The Good News and the Bad News

As we mentioned in our last post, after a delay of almost two months, it looked like Jack was going to start chemo again. Well, we've got some good news and we've got some bad news. 

The good news: Jack did indeed start chemo again.

The bad news: Jack did indeed start chemo again.

It's good news because it was a necessary step, and the longer it was delayed, the greater the chance of a relapse. It's bad news though, because with the chemo comes the side effects of chemo. So over the last ten days or so, Jack has on and off been feeling pretty crummy.

He is set to undergo chemo again this week (levels-dependent), so please be praying for him that:

• He would be able to proceed with chemo
• That side effects would be minimal

Thanks once again!

Progress...

We are very happy to report that Jack’s counts are slowly coming up. Yesterday, his platelets were high enough to start the next phase of chemo but his ANC wasn’t quite there. He goes back in tomorrow (Thursday) to see if his counts will finally be high enough to have a spinal tap and chemo.

We have not received the bone marrow biopsy results yet but Jack’s doctors are thinking that his low counts these past few months might be due to a rare reaction to a medication he was previously taking. Jack would be just the third reported case to have low counts due to this medication. He is testing all the skills and wisdom of his nurses and doctors but we are so grateful they have been up to the task. These past few months have been frustrating and scary but we are really hoping Jack will soon be back on track.

Please pray that he will be able to start this next phase of chemo, that the side effects would be minimal and that his counts would be able to recover better during this treatment phase.

Counts Still Low

Jack had an appointment yesterday and his counts were still extremely low, so he had a bone marrow aspiration and biopsy. Results from the bone marrow aspiration came in today and we are very thankful that he is still in remission and has not relapsed. It will be several days before the results from the bone marrow biopsy, which tests for a lot of other scary things, will be available. Thank you so very much for continuing to pray with us.