History

Tuesday, October 25, 2011 5:40 AM CDT

Testing again yesterday. Some things we've been praying would clear up for months finally did...but some other things that have been clear for months are now not. Please continue to pray.

I'd love to have you join us at http://queenhomeschooldays.blogspot.com/, my new blog. lt's easier to log into, and I am finding it easier to write in regularly.

Sunday, August 14, 2011 2:00 PM CDT

Thanks for continuing to check on our little guy, and mostly, to pray.
We have been dealing with some huge issues here, most of which I cannot mention here, but all involve health issues. Please keep our entire family in your prayers when the Lord brings us to your minds. Progress is being made in the right direction, but it is slow, time consuming, and very expensive. If we keep our eyes on those facts, it can be draining and discouraging....another reason not to live in the flesh, but to trust in the Only One Who has the power to control the situation.

In Him we live, and move, and have our being.

No, we don't know what the future holds. But we know and trust in the One Who holds it.

Thanks for praying.

Sunday, August 14, 2011 2:00 PM CDT

Monday, April 18, 2011 10:43 PM CDT

Jeremiah came up to me in the kitchen this evening and caught me off guard with, "Hey Mom, in 2 hours and 14 minutes, it will be six years since I was diagnosed with cancer."

Not that any of us are counting. In some ways, that day seems like yesterday. Yet in some ways, it seems as if we've been fighting cancer all our lives.

Please continue to keep our family in your prayers. I cannot disclose all the health issues, but there are many, and they are great.

Pray also for an urgent unspoken need for extended family members in crisis.

Thank you for caring enough to stop by, and for your prayers especially.

Friday, March 11, 12:56 AM EST

So, once again, my "night owl" tendencies have been exposed...what can I say? :o)

Thanks to those who have inquired about Jeremiah's health, and for asking for an update. The last battery of tests was a mixed bag, and the next batch is on March 25, so we appreciate your continued prayers that we will see good progress toward PERFECT health for all in our household. God knows every detail, we only ask that you would lift us up to Him in prayer when you think of us.

On another note, we have settled into the new "normal" (what is THAT, anyway???), and are taking "the new normal" on the road. Yes, our traveling season with Queen Homeschool Supplies has begun once again. We had our first convention, in Memphis, last week. Since we are trying to sell our RV, we had to carry several small duffle bags full of pills and such, and a huge duffle bag and plug in cooler up to our hotel room. Once we finally had all of our "stuff" set up and ready to use, we hesitated to let the maid come in to clean the room, as it looked as though we were opening a health food store in the room! Definitely more challenging to do all that needs to be done to care for everyone while traveling. Nine more conventions to go...not that I'm counting.

Jeremiah took his 3rd grade standard achievement test a few weeks ago. We got the results back the other day. His score.....99th percentile!!! I knew he was a smart little guy, but it was good to see it in writing, judged by someone else, not his (somewhat partial, perhaps?) mom. :o)
I'm so thankful that all those years of chemo have not harmed his growing brain.

Thank you for your continued prayers. Feel free to sign the guestbook and let us know you were here.
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Tuesday, February 1, 2011 11:38 PM EST

Thank you for praying for Jeremiah's oncology appointment today. His health continues to move in the right direction, and we praise the Lord for that. The prayer needs mentioned yesterday are still there, and still just as great, but we are seeing the hand of our mighty Lord at work once again.

Of course, He has been working all along...it just sometimes takes a major crisis to get our attention and make us see that. God is good...all the time.
:o)
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Monday, January 31, 2011 10:19 AM CST

Jeremiah has an oncology appointment tomorrow (Tuesday, Feb. 1st.)
Please pray for only GOOD news!

Please pray also for unspoken health needs in our family. I am choosing not to elaborate, but the needs are great. Pray also for the extreme financial difficulties resulting from these needs.

THANK YOU for PRAYING for us!!!

Tuesday, January 11, 2011 8:59 AM CST

Thanks to those who continue to pray. Due to inclement weather and the fact that my husband got stuck overnight last night on the other side of the state because of it, we have rescheduled Jeremiah's hospital appointment for Feb. 1st at 3 PM. We appreciate your continued prayers.

