Preparing for College

"The most beautiful campus that ever there was."

Poet Robert Frost attended both Harvard and Dartmouth. He no doubt set foot on countless other campuses as well. When he uttered the words above though, he did so describing the campus of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

This week, we made the five hour trip south to Oxford so Jack could go through summer orientation and register for classes for the fall semester.

While we were there, he not only registered for classes, but we met with a number of people who will be helping Jack navigate the waters of being a college student while undergoing treatment for leukemia. I think we all feel at least a little better as a result, and the whole thing seems a tad less scary, although still overwhelming at times.

Meanwhile, Jack will receive chemo Thursday as he continues to progress toward the end of "frontline treatment." This phase should end next month, with Jack then moving into what is called the "maintenance" phase of treatment. In that phase, he will take oral chemo daily, require weekly monitoring of his levels, and will come home each month for IV chemo until October of 2021. If things go according to plan though, it should be a less rigorous phase than the previous phases. Please be praying for Jack that this would indeed be the case, and that his transition to college after a year off would go smoothly.