Update...

Well we just got back from the doctor's office a little while ago. This was our first time to go without nanny!!! We made it both ways without taking anyone out! Caleb put on 2 pounds since last Thursday, his platelettes are better than they were on Tuesday ( and they were way up from last week then) and his hemoglobin, which was low on Tues., is now back up so he may not have to have the blood transfusion (jumping up and down with joy). Transfusions creep him out. Anyway, we will be back at the hospital by 10 tomorrow morning. Nanny stayed home for this trip since it's just over the weekend. We won't leave until Jacob leaves for school tomorrow and we'll be home sometime Sunday. I am going to try to take pictures this trip and put some new ones on here, emphasis on try! Well I guess that's it for now, I need to go pack and fix supper and do laundry, etc... Psalm 34:3 Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt His name together. 34:4 I sought the Lord, and He answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. 34:8 Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him.

OKC

Going to the City today will update as soon as we get home. I know Caleb's hemoglobin is low so some time before or after this treatment he will have to have another blood transfusion. His platelettes are way up now so thats good news...

Big sigh...

Well we went to OKC today for Caleb's appointment and his plateletts were really low so no chemo this weekend. On Tuesday he will go for cbc's here in town and if those counts are good then he'll go back to OKC to the Dr on Thursday to see if he is good to go in on Friday. Needless to say I have a happy little boy, oh, excuse me, young man (rolling my eyes). He wants to go to school tomorrow so I guess I'll let him. He has been getting at least one bloody nose a day and last night he had a pretty bad one, so him going to school kind of concerns me. I'm not sure if I can trust him to set on the sidelines. He was usually the one in the big middle of whatever was going on!!! Anyway, that is the latest scoop. Hopefully I can get him outside some this weekend, it is supposed to be nice until Sunday afternoon I think. He actually sat down and did some of his homework last night and he didn't even have too!!! A couple of days ago he cleaned and rearranged his room, and we cleaned out his closet! Amazing!!! I'm going to try to get caught up on all my chores over the next week, we'll see how that goes. Mom is going to try to go home tomorrow. She needs to go see her own Dr.!!! Her ankles swell up to the size of her calves if not bigger. Psalm 33:22 May your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in you.

Monday already...

Can you believe April is nearly over? Where does the time go? Saturday was Jacob's birthday, he and I spent most of the day working in the yard. We put up a little fence on the North side of our house, he did all the hard work! I have some pretty awesome kids. Yesterday we had b-day party for him, he seemed to have a good time. I can't believe he is 15! Caleb's day wasn't so good, he never would say what was wrong, I think he just gets depressed because his life is so upside down right now. He had another nose bleed this morning, it seems to be a daily occurrence now. He woke up pretty early this morning and took a shower and said he was hungry and wanted scrambled eggs so he ate and took most of his meds and now he is sleeping again. Heather comes over for school today. I want to try to get him to go outside some over the next few days, it is going to be really nice out all week and we go back to the hospital on Friday so I think it would be good for him to get outside first. The Dr.s office called this morning and his cbc's from Friday were really good, so good that he doesn't have to have them done again until we go back to OKC for his appointment on Thursday. He did tell me this morning that he has another sore in his mouth again so I made him get up and gargle. He is getting better about listening to me, he is realizing that if he will do the things we tell him to do that it makes his life much less painful. There is a lesson in that... As children we reach a point where we tend to stop listening to our parents and try to do things our own way, and sometimes we wind up hurting ourselves, causing us unnecessary pain. It is the same way in our walk with the Lord, if we listen, (and yes, He does speak, you just have to have a relationship with Him to be able to hear,) He will guide us and save us from so much self inflicted pain. Caleb is learning (finally) to listen because he has found out the hard way that I want to protect him, in the same manner that God wants to protect us. If only I had learned that lesson long, long ago!!! Proverbs 3:5,6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.

