hour, but just doesn’t feel the best.  So, if all goes well tomorrow, we’ll be out of here late afternoon and if he feels okay, we can head home Thursday.  Yippee!  I can’t even describe to you how excited we are!  I’ve certainly been a lot more homesick this time around, even though it’s been less than 3 weeks compared to the first 2 months.  I think that’s because we’ve had a lot more down time in-between.  A lot more time to think about Ken and home.  We’re very very excited!

Tonight I was able to see my good friend Anissa again.  She stopped by for a visit.  Although the visits from her are never long enough.  She is so funny and just enjoyable to be around!   Having visitors helps make the hospital a bit more bearable.  In the meantime, we got a visit from a new friend, Missy Luckey from Munising and her daughter Monica.  Ken had met her while he was working in Munising and found out that they would be coming down here to DeVos for her daughter to have surgery.  Missy found me on Facebook and we’ve been chatting back and forth for the past couple weeks.  Her daughter Monica is 9 years old and will be having surgery tomorrow to have a tumor removed from her spine.   She told me that she was nervous, so please keep her in your prayers also that everything will go good tomorrow.  They were both so nice and Monica seems like a sweet girl!

Please continue to pray for Jacob for his healing.  Please pray that the nausea won’t overwhelm him.  Especially tomorrow, the ride back to Hastings and the ride home Thursday.  The nausea usually hangs on for a few days.  Even though that is the norm for these chemo drugs, it doesn’t need to be.  Our God is bigger than all of this and He is THE Healer and THE Great Physician.  We’re putting our trust in Him!  Thank you Jesus!    

Wow!  I apologize for not writing for so many days.  It’s been a busy week!  Where should I begin?

Tuesday morning we had to head to Grand Rapids first thing in the morning to get Jacob’s blood counts checked.  We were there for over 2 1/2 hours.  It made for a long day.  Plus, we had Caleb with us.  Anyway, his counts were low.  They seemed concerned, but I wasn’t too much especially since we usually get them checked on Thursdays and it was only Tuesday.  So they informed us that we’d have to go back on Friday (today).  Since we are currently at my Mom and Dad’s, there was no way that I was heading back to G.R. (1 1/2 hours away).  So we had to go to Ludington (20 minutes away).  I’ll get to that in a moment.  Back to Tuesday, we went back to my sisters and just relaxed.

Wednesday we got up and packed our things and left after lunch for Grand Haven.  That’s where Jacob’s fishing trip was.   Rachel and Jayden came with us and my Mom and Dad met us there since my Dad was fishing with Jacob.  Of course the first thing the kids wanted to do when we got to the hotel was swim.  They had such a good time!  I think it was great physical therapy for Jacob.  Hopefully we can get him in a pool again soon.  We all went out for dinner and then went down to the pier where the St. Jude salmon fishing tournament was taking place.  We all got an ice cream cone and enjoyed our walk. 

Thursday morning came and unfortunately, my Dad and Jacob had to get up really early for the tournament.  They left the hotel by 5:40 am.  When I woke Jacob up, he was upset that he agreed to do it since he was so tired.  But once he was up and more awake, he was excited.  Thankfully it turned out to be a gorgeous day with little wind.  While they were gone, we did some swimming and had a great time!  We ended up meeting Jacob and my Dad at the pier at noon just after they got back.  They had a wonderful time!  Jacob caught the biggest fish on their boat.  It was only 6 lbs., but he didn’t care.  Thankfully he didn’t get sea sick.  🙂  We all ate lunch by the pier and just enjoyed the day.  Better yet, we got to take home the catch and had it for dinner.  It was delicious!  We got to my Mom and Dad’s in Pentwater at around 4:00.  My sister Liz, Jared and Abbie came after dinner.  So nice we could all be together!   

Okay, now it’s Friday.  Jacob, Caleb and I headed to Ludington this morning so Jacob could get his blood counts checked.  Of course it couldn’t go smoothly.  We had to wait for quite a while in the waiting room and I’m sure you can imagine just how patient the boys were.  Caleb kept complaining how hungry he was.  I would just say “I’m sorry!”.  I didn’t really care a whole lot since he didn’t finish his cereal, so lesson learned or so I was hoping.  He would get upset when I would say that and say “Don’t you even care that I’m starving to death and that I’m going to die?”  DRAMA!!!  Anyway, by the time we got into the lab, I was worried that the numbing cream on Jacob’s arm had worn off and he’d feel the pain.  He wasn’t happy when he found out that they would be taking blood from his arm and not his port.  He had a really bad experience when he first went  to the hospital in Mqt back in March.  No one could get the IV in and he ended up having bruises up and down his arms.  So the lady in the lab took one look at his arm and said his veins weren’t good enough to take blood from so she’d have to take blood from another vein.  Of course it was one that didn’t have the cream on.  I’m sure you can imagine how Jacob took it when she stuck the needle in.  They probably heard him outside.  And do you think she got it in the vein?  Heck no!  And she kept moving the needle around trying to find it.  I’m sure most of you know how good that feels!  So while this was happening, another lab tech was walking by and asked if she needed help (I think she heard Jacob) and I said yes!  She came in and tried one time on a vein that was under the numbing cream and got it right in.  Jacob said to them in a very loud voice “Why didn’t you just do that in the first place?”  I was thinking the same thing.  It was so nice to leave and get out of there!

