It Is Finished

Ben went up to Cincinnati today for his first follow-up after stopping all his Meds. Last month on 10-8 he had his last vinchristine (chemo) in clinic. This Chemo they give him through his port IV. Then on 10-26 Ben took his last of his two Chemo meds that he takes at home along with the last of his steroids too. He was very excited about this especially when I let him throw them in the trash can!! At his appointment today they checked his CBCs and then sent him upstairs for out patient surgery to have his Port IV removed. He has had this in his chest for 3 years and 2 months. His port is his biggest physical reminder of the leuekemia so he is very excited to have it gone. Only one thing kept it from being perfect today and that is that the surgery was scheduled at 1pm and he could not eat anything after midnight the night before so by the time his surgery rolled around they ended up having to give him glucose in his IV because his blood-sugar dropped below 40. As always God is with us and he was fine after they gave him the glucose. They actually put Ben to sleep with gas in a mask first so he did not have a trauma this time with the IV. We are so excited for next year and being CANCER FREE in 2013!!!! We are rejoicing daily with Ben and sometimes it still does not feel real!! Some days I can't stop grinning and some days I want to cry (in a good way). I love my son and his enthusiasm as he stops to tell anyone who will listen "NO MORE CHEMO". The love people have given us through this has been awesome and the prayers that were sent up for Ben will make me forever grateful. Every one of you who prayed for Ben were fundamental in saving his life and I will believe this always!! Thank you for all you support whether it was prayers, emails, phone calls, cards, gifts, love, devotion, tears and faith that the Master Physician could and did heal Ben.

We are Doing Great!!!

This tuesday will be two weeks since we got home from the hospital. Ben is doing wonderful and is enjoying Kindergarten. God has given us just about the best Kindergarten class for Ben. It feels like God hand-picked it himself!!! Ben still has a little bit of the cough that he had from the influenza virus. He came home tired, but seems to have fully recovered from that. I am back to work and we are finally getting back into our routine!!! We will continue to pray that Ben will do well until the end of treatment. We are so close!!!!!!!!! I am so excited and Ben is counting the days. We made a trip back up to Cincinnati for Ben's regular treatment appointment this past Wednesday. He did really well and his final appointment is October 8th. I can't believe how close it is and how well he did. I will forever be convinced that the faithful prayers from everyone has been honored by the Lord and has kept Ben on a great path!! We love you all! Jamie

Blessings!!!

Ben's CT scan from yesterday came back clear of infection. This is wondeful news and tells us that the meningitis is being taken care of by the anti-biotics. I talked to Ben's Dr. this morning and he will be released on Tuesday probably sometime in the afternoon. We will go home and he will still have to stay at home for maybe two days before returning to school and normal activities. Thank you again for blessing us with your prayers and for remembering us so often. God is truly honoring the faithfulness of our families and friends who have interceded for us so often. Today Matt, Rita(Mom-In-Law), and Olivia came to visit Ben. I also was blessed with a visit from a very dear friend that I had not seen in ten years!! It was wonderful to see my baby girl and Rita blessed me with some wonderful home cooked goodies!! Matt and Rita even let me escape from the hospital and go to lunch with my friend Niketa. It was a lovely lunch and getting out was very relieving and I am so glad I can go home in four short days!!! Ben is feeling much bettter from his cold symptoms. He has been happily humming and coloring and playing games since his sister left. It seems to have given him some peace this evening to see her. With Love to You All, Jamie

What a Mighty God We Serve

Praise Him!!! Ben's CT scan came back negative for anything unusual!!! There is one more test that they started today and I don't know when the results will come back. There was enough of Ben's fluid from the last spinal tap to test it for the Para-Influenza virus that was in his bloodstream. They have tested for so many things that they have ruled out so much that they are looking at two scenarios when the test results come back. It is very rare that the Para Influenza virus can get into the spinal fluid but if it is then that is what has caused the meningitis and if it is not present in the spinal fluid than he is just unlucky enough to have both para-influenza and meningitis at the same time. The final results on the corynebacterium from his original blood culture in Louisville finally came back. The species tells them that it is most likely a contaminate and not something truly in Ben's bloodstream. This is great news. Also, on the small chance that it is in his bloodstream they tested it for sensitivity to anti-biotics and it is sensitive to vancomycin which he is on anyway. Ben's creatin levels in his kidneys are still high so they are drawing blood and testing his levels before each dose of Vancomycin is ordered so that they can adjust the dosage and keep him safe. Ben had cereal for breakfast and is painting happily right now. He feels good today. He has a fever but no headache. My Mom and Dad are on their way to visit. This will be very good for him. I love you all and Thank you again for your prayers. Jamie

Lord Grant us Strength and Peace

I am going to explain this a little out of order so that I can have prayer coverage were we need it the most right now. You will read farther down that Ben is going to have a CT scan soon. Because they cannot do the contrast in his port they have to do an IV in his hand. They have already tried once and it did not work. Ben is absolutely terrified of this and although they got in the vein his anxienty is causing it to tighten up and blood will not flow. They have requested the IV team to come down because the veins in his tiny little hands are very difficult to access. I requested that they give him something to calm him and they have given him adovan. It has not made him sleepy but he is sitting on his bed and painting and singing. He hasn't been singing since we got here and he rarely sings unless he is at home or at Poppy's house, the places he feels the most safe. But I am having a hard time with this because it just terrifies him and he screams for me "Mommy please make them stop" and they had to hold him down and normally he is so tough and my heart is just aching and I want to make them stop hurting him so bad, but I know they have to do this and it is so hard. As I am writing the Adovan seems to be calming him down and even making him a littls sleepy so I am just Praying and Praying that it will be enough to make it easier on him. Please Pray for my baby! Lord Give us both strength. I just want to Shout our to the Lord and beg for him to stop all of this!! I am not so much different than my son. I posted last night about the virus tests that came back positive for para-influenza. This is a common virus that is cold/flu like syptoms that include fever, coughing, and congestion. This Para-influenza can sometimes get in the spinal fluid and cause meningitis. This morning during rounds the Doctor's let us know that they wanted to do a CT scan to double check that they are not missing anything. Rarer things like an absess in his brain. They want to be sure that there are no other problems in Ben's brain that could be causing the horrible headaches. They also want to scan his chest and pelvis to ensure that there aren't any other problems. Everytime they give him his Vancomycin every six hours they check his kidney functions because this is a pretty hefty anti-biotic and could do damage if not watched closely. His Creatin levels are too high right now so they did not administer his last dose of Vancomycin and took blood to check out his kidneys again at 10:00am this morning. Once they have those results back they will determine how they will proceed with the Vanc. They may lower the dosage and/or change it to every eight hours instead. The other situation of concern this morning is that they really feel that it is important to do he CT scan however they have to use contrast and that also goes through his kidney's. So they will be giving him a lot more fluids right after the scan to help keep his kidney's healthy from the contrast and the vancomycin. As soon as they access him and we come back from the CT scan I will let you all know how he is doing. Thank you. Jamie

Updates

Ben had a better day today. He still had a some coughing but no fever and no headaches. One virus they tested for came back positive for a virus called Para-influenza. This is a common cold virus that causes coughing and congestion. The good news is this means they are on the right track with the meningitis. The unfortunate news is that my baby has meningitis and a nasty cold!!! This virus does cause fevers as well so that explains yesterdays spike. Thank you for your continued prayers for Ben. Love Jamie