Home

We got home yesterday around 5:30, yeah!!! Miss Heather came over and got Caleb this afternoon and took him to the school to do a test and to Wendy's for a frosty (yummy). He is watching Garfield (the movie) right now. He was VERY happy to be home. He actually slept in his bed last night instead of on the couch. We are having a birthday party for Jacob on Sunday after church and Caleb was worried about not being here for that, yes, we will be. Can you believe Jake is going to be 15? I let so much time slip away that should have been spent more wisely. I am still struggling with my priorties, it's hard for me to just stop everything and enjoy the moment. Someone we used to go to church with has a blogspot and I read it every once in awhile and she is a good role model for me and my cousin is also, she is awesome with her kids, she totally has her priorities straight, Aimee, my daughter-in-law is also someone I could stand to be a little more like, she is one of my rocks. Changing the subject, my sister is going to set up a blood drive in Caleb's name. I had actually put that on my list today and then she called me this afternoon and asked if it would be ok if she did that, so of course I said yes. Not sure when, but I'll keep you posted on that. Isaiah 43:18 & 19 Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.

Almost over...

Well they moved us over to the other side yesterday so Caleb liked that. Daniel and Tyler came up to see us for awhile , they brought Caleb's Easter basket, so that was nice of them. He was nauseous last night so they gave him medicine and he slept all night and half the day. Pastor Doug ( our last youth pastor) came up to see us today, we were pretty excited about that, Caleb let him touch his OU blanket. Now, those of you that know Pastor Doug know what an honor that was for him! :) I may have to make him one for his birthday... We go home tomorrow around one, we're pretty excited about that! Well I guess thats about it for now... Micah 6:8 He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with you God.

Day two almost gone...

Well we have made it through day two, yippee!!! Yesterday they brought an Easter Bunny by for Caleb and today someone came around and gave him an Easter basket, that made him pretty happy. I forgot to bring his basket from home so he'll get that when we get home. Caleb has actually eaten pretty good today and has been drinking some, so this is a major improvement. The mouth sores are going away so it makes it easier for him to eat and drink. It's been a pretty quiet day so there isn't much to say. He just asked me to go get him a Dr.Pepper so I'm going to bribe him and make him walk with me. We could both use the exercise. Remember, tomorrow is Easter!!! I hope you're going to go to church and if not please go to church with us online. We will be listening to my mom's church at www.tfchurch.org and my home church is www.poncafirstag.com . Remember it would tickle Caleb pink if he thought you were going to church or listening in his honor. If Jesus was willing to be tortured and die on that cross for you, can't you go to church this one time for Him? Hebrews 10:25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another...

We're here...

Well we got here this morning and we are on the stem cell side again, we don't much care for it over here. Caleb was pretty upset about being over here, he doesn't like change much anymore. He seems to be adapting ok though. We have different nurses over here and he doesn't like that, they know him and tease him on the other side and try to get him to talk and smile. The rooms are more private over there and they are bigger or at least better suited to all of our stuff. He had a pretty rough time this morning, the needle they use in his port was a different kind and it was hurting for awhile but it was working ok so it is better to just leave it and it quit hurting after a little bit. He was really upset, and I know he wanted to cry but he was being the tough guy, all grown up and brave, so he just rolled over, closed his eyes and went to sleep. Most of the time I'm one pretty tough cookie but when I see him like he was this morning I want to cry myself. It's horrible to watch your child go through this but I can't imagine how hard this is on him, it's bad enough to find out your body has something growing in it that can kill you unless you take this medicine that is really poison, and then have your entire world turned upside down because to take the meds you have to be in the hospital 2 hours away from your family and your stuck in this room with your mom for days at a time. Today has just been one of those days when I just want to be able to hold him and kiss it make it all better, this to shall pass, right? Psalm 18:28 You, O Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.

Too tired for words...

Caleb had a Dr.s appointment yesterday morning at 10, his hemoglobin was low so they decided to give him fluids to try and bring it up...it had the opppsite effect so he had to have a blood transfusion. To hav a transfusion he had to be admitted to the hospital and needless to say time rapidly slipped away while we waited...and waited...we got home at 3:30 this AM. We are just a little tired today. While we were there I lost a filling and had to go to the dentist this AM, thank God she was able to squeeze me in, otherwise I would have been like that for another week, because Caleb goes in tomorrow morning for his 4th treatment. We asked yesterday about when they take pictures again and Erin (Caleb's favorite Dr.) said they usually do that after the 6th treatment, so I am ballpark guessing that they will do that sometime after the middle of May. While mom and I are completely wiped out today, Caleb seems to feeling fine, go figure! He is in his bedroom playing games right now, he got to sleep yesterday while nanny and I sat and waited. We tried to catnap but it was kind of hard to do . Well I need to go pack so we can take off in the morning for the next great adventure... Psalm 86:16Turn to me and have mercy on me; grant your strength to your servant and save the son of your maidservant.