 Anyway, today was the first day of  the Estate Sale at my Grandma’s house, so my sisters and parents took off this morning and I stayed with all 5 kids.  They actually did pretty well!  We had lunch, went to the park and they played nicely the whole day.   Tonight we met them at an excellent Mexican restaurant in a nearby town for dinner.  What a nice way to end the day!  I think we’ll all sleep well tonight.   Tomorrow is the second day of the sale, so I will stay here again with the kids.  I think it’s supposed to rain, so I may go crazy having all the kids stuck inside.  🙂  We’ll stay here until Sunday and then head back to Rachel’s.   I got the phone call later this afternoon from a nurse at DeVos saying that Jacob’s blood counts were good except for his Neutrophil count.  It was really low!  He can’t do chemo unless it’s quite a bit higher.  So…we have to go back to G.R. on Monday, get his blood checked again and see if he’ll be ready for chemo on Tuesday instead.  So frustrating!  Hopefully Tuesday works out because we were hoping to head back up to Skandia on Wednesday.  So now it could be Thursday, which would still be okay, but I hope it’s not put off any later than that.  We want to see Ken so bad!  They said that his bone marrow would just get tired after awhile and not produce as quickly.  They were right! 

Please pray that everything goes well on Monday and that his Neutrophil is up.  It was only like 170 today and it has to be over 1000 to do chemo.  I know that God can do anything, so I pray that it is His will.  We want to go home, so please keep us in your prayers.  We are so thankful for all of your prayers!  We know that they are helping tremendously!  We’re continuing to give God all the glory because we know that He has a plan and that there is a reason for all of this.  🙂

Here is a picture of Jacob at the pier.  I don’t have one of him with his fish.  Hopefully I’ll get that soon.

Jacob at the St. Jude Salmon Tournament

Not much has gone on in the last couple of days. We’ve had a lot of rain, so when you’re stuck indoors…..

Yesterday, Jacob did pretty good. He felt decent all day and didn’t get sick once. He even got outside a couple of times in between the rain. My sister Liz and the kids came over a couple of times, so that’s always exciting for Jacob because he’s very close with his cousins Jared and Abbie.

Today was about the same. He did good. I could tell he felt even better. A little more pep in his step. 🙂 The day started off a little bit better with the weather, but we got the rain in the afternoon. That always puts a damper on things when you’re stuck indoors. Especially when you spend most of your time indoors in a hospital. He did some raking for a short time earlier this afternoon, but that didn’t last too long and he found his way over to the hammock where he layed for quite awhile.

Jacob’s Grandma and Grandpa came for the day, along with his Aunt Kristina and cousin Brady. We all made our way over to my sister Liz’s house for the rest of the day. We all had a great time visiting with each other. Just wish Ken could’ve been there. We miss him so much. Only a week and a half left and hopefully we’ll be back home. 🙂

Please continue to pray for Jacob. I know you all have very busy lives, so it’s hard to always remember, but anytime you think of him or us, please just say a quick prayer. Jacob’s already so sick and tired of this whole chemo thing and just wants to go home so bad. Please pray for his healing and that this time down here will go quick and easy. God is so good! I just keep putting my trust in Him! He’s the only one that’s going to get us through this!!!

Well, today wasn’t much of a good day.  It started off okay.  Jacob was still pretty tired.  I’m sure from the chemo.  He did go downstairs to the library for about a half an hour and do some crafts, but had to come back up by 11:00 to start chemo.  So, he had chemo at 11:00 and 12:00.  Everything was fine, but at about 2:30 he threw up.  Just out of the blue.  He was just telling me how he would love to have a cheeseburger – the kind we have at home and within seconds he got sick.  Of course when that happens, he is done for the day.  He won’t eat anything else and it’s a struggle to get him to even drink anything, for fear that he’ll get sick again.  They did end up giving him some Benadryl for it, since he couldn’t have any more Zofran for a few hours, and within 20 minutes he was out.  I think he slept for over 2 1/2 hours.  He’s been okay since, but just not himself. 

The highlight of my day, was that my parents ended up coming this evening for a visit, so that was exciting!  We had a good time!  Jacob just layed there and watched t.v. in a daze.  It’s actually kind of sad to watch.  From not feeling the best, his eyes have dark circles around them and he’s pale.  It breaks my heart.  He’s also been sneezing all day, so I hope that doesn’t mean he’s coming down with something.

Jacob has the opportunity to go salmon fishing next Thursday through a program here at the hospital.  Since Ken can’t come down for that (which Jacob was bummed about – Ken was too), he wants his Grandpa Ron to go instead.  I’ll admit, I’m kind of hurt.  I would’ve liked to go, but he wants his Grandpa.  I said to Jacob “But what if this or what if that (different scenarios)?”  He said “Mom, I’ll be fine.  Just write it down and Grandpa and I will figure it out.”  I guess that means I’m being too over-protective.  I guess I need to back-off a bit!  Anyway, they are going early Thursday morning from 6-noon out on Lake Michigan in a Charter boat.  They get to keep their catch, so I’m hoping for lots of fish.  It’s out of Grand Haven, so they’re putting us up in a motel for the night.  Caleb and I will stay behind and maybe do some swimming.  🙂  It should be a good time.  I’m sure it’ll be an experience he’ll never forget.  Hopefully he’s feeling well enough to go and hopefully there is good weather and calm waters so he doesn’t get sick.

Well, tomorrow is the last day of chemo.  If all goes well and he’s feeling good, we could be out of here by 5:00 or 6:00.  I’m hoping and praying!  🙂  Please pray that he won’t have anymore nausea.  Also, that he’ll get his appetite back.  And of course for his healing.  I know God is working in his life and in ours.  He is truly an amazing God!!!  Thank you Jesus, for what you’ve done, what you’re doing and for what you are about to do in our lives!  Let your will be done!