Let the sun shine in....

November 18, 2010

Be strong and do not lose heart.  Refuse to give up.  The enemy would have you to believe in hopelessness, but he will not succeed as long as you maintain your position of hope.  Give him no ground.  Take the time and make the effort to exercise your faith and to believe Me and know that I have heard your prayers, says the Lord.

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.

               ---2 Corinthians 4:17

We have had good news this week and Cory had a temper tantrum...

The good news....

As I mentioned in my earlier post, we were going to do a bone marrow test and a lumbar puncture. Here are the official results....

All tests showed no CANCER CELLS!!!! We are technically cancer free!!!!

Our oncology doctors said we couldn't have asked for better results. It is very rare that the first bone marrow test comes back clean but we knew better...we had faith that the Lord would answer our prayers. Now back to reality, this is wonderful news but we still have a very long road to go. Even though these tests came back with favorable results, we are not out of the woods yet. We have four more cycles of chemo and I am sure there will be bumps in the road with those but considering where we have been, this is definitely wonderful news. We will be starting the next round of chemo this weekend but for now we will take them and shout from the highest rooftop Cory is Cancer Free!!!! Now back to our serious mode....

Cory's temper tantrum...

Yesterday, Cory was scheduled to go for an upper-GI to check for acid-reflux. He is going to get a g-tube inserted in his belly today and he can't have reflux. He went down for the test and he did pretty well until he was given the contrast fluid. Well, let's just say he didn't like it at all...he threw it up...all over everyone. Needless to say, the nurses were not happy with that. His nurse, Annabell, said they were trying to roll him to the right so the contrast could drain and he decided he was going to roll all the way over. Well, when he did that, he busted open his incision on his head. It was only a small area but it was enough that Dr. Whitehead needed to be called in for a repair job. When he looked at the area on Cory's head, Dr. Whitehead decided to go in and put a drainage tube in and he also decided to take Cory back to surgery on Tuesday and replace the bone flap...a month earlier than expected. Again, Cory doing what Cory wants to do...

The rest of the night was uneventful but after the day we had, we couldn't ask for anything more.

Cory had a cat scan this morning around 4:00 am to check the positioning of the drain tube in his head. After that, he slept the morning away to prepare for his surgery inserting his g-tube. He went in around 1:30 pm and came out around 2:30 pm. Surgery went very well his surgeon said.

We had another cat scan earlier this week to check for any signs of infection. They found nodules on his lungs and it was thought to be a type of fungus. This is nothing out of the ordinary for a cancer patient. We are constantly in contact with different types of fungus. Since we have an immune system, we can fight it without issue. Since Cory doesn't have an immune system, he has to take anti-fungal medication, which he has been on since he started chemo. The infectious disease doctors want to get a sample of it so we can better treat the infection so it won't get out of control. He will be going in for a biopsy Friday after lunch. He is also back on antibiotics because of the incident with his incision.

I think that covers it in regards to updates on Cory. We have been blessed with such wonderful news and we have everyone to thank for it. Without your prayers and positive thoughts, I know the outcome would have been different.

An update on the people we have met in PICU....

I have great news about the 16 year old that was in a car wreck a couple of weeks ago in Nacogdoches. We found out she had broken every bone in her body from her neck down except her collarbone and one of her feet. She went into surgery last week and she was pinned and plated back together. She was moved to Pediatric Care Unit, upstairs, this past weekend. Her uncle came down yesterday to check on Cory and to give us an update on her. He said she was doing very good and could possibly be moved to a room next week.

We have met another family while here. Their daughter was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) Type 1. Spinal muscular atrophy is a group of inherited diseases that cause progressive muscle degeneration and weakness. This is a fatal disease with no cure at this time. She is the cutest little girl with big eyes and dark hair. She is battling an upper respiratory infection and is holding her own. Please say a special prayer for this little girl.

I will close this post this evening...I need to go and check on our little man. I feel he is no longer mine anymore, he is every one's little man. We have all been praying so hard and so long that the wonderful test results are not just our victory, it is every one's victory. Thank you again for all your thoughts and prayers you have been sending our way over the past month, yes, it has been one month. We have fought so hard and so long that some days it doesn't feel that long but then some days it feels like it has been a lifetime.

Keep the faith that Cory will win the fight...that we will be driving into EC this spring with a healthy little man telling me "Hurry up Momma, I gotta get home to play with my Star Wars toys....I missed them and I want to be home...."

God Bless you All....

Jenn

Be still and you will hear Me...

November 15, 2010

Calm yourself and listen to My still, small voice.  If you will hush the noise of fear and confusion, you will hear and be directed by wisdom.  Stand strong in faith and refuse to allow the enemy to get the upper hand in any situation.  Do battle in the power of My Spirit to defeat the devil where you find him, says the Lord.  I will cause you to come forth in great victory!

James 3:13-18  Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom.  But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic.  For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.  But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.  Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. 

"Small straws in a soft Wind" by Marsha Burns

The above quote came from a website a Facebook friend had posted. I read this and thought it was appropriate for how last week was going for me. I want to apologize for the long period between postings. The time here is starting to wear on me...I am wanting to be home with my family. I know we have a long journey ahead...as Brother Dubroc told me last week, this is now a marathon...how true that statement is. I remember my Mom always saying my Grandma never wanted to be in the hospital at all and I couldn't understand why. I do now...it is a strong force of absolutely wanting to be home with every fiber of your being. Last week, I wanted to pack my little man up and get back to EC but this week is better. I feel more at peace with us staying here. I have finally given up that control issue and now I just roll with the flow.

Let me update you on what's been going on with Cory...