Sunday

We just got home from church a little while ago, and right now I'm waiting on the potatoes to finish cooking so I thought I'd take a minute to do this. Hope everyone out there is doing well! Pennie, thank you for keeping up on Caleb! Tell Karianne hello for me, I miss her still! And Kara, yes, it was! Well, tomorrow I go in to train my replacement at work, it is harder than I thought it would be, not because of the job but because no matter how crazy mad I would get sometimes over the messes, they are my family and I love them all very much. Then there is always the worry that the person replacing me won't love that place, the whole reason I would get so upset is that it is God's house, where is the respect for His house? If God came to visit me, I am certain He would not trash the place and leave a mess. He would pick up every little mess He made, don'tcha think? Not to mention the fact that He's been cleaning up my messes for as long as I can remember! You know, when Aimee set this blog up I did not really want to do it, I dropped out of school because I was petrified of speech class (yes I did finish), and I didn't want to have to try to talk or think of things to say on here. WOW, who knew I would start preaching, huh?! The other reason it's hard to go train someone is that it just makes the reason I'm not working anymore that much more real. We are still scheduled to go back into the hospital on Thursday morning but we have to go here on Tues am for cbc's because one of his counts is borderline and if it is to low he can't go in. So it looks like we will spend Easter in the hospital. Caleb said if he has to be in the hospital for Easter then he wants a really BIG Easter basket. Needless to say he will get that one way or another!!! By the way, this morning we were challenged to bring someone to church with us next Sunday and since I can't physically do that I am inviting all of you to go to church somewhere or come to church with me on the web! The web page for my home church is http://www.poncafirstag.com/ , there is a place on there to listen to messages or every Sunday morning before we go to church I listen to my moms church in Amarillo and here is that web address http://www.tfchurch.org/ , you will get to listen to part of their praise and worship service on that one and I really enjoy that. They were also challenged to bring someone with them next Sunday. So, come and go to church with me. If you need a reason to go then do it for Caleb, go in his place, step out of your comfort zone, and if you go please let us know so that I can tell Caleb, it will make him smile, and we need all the smiles we can get these days. Acts 2:39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off-for all whom the Lord our God will call.

Another day...

Well it's Thursday already and I really can't believe the week is almost over. Caleb is scheduled to go back in next Thursday but he wants to be home for Easter, so I am waiting for a call from the Dr.s off ice to see if we can go in the following Monday. Miss Heather came over yesterday afternoon for school with Caleb. She is awesome!!! She isn't letting him slide either, which I really appreciate. Right now he is still asleep and it is 12:15 pm. Last week while we were gone we received several cards and today we got a couple more, these cards mean so very much to us!!! It means so much to me as a mom to know that Caleb is still on peoples hearts and minds and in their prayers. That people take the time and effort to let us know you are thinking about us means so very much. I know what it's like to try to fit one more thing into an overloaded schedule, so Thank you to all of you that are sending cards, gifts, thoughts and prayers and for just keeping up through this blog. I wish it had a guestbook for all of you to sign because I would love to keep up with that too. I know it's a pain to leave a message but you can do it annonymously, you just might have to try it twice. I went to the church this morning to drop off avon books and had a nice visit with Susan and Robin. Robin had a really good idea for keeping up with scriptures that I want hang onto, and she gave me a little spiral index card thing, Thank you Robin!!! For some reason I am an emotional basket case the last couple of days, I can't quite figure out why. Something that continues to burn in me is the fact that most of us just don't appreciate what we have. Every second of every day is a gift and we throw away so many of them... Yesterday I was in the grocery store and this little girl, 5 or 6 maybe, was just chattering away and her mom is completely ignoring her and finally turns to dad and says do something with her! She wasn't acting up at all, just talking and I wanted to say look lady if you know that in 6 months she would be diagnosed with cancer would you still want to shut her up? If I could just have back all the moments that I threw away... I know we can't look back, it solves nothing but boy can we do things differently now... I was looking at Erika's blog today and there is such a difference in her with her kids and that lady at the store. My prayer is that I become the mother God created me to be not what I have been up to this point. They need so much more than they've ever gotten. Isaiah 44:3 For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.