September 22, 2019– Day +3

Today is the day I’ve been dreading. The effects of the chemo are in full swing and our sweet boy is feeling pretty terrible.

He has been vomiting and it is apparent that his throat is hurting as are his tongue and mouth. The good news is that this is all expected and we can manage the discomfort. Unfortunately that doesn’t make it easier to watch our boy feel miserable. When his nausea and pain meds are working, he perks up and gives us some smiles. Otherwise, sleeping is when he gets the most relief from his symptoms.

Since we are only on day +3, these symptoms are supposed to last at least another 10 days, if not more. We will see some improvement once his new cells engraft and his white blood cell count comes up. Those white blood cells are going to heal the sores, which in turn will help his tummy to tolerate food and make it less painful to eat.

Will you be praying for strength for all of us these next few weeks? For comfort for Bo, for protection from infection while his counts are down, and for his cells to begin to engraft soon! They expect to see engraftment happening around day +12 but it can take as long as day +21 for it to begin.

Will you also be praying for Naomi and my parents? They all caught a cold and we miss seeing them! We are playing it safe so we won’t be able to see them until they are completely over it, so please pray their bodies recover quickly!

We have been learning so much lately, so I thought I’d share a little bit about engraftment and what it means. Engrafting is the process of the donor cells finding their new home in Bo’s body and beginning to produce new cells. The goal is for Bo to be 100% engrafted by day +100, and they will test his marrow to check for this. They are checking to see what percentage is donor marrow vs. Bo’s marrow. They check on day +28 and again on day +100. By day +100, we want to see ALL donor marrow and none of Bo’s old, defective marrow. Will you pray that this is so?

I was recently reading the blog of someone who has walked a cancer journey herself. She had posted this quote which summed up really well what we have experienced thus far. I hope it encourages you!

“Your life and your suffering are not about you as much as they are about God. Enduring hardship is about showing Him to be great, admirable, strong, and praiseworthy – not you” -Charlene Nelson

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2 thoughts on “September 22, 2019– Day +3

  1. I will offer my own sufferings and trials of the coming days in solidarity with Bo and family and in union with Christ so that as we endure, God will be glorified. We are more than conquerors through the blood of Jesus Christ.

    1. Thank you for keeping us updated of the journey with little Bo. May God bring him much comfort and give you as parents the strength you need for each moment. Pray too that our Father in Heaven will bring complete healing to Bo. Your positive outlook and your faith in God is so inspiring. May He continue to give you His peace and joy as you walk this journey.

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