A Better Week

Last week was not a great week. Jack was scheduled to begin the next four week segment of the consolidation phase of his chemotherapy. Unfortunately, his ANC (a measurement of his immune system) was too low, so chemotherapy was delayed a week. And for most of the week, Jack continued to struggle with migraines following his spinal tap the previous week. On top of that was the fact that it was supposed to have been the week that we took Jack to college. He actually seems to be dealing fairly well with that…probably better than his parents. 

This week got off to a better start. Though still dealing on and off with headaches, they don’t seem to be as persistent or severe. And when he went in for chemo on Tuesday, his levels were well above the minimum to begin. 

So if you’d like to pray for us, here’s some direction:

• This week and next, Jack is scheduled for chemo on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday & Friday. The following two weeks after that he has chemo on Tuesday. The goal is that at the end of this phase, his minimal residual disease (MRD) will be below 0.01%. This is a molecular measurement of how many of his blood cells are still leukemic. If he ends up below 0.01%, then his chemo treatment will continue with him in the “intermediate risk” category. If it is above that level, then Jack gets moved into a “very high risk” classification, which would mean that the course of his treatment would have to become even more aggressive. We are really praying to avoid this because of the potentially serious and long term side effects and the radiation required at the "very high risk" level. 

• Please pray that side effects for Jack during the next four weeks of chemo would be minimal and easy for Jack to deal with. 

• As the school year gets into full swing, we are concerned that Jack’s spirits might take a dip, so please be praying for that. 

• The school year is also beginning for Caroline. If you wouldn’t mind, please also be praying for her as she begins high school. It can be hard following in the footsteps of an older sibling, and it may be especially so if teachers and students are all constantly asking about him and how he’s doing.

Thank you once more for all the prayers and support that so many of you have so steadfastly offered!

Prayer Requests for the Week

This cancer road is a long one. We are so thankful for your encouraging words and prayers. Here are some of the requests on our hearts this week:

• that Jack’s post spinal tap headache would go away (he’s had it since Tuesday)
• that his counts would be high enough to continue the next four weeks of chemo
• that Jack (and Pete and I) would be encouraged even as we watch his buddies and Grace head off to college this week and begin all the adventures we had been planning for him 
• that we would find joy in these last days of summer with our sweet Caroline before she starts her freshman year of high school

One last game of Settlers of Catan for the summer

A New Project

Mission accomplished. Since Jack's great friend Brian Caine started the Postcards for Jack project, he has officially received postcards from all fifty states (not to mention a number of foreign countries). Thanks to everyone for all your help!

With the accomplishment of this goal, we're starting a new project. Actually, we've already started it, but now we're asking for your help. If you'd still like to send Jack a postcard with an encouraging message, please go right ahead! We'll even continue to display the postcards and track them as they come in. But here's the plan for the new project:

If you know Jack at all, you likely know that he is a HUGE sports fan! Sure, Cardinals baseball, Blues hockey, and Mizzou football & basketball are his favorites, but he appreciates and enjoys all kinds of sports.

We thought it would be neat to see how many folks from the world of sports we could get to send Jack notes of encouragement. Here's how you can help: If you have contact with any (current or former) players, coaches, or other sports-related individuals that might be willing to send Jack a note of encouragement, would you please consider asking them? We have a form letter of sorts that we can email you if you have someone you'd like to forward it to. Just let us know (pcscrib@hotmail.com).

If you'd like to keep up to date on who ends up reaching out to Jack, we've set up a page to keep track of that too!  And thanks again for your help in encouraging our son to #JackUpCancer!

An Update

Well, it was a long, busy day for Jack & Erin today. In the end analysis though, it was a good day as we saw a number of our prayers answered.

Here's the rundown of Jack's day:

• He had his levels checked, and while his platelets were low, most of his other numbers were holding relatively well.
• He received platelets to prepare him for the spinal tap.
• He got an x-ray done on his chest to check on his pneumonia and help determine if he could get the chest tube removed.
• He received chemo via a spinal tap along with the requisite hour recovery time on his back to help prevent a post spinal-tap headache (which he thankfully avoided!).
• It was determined that the fluid had drained enough that he was able to have the chest tube removed, thankfully without any pain.
• He received two more kinds of chemo that took about two hours.
• Finally, another x-ray was taken to check out his lung post chest tube removal.

All in all, Erin & Jack were at the hospital from before 9:00 until after 5:00, but we're thankful that things went well and that at the end of it all, Jack got to come home! It’s hard to express how much we appreciate the doctors, nurses and staff that care for Jack with such knowledge, skill and compassion as he fights this battle. God bless them.

Prayer Requests

Here are some quick prayer requests for this week:

• That Jack's pneumonia would completely clear up.
• That they'd painlessly remove Jack's chest tube and require no further treatment/procedures/surgery for fluid around his lungs.
• That Jack's spinal tap on Tuesday would not lead to a post-spinal tap headache. This is the third of four spinal taps in four weeks, and the first two have gone well. Let's keep the streak intact!
• That Jack's counts would be holding strong when they're measured on Tuesday, and would continue to hold relatively strong through his treatment.

If you wouldn't mind, please also join us in praying for Charlie, Nikolas & Jayson, three little boys who are fighting the same battle as Jack.

Thanks so much for your faithful prayers on Jack's (and our) behalf!