Overall, we have seen small changes in his appearance. His color is getting better and the swelling is gone except for his head. The area where the surgery was performed is still badly swollen. At the end of last week, a cat scan was done to check for any type of fluid blockages or water on his brain. Well, we passed that test...no blockage or water on the brain. Cory has a hard time keeping his head turned to the left...with the amount of swelling on the right side and no muscle tone/strength in his neck, his head always turns to the right. I feel, this is why the swelling is not going down. The nurses are now making sure he is either laying on his left side or we have his head turned to the left. Dr. Whitehead, the neurosurgeon who preformed the surgery, checked on him and said everything looked good and hopefully we could put the bone flap back in soon.

He is moving a great deal on the left side. He moves his hand, arm and leg. If the nurses put his teddy bear, Teddy, on that side and he doesn't like it, he will pick it up and move it to where he wants it. A definite sign he is still in control! He will still give a look of irritation if I tickle his feet or if I am talking about something he is embarrassed about. He will pull the sheet up to his chest if someone is in the room and he doesn't want them to see him without a shirt. He is starting to have some movement with his right leg. He will move it around and he is starting to shift his body around. Still no movement with his right arm but I know that will come soon. I don't know how much therapy is being done with his arm since he has the PIC line there but I will get with the ladies from therapy to find out what is being done.

As of today, we have been fever free for 48 hours. He was taken to have a cat scan earlier evening to check for any type of bacterial or fungal infections that aren't showing up through the numerous cultures being preformed in the lab. We will receive those results some time on Tuesday. If it comes back negative, we can start to cut back on the antibotics and anti-fungal medications. His white cell count was at 1000 on Saturday and slowly climbing. He has also been off his breathing machine since Saturday. He still has his breathing tube but he is breathing on his own. Yea!!

We have two very important tests tomorrow, a bone marrow test and a lumbar puncture. Cory will be taken down to surgery and will have a sample of his bone marrow taken from his hip. It will be checked to see how it is responding to the chemo. While there, they will be taking a sample of the spinal fluid to see if there are cancer cells present. I don't know the time of these procedures so it will be a very long hard day, hoping and praying for a positive outcome of these tests. I have faith everything will turn out okay but I am still scared to pieces. We will get those results on Wednesday.

With all these improvements, I am so very scared. I have to stop myself from celebrating and thinking we are out of the woods. We are still battling cancer...cancer. A disease that comes with no warning...that can kill. We were approached last week with the talk of what ifs...I told the doctor that failure and giving up is not an option. My faith in God, my faith as a mother and my belief in my son tells me in the spring, we will be leaving this hospital and going home. Anything else is not acceptable. We will continue to fight and we will win. Cory has the determination of the Morton's and the Sheryl's and the Matzke's and the Labay's...he will make it through this....

More signs of God's presence....

I have to share a message God sent to me this past Friday morning. I had gone to our motel room to get an hour of good sleep (Cory's term), shower and I returned to the hospital. I was in the waiting room and wanted to get on the computer. I was in a chair that was not next to a plug and saw an open chair that was. I asked the lady on one side if she was holding it and she said no. I asked the lady on the other side if she was holding it and she said no. I moved to the chair and started pulling out my laptop. The lady on my right asked how things were going and I told her our story. She told me not to lose my faith and miracles do happen...she was an example. She told me she had been adopted and her birth mother had done drugs while pregnant and she only had one large mass for her brain. Normally, a brain consists of two hemisphere and two lobes; her brain was not that way. She also told me that she had been in a car accident when she was younger and she was left in a coma. The doctors had told her adopted mom there was no hope and since she signed a donor card, the team of doctors were ready to harvest her organs. Her mother asked to see the doctor outside the room. When they walked outside, her mother pinned the doctor against the wall and told him never talk like that in front of her daughter and to send the team away, her daughter would recover. The mother had to get a court injunction to keep her alive and asked the judge for 30 days. It took two weeks for the judge to grant it and two weeks later, her daughter woke up. It took a very long time to recover but she did. While in the coma, this lady said she heard her nurse talk to her and sing. One day when the pain was at its worst, she asked God to take her away. She said she heard God's voice and He told her there were three things she needed to know before He did. She said the third thing she couldn't remember and she always wondered what it was but recently figured it out. She then opened her phone and showed me a picture of her daughter. She said she was told she would never be able to have children but that was her daughter and she was six months old. She felt that was her destiny. Her husband came out and she packed up her stuff to go. As she got up, I thanked her for sharing her story with me. She winked, smiled and said that's why you sat by me... 

As you know from an earlier post, I have been praying to St. Therese. She sent me a message this Saturday morning...

Cheyenne came up Friday evening and spent the night with me. We had gone back to the motel to shower and change. While we were there, I was unpacking some stuff Chey brought up. As I was walking by our beds, I smelled roses. I froze in my tracks...I asked Cheyenne if she opened anything or sprayed anything and she said no. I looked around to see if any type of powder had opened in one of Mom's bags...nothing. The rose smell was only in one spot in the middle of the room...a place I had walked through several times that morning. Cheyenne asked me what the question was for and I told her I smelled roses just as strong as if I were in a rose garden...I only smelled it that one time in the room. I asked Mom that night if she had anything in her bag that smelled of roses and she said no. I said a mental thank you prayer to St. Therese and God for our blessings and I continue to pray....

I am closing my entry tonight...it is almost 2:00am and I need to get some sleep for the day ahead. Thank you once again for the thoughts and prayers you are saying for Cory and our family...I know in my heart it is all of your prayers that are helping Cory make it through this rough time and helping him recover. God Bless You All!!