Jeremiah does have some tests on Jan. 21 and 22nd, which we pray will reveal favorable progress. Please pray for clear road conditions on those days, as well as a good report.

Thanks for remembering our little guy in your prayers!

Tuesday, January 4, 2011 10:22 PM CST

Today's testing yielded results that were a mixed bag - not any worse, but not any better. Actually, in some areas, things looked a bit worse, though just a tiny bit. Still, a tiny bit is too much.

Please continue to storm the gates of Heaven on Jeremiah's behalf.

We continue to forge ahead, knowing that God is in the lead.

Thursday, December 30, 2010 10:55 PM CST

Due to freezing rain, I had to reschedule Jeremiah's health screening today until next Tuesday, January 4th. Please pray that all goes well, and we see good results that are accurate.

Please pray right now for some good friends, Michelle and her son, Will. Will is a long-time cancer fighter, and at 16, has pulled through on many occasions when things looked bleak. They were in an accident today, a milk truck driver fell asleep and hit them. Will was life flighted to the hospital with a broken pelvis, and in much pain. More importantly, he is having some other issues due to previous cancer surgeries that are much more serious than a broken pelvis, and really needs your fervent prayers. Please pray for their family. Michelle has been a great support for me, beginning the very day Jeremiah was diagnosed with cancer almost 6 years ago, having already been there with her own son 2 years before me.

Thank you for praying.

Tuesday, December 28, 2010 9:38 PM CST

Jeremiah goes for screening tests on Thursday, Dec. 30th. Please pray for accurate results that show things moving in the right direction for his health.

We ask you to pray that the Lord would continue to show mercy to JeremiaH, and that he would have many healthy years on this earth to serve his Savior.

Please remember our little friend Daniel in your prayers. In just 6 more weeks, he will have been in the hospital for one full year. Daniel is 8 years old, a leukemia survivor, now battling a pre-cancerous condition that can turn into AML. He has already had one failed bone marrow transplant, and will be having another - probably in March. We have known his family for many years, long before either Jeremiah or Daniel was born.

Thank you for your faithfulness to check on our boy, and to lift him up in prayer. Just knowing you are there praying is a blessing and a help to our hearts.

Will update after Thursday's tests.

Friday, December 10, 2010 3:39 PM CST

Thanks to those who prayed.

Yesterday went well, though the roads were SNOWY as anything by our house. As soon as I was a mile and a half away from home, however, they were clear. It's just that we are always blessed with all the snow for the whole of the county. :o)

We were happy to see continued good progress in Jeremiah's health. Still lots to do to continue in that direction, as well as long afterwards, as we work on the deeper issues. But overall, we came home encouraged.

Please continue to remember Jeremiah in your prayers as you think of him. He still has a long way to go. And pray for me, that the Lord would give me clear direction in some of the protocols I have to administer at home, which are quite lengthy and involved.

An unrelated request...

Please pray for our water situation. For several months now, we have been struggling with getting water from our well. We had a very expensive holding tank and rerouting line put in a few weeks ago. Still no water, and we haven't even paid that bill yet!
Poor Keith has been out hauling loads of water in his pickup truck (in a plastic tank) every other day just so we can function - and that with minimal water usage. He has to haul 2 or 3 loads per night, and the place he fills the tank up is an hour's drive round trip. So basically, he comes home from work, loads up the tank into the truck, goes to get a load of water, comes back and empties it into the tank, and goes to get another. Dinner, family devotions, and bed. That's his day.
Please pray that our well would start to produce prolifically once again. We know God is able to start it up again. After all, He provided water out of a rock for Moses!

Thanks for your continued prayers.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010 10:24 AM CST

Jeremiah goes for some tests Thursday. Prayer requests:

For accurate results that will show a return to PERFECT health!

For clear roads.

I do not "do" snow, especially driving in snow. We currently have at least 6 inches, and it is still coming down. Bitter cold, too. We have to travel through some very rural dirt roads that are not plowed to get where we're going, and I am the driver this Thursday, as Keith cannot get any more time off work.
So, please pray we make it there and back safely.

Please pray also for financial concerns over costs of tests and whatever is prescribed, neither of which are covered by insurance at all.

Praising God for each day of life - the PRESENT is truly a GIFT!

Thursday, November 11, 2010 9:46 PM CST

Today's testing, though lengthy, was good. Things are moving in the right direction, which makes all the arduous work of the last couple of months worthwhile.

While we still have some things to work on, and are surely not out of the woods - actually, Jeremiah will likely never be completely "out of the woods," as his body does not seem to be able to filter toxins, and this is something we will always have to watch and deal with - at least we are aware of the issue, and can, with God's direction, do our best to help him with that.

Thank you for your prayers. Please keep them coming, as we still have a long way to go. Praise the Lord for His continued mercy in allowing Jeremiah to respond favorably to the things we are implementing to help him.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010 7:43 AM CST

We've had a rough couple of days around here, as Jeremiah suddenly came down with some sort of bronchial infection over the weekend.

Last night seemed to be the turning point, as I have been treating him very aggressively for it (such as in giving him something every 5 minutes for 2 hours straight until it "broke"), and now he can breathe much better.

Tomorrow is the day he goes for further testing to check progress. We appreciate your continued prayers. Will post once we see what's going on.

Monday, November 1, 2010 11:10 AM CDT

Fall is upon us, and today being Monday, it is especially *interesting.*

We have been having "water issues" for months, and figured it was because it has been so dry this year. This morning when I was in the shower, right after I got my hair wet, the water went out...again. I called for Evan to run downstairs and hold the manual switch for the well pump on until I could quickly finish. After about 5 minutes of waiting, I heard him yell up, "Mom, are you done yet?" I had been waiting for him to hold the switch so the water would come back on, only to find that he was...and it wasn't.

So, we have no water today. Fun.
There is a guy coming to (finally) look at the well tomorrow.

As far as Jeremiah goes, he seems to be doing well, though we don't go back for more testing until November 11th. Right now, he and his brothers and daddy have a headache thing that's going around, while the females in the house have a runny nose "thing." Like I said, it's fall.

He continues doing well with adjusting to the mostly raw, vegan diet he is on to alkalize. The guys from church have a camp out on Friday, followed by our church harvest party on Saturday, so I am a bit overwhelmed with how I will do his routine when he is gone overnight, and how the special raw vegan foods will go over next to all the "regular" food at the harvest party - and at the "guy thing" Friday night, so please pray that he will be happy with whatever I fix for him, and won't feel left out or "different" because he won't be eating the roast pig or chicken or all the cooked foods everyone else will be eating.

We covet your continued prayers for things to keep moving in the right direction with Jeremiah's health. Please pray for continued protection from chickenpox, which is going around our church right now. As of today, it's still contained to one family, but that one family has 3 sons who play with my 2 younger sons regularly, so we are still watching and waiting, as none of our boys have had the pox yet.

Mostly, please pray for:

A balanced ph

Detoxification, and the ability to detox toxins instead of
holding onto them

Acceptance of the "new dietary normal"

Financial pressures as we continue on with an expensive
protocol that is totally out of pocket

And mostly, no cancer, and that the Lord would show His mercy toward Jeremiah in allowing him to grow up and live a healthy life on this earth, and use these years as a testimony of His power, and that many souls would be saved as a result.

We appreciate you stopping by, and your continued prayers.

Friday, October 22, 2010 7:57 PM CDT

New Prayer Request!!!

We were notified today that two kids from church have chickenpox. Not the worst childhood illness to get under normal circumstances, but not good timing if Jeremiah were to come down with them right now.

Those who have kept abreast of Jeremiah's journey over the past 5+ years might recall that his older brothers, Evan and Luke, were forced to have the chickenpox vaccine (we don't normally vaccinate our children) 5 years ago, then spend two weeks living next door, away from Jeremiah (at ages 7 and 10) so as not to spread the live virus from the vaccine to their younger brother, as chickenpox could be fatal to a leukemia patient.

That's all I'll say at this point.

Please pray that the Lord will keep a hedge of protection around Jeremiah, and that he will not get the chickenpox at this time.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010 9:27 PM CDT

Today was a long day, but full of blessings!

Though we are nowhere near out of the woods, overall, things are moving in the direction we had hoped - praise the Lord!

Jeremiah's ph is in the "normal" rather than "acidic" range. This has happened in just one month, when normal time to see this kind of turnaround is several times longer. Of course, those who wrote the book on what is "normal" perhaps did not realize the full healing capacity of the God we choose to serve!

Other areas are progressing much more slowly in the right direction, but they are moving that way, nonetheless, which is encouraging.

We thank you for your prayers, and thank you in advance for continuing to lift Jeremiah up before the throne of the Great Physician, Jesus Christ.

In Him alone we trust.

Friday, October 15, 2010 8:42 AM CDT

God has been so good to give us some beautiful days here, as we enter the fall season here in the middle of our woods. Jeremiah, who got a ninja outfit for his birthday from one of his sisters, has been soaking up the beauty as he fights off imaginary bad guys with his ninja swords, jumping all over the yard swinging plastic swords at falling leaves with all of the energy he has from all those raw foods he has been forced to consume. ;o)

Food is a major issue, as he is missing his old favorites that have been removed from his diet, and had them replaced with mostly green vegetables. But, praise the Lord, there are some new favorites, such as steamed broccoli and..."LIIIIIMA BEANS," as he calls them. He even begged me to buy lima beans for him at the grocery store yesterday. You should have seen the other lady in the frozen veggie isle look at him in disbelief as he pleaded in typical dramatic Jeremiah fashion, down on one knee, hands clasped, "Mom, can you PLEASE buy some liiiiima beans, PLEASE, PLEASE???" Priceless moment! I know she was wishing her kids would beg for veggies like that. If she only knew.

As I said, food is an issue. Trying to squeeze as many healthy veggies into him as possible, I made a raw vegetable soup the other day, mixing many veggies in the blender for the broth, and shredded up carrot "noodles" with a potato peeler. Making the presentation as beautiful as possible by putting it in a blue bowl and sitting a fresh parsley leaf in the middle of it and a large carrot in the middle for garnish did not persuade him. One bite, and it was, "This is too hot!" (the fresh garlic had been discovered.)

So...I blended it up again with an apple, poured it into a glass, put in a straw, and spent the next 3 hours trying to get it in him.

*sigh*

Yesterday, however, was a sweet victory day, as I had made a raw banana bread in the dehydrator, made from bananas, raw sunflower, flax, & sesame seeds,dates, and such, that he LOVED! So much that I had to order more raw sunflower kernels so that I can make it again. We're making progress.

Prayers appreciated for October 19th. We have a 10 AM appointment to check progress. We pray things are moving in the right direction.

Thank you for your faithfulness to lift our boy before our mighty God's throne of grace.

Friday, October 8, 2010 12:13 AM EST

HAPPY 9TH BIRTHDAY, JEREMIAH MATTHEW QUEEN!!!!

We love you soooooo much!!!!

We praise the Lord for His goodness in blessing us with 9 wonderful years with you, and pray He gives us many, many more years to serve Him together!

Friday, October 1, 2010 8:25 AM CDT

Yesterday was a LOOOONNNNNGGGGGG day!
Left the house around 12:30, didn't get home until about 12:30 this morning!

Spent 5 1/2 hours testing stuff. Results were a mixed bag. One area was slightly improved, one slightly worse off, most the same. Overall, this was a day to get direction and baselines worked out with a new person onboard. We have a new, improved plan, and are forging ahead. We much appreciate your continued prayers for wisdom, discernment, direction, and most of all, complete and total healing on this earth, and many years for Jeremiah to serve God as a mighty man with a GREAT testimony of his healing power!

Thursday, September 30, 2010 9:08 AM CDT

Asking for prayer today as we have some tests done. Pray for discernment and guidance, as well as for accuracy in the results. Of course, we pray that the Lord would show us His mercy and allow those accurate results to show that things are moving in the right direction, but it may be too soon to tell.

Will update tonight if there is anything new to report.

Thank you so much for your continued prayers!!!

Saturday, September 25, 2010 9:29 PM CDT

Thank you for your continued prayers. Jeremiah is tolerating his new lifestyle well, including an entirely new way of eating. He is on mostly raw vegetables for all of his meals, with a bit of raw fruit or sprouted raw nuts, lemon juice in water, etc., all meant to alkalize his body.

He is handling it so well, we can't help but see the hand of God at work. For a kid who doesn't like vegetables, and would prefer to eat only meat and ketchup, or cooked noodles or corn with ketchup, or rice with ketchup, and maybe some raw carrots with ketchup, he has adjusted so well I know it can ONLY be of the LORD! He is eating several salads per day, loaded with romaine lettuce, spinach, sprouts, raw nuts, etc., and has even taken to the homemade, alkalizing salad dressing I am making for him, though it tastes absolutely NOTHING like his beloved ranch dressing. God is so good!

Big shocker -Jeremiah will now even eat....
TOMATOES
and
AVOCADOS
on his salads!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You can't even KNOW how monumental this is!

Of course, for mom (me), who has spent nearly every waking moment during the past 2 weeks in the kitchen, preparing specialty meals for him, today was no different, and it's a bit wearying when I have spent hours making raw salsa, veggie leathers (in the dehydrator), "cookies' made from raw nuts ground up in the food processor with dates, pumpkin seeds, coconut oil, and stevia, and rolled in shredded coconut, flattened, and "baked" at 105 degrees in the dehydrator so as to give a bit of "crisp" without killing the enzymes he needs, making raw zucchini hummus, making the flax crackers to dip them in, making a raw "black bean" (raw sunflower seeds, veggies, and spices) filling for the veggie tortillas made in the dehydrator, etc, etc, etc. (did I mention how time consuming this is??), only to hear, "Mom, what IS this stuff?" and see his nose turned up at it. A lesson in patience and perseverance for me, I guess. :o)

Really, though, although he did wince a bit seeing the chicken dinner I had made for the rest of the family tonight (I am eating what he eats, but everyone else eats the SAD (standard American diet)), he finally gave in and ate his zucchini hummus & flax crackers, raw veggie sticks, and millet tortilla with the sunflower seed filling, more veggies, flax crackers, and yes, more veggies. He got his lemon water with stevia (didn't care for either the chocolate or vanilla raw almond milks I made him - sigh) and a couple of the aforementioned raw cookies for dessert.

He seems to have a good bit of energy today, no vomiting for days now, and is looking forward to our first trip to a restaurant tomorrow after church with some friends. Chinese buffet. I know he can have the fruit and salad, and I will be armed with his own special salad dressing and some raw pumpkin seeds to sprinkle on top of it, as well as a couple more of "his" cookies. He just needs a bit of normalcy. It is likely that we will stop at Starbucks for an unsweetened shaken iced green tea afterward - to which I will add stevia. His treat. :o)

Please continue to pray. On Thursday, we will be having some things tested, and are hoping to find the best protocol to follow, as well as to see if there has been any progress at all toward the end that we want to see. We covet your prayers to that end, which is, of course, that God would allow our boy many more years on this earth to serve Him in excellent health.

Sunday, September 19, 2010 5:18 PM CDT

Home from church tonight with a sick Jeremiah. All seemed fine, and he started vomiting non-stop around 5 PM. Now he is sleeping on the loveseat.
Pray he will feel fine when he awakens, as I still have to get his night time stuff into him, and it needs to stay in him to work.

Please pray for the Lord to continue to work in Jeremiah's body to bring about total healing, as well as for strength for all of us to endure the physical, mental, and emotional stress that we are under at this time. Most importantly, pray for total healing on this earth for Jeremiah.

It's still a shock. I thought we were 'out of the woods," so to speak. But God knows, and He is in control.

Like I taught in Sunday school this morning, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways, acknowledge Him, and he shall direct thy paths." (Proverbs 3:5 - 6)

It's as though God is our life-rope. If we are sinking in the sea, we would be sure to grasp for Him. But when we are on shore and all is well, we sometimes think we don't need to hold onto Him. Let us remember to always grasp for Him, for that is His desire - that we would always seek Him, and always desire to be close to Him - not just when there is a crisis.

We don't always understand why He allows things to happen in our lives, and we don't always know what to do when we come to a crisis. But God knew it was coming before it did, and we can only trust Him fully, seeking His direction.

Pray for discernment as we seek Him.

Thursday, September 16, 2010 10:32 PM CDT

Day 5 since we got the news...
We are settling into the new reality, praying for guidance and discernment daily, and most of all, praying for Jeremiah's complete healing...on this earth.

He is feeling better from the stomach thing he had going on, praise the Lord.

We have him on an alkaline, mostly raw foods diet, which he is not too thrilled about. Our entire full-sized freezer is now covered, plastered with food charts for what he can and can't eat. If you have any experience with alkalizing the body, and recipes to do so that are kid-friendly, please feel free to email or post them in the guestbook. So far, everything I've made is "too spicy" or "boring," such as the vegetable soup I spent 9 1/2 hours making for him today. He can't have meat broth, so I had to start completely from scratch, chopping up onions, garlic, carrots, kale, sweet potatoes, etc. etc. etc. at 8:30 this morning, and cooking it down to much so I could pulverize it and add some parsley and such just to make the broth. Then adding all of the other veggies. I primed all of the other kids, taking them aside to tell them that, no matter what it tasted like, they needed to comment how delicious it was, for Jeremiah's sake.

It didn't fool him.

"Mom, this doesn't taste like your vegetable soup."
(no meat broth, no tomatoes, etc.)

*Sigh.*

It's OK. He ate it - was forced to. He wasn't allowed to leave the table until it was gone. It was the first cooked food he's had since Saturday.

Please pray that we will gain victory in the food area, as well as in the health area. They go hand in hand.

Thank you for your encouragement, and especially for your prayers. Both are much appreciated.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010 8:54 AM CDT

From the book of Jonah this morning, as I prepared my Sunday school lesson for next Sunday, these verses stood out to me:

For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me.

Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.

The waters compassed me about, [even] to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.

I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars [was] about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God.

When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple.

Please pray for Jeremiah to stop vomiting, and be able to keep down all the things sitting on the kitchen counter that I have to start giving him in about one minute. He was up all night long wretching and vomiting.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010 6:26 PM CDT

Tests today brought the same results we got on Saturday. We were hoping it was a mistake. Denial, I guess.

Please continue to pray big prayers for our little man.
Pray for his strength to endure physically, for complete healing on this earth, and for us, his family, to be strengthened as well by the Only One who is able to bring us through.

Saturday, September 11, 2010 11:07 AM CDT

Please pray. God knows the need, I don't need to name it. But we would really appreciate your prayers on Jeremiah's behalf.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010 11:25 AM CDT

Update: 11:47 PM

We are home. Jeremiah's counts were perfect - no cancer, praise the Lord! Thank you for praying.
He does not have to go back to the hospital for 6 months. We are so thankful.

While we were there today, we saw Daniel Bradmon and his mom in the hospital waiting room. Daniel needs your prayers, as does his family. Please pray for them if you are willing.

Thank you for checking in, and for holding our little boy up in your prayers.
-------------------------------------

All has been going well. Jeremiah has a hospital appointment today at 3 PM - just a routine checkup with blood work. Prayers for NO CANCER are appreciated.

Also, please pray for our little friend Daniel Bradmon, who is needing a 3rd bone marrow transplant. Daniel just had his 8th birthday. He and Jeremiah went through treatment during the same time, though at different hospitals.

Will update again later, after the hospital visit, to let you know that God has continued to keep our little guy cancer free.
:o)

Wednesday, March 24, 2010 8:21 AM CDT

Last night when I was in the kitchen working, Jeremiah came in and scooted under the table. Since I was preparing food, I did not really notice what he was doing, and I asked, just to be conversational, "Jeremiah, what are you doing?"

His response:

"I'm trying to read this book, and Luke keeps making noise, so I came in here where it's quiet."

Me:

"What book are you reading?"

Him:

"This one - the story about my life."

My attention was refocused when I noticed that he held in his little 8 year old hands the almost 700 page book I wrote about his cancer journey. I wasn't sure I was ready for HIM to read that yet.

Though, of course, he has lived through all of the events portrayed in the book, I was not ready for him to read the raw emotion