Friday, September 10th

Drew is in so much pain today. He was sitting up in bed to get up and go to his appointment and heard a "pop" sound. Then his ribs started hurting and by the time we got to the doctor his pain had only intensified. Dr. Hajjar said his counts are borderline for a transfusion so we will need to come back on Monday. And, the pain in his rib is likely from when the surgeon pulled rib #6 up and sutured it to the remaining top rib to give the huge space some support. He had removed 4 ribs, so there was a pretty big open spot there. The surgeon was expecting the sutures to dissolve but was hoping the ribs would heal a little more first. So now, it just feels to Drew like something is out of place or dislocated. The rib is really not dislocated but feels like it since it's been sewn that way for the last 6 weeks. He says Drew should feel a great deal better within 48 hours. I pray it is so because he is unbearable pain right now.

Thursday, September 9th

I had so hoped that the muscousitis wouldn't be as bad this time. It's been bad, but definitely not as bad as it could have been. He is so worried that they will keep him tomorrow when he goes for his appointment. He's pale, so his counts are definitely down, but this evening he says it's feeling just a little bit better. Prayerfully he's on the mend. Thank you, Lord, for Your ever-faithfulness to our family.

Tuesday, the 7th

Drew started feeling the mucousitis yesterday. His appointment is not until Friday; I hope it doesn't get any worse than it is now.

School started today. All of the kids had a great starting day---even Drew. He's behind in his Spanish from being in the hospital last week. We will be able to catch up maybe toward the end of this week.

Saturday, September 4th

Hailey's surprise birthday party was today. Drew got to come home yesterday, so he was able to be there for her special surprise. He didn't feel like doing much, but it sure was nice for some of his friends from Haines City to come down and be with him. Thanks especially to Nathan Pitts for coming. It meant alot to Drew.

Drew is usually very sick by the 3rd day of chemo, and we haven't seen that with this round. Prayerfully he won't have any side effects this time. He spent alot of time in the game room on his floor---which he is normally not able to do. Maybe the reduction has worked!

August 30th Chemo

This round was supposed to be a 5-day treatment. Because Drew is so prone to mucousitis, the doctors are going to try reducing the time to a 4-day treatment. We will see if it makes a difference for Drew. He is also doing the Caphosol swish---a calcium, phosphate saline swish that has shown promise in some studies with chemo patients.

Recovering from Surgery

Drew's staples were removed Friday, the 6th. He has done remarkably well with recovery, and his doctors are very, very happy with how things are going. One of them told me that he expected Drew to be in the hospital 2 weeks. Today is the 12th day after surgery and he's been home from the hospital almost a week now. Yesterday he was able to go to both the a.m. and p.m. services at Church. We literally stand in awe of the way God has touched his body. He is maintaining his weight, which I thought might be an issue. He lost about 7 lbs while in the hospital, but that is a small loss considering he's lost much more in a week's stay before. By God's grace, Drew will be one of the workers at our VBS that starts tonight. He won't be able to do anything really but sit, but he's been given the job of an overseer for the children's games. Including him has helped him feel more like things are getting back to normal for him.

We were hoping that surgery was our half-way point. Drew's doctor said that it is definitely probably the hardest part of his treatment, but he still has around 30 weeks of chemotherapy left. They are hoping to reduce the strength of the chemo and avoid some of the nasty side-effects that Drew's had. The praise though is that because they were able to get good margins on the tumor in surgery, no radiation will be required.

Our family has seen a miracle in Drew. As we watch the children, we are always mindful of seeds of bitterness or anger springing up in them. Though absolutely WRONG, most of the time when there is suffering in our lives, the first thing we do is question God. So far, we have not seen that in the kids. And by His mercy, we just rejoice in serving a God that we can turn to when our hearts are broken and know that He cares.

Surgery

Drew's had surgery to remove the tumor. It had shrunk down to the size of a lemon. They also had to remove 4 or his back ribs. The surgeon feels very confident that he was able to get all the cancer. The test results are not back yet. Praise the Lord for His goodness and for the love that has been shown to us through prayers, phone calls, text messages, facebook messages and email messages. God is truly good all the time. We are taking one day at a time. Andrew is still in alot of pain and is still in ICU so he can get the best care available. They are hoping to be able to take the drain tube out soon. Thank you all for your prayers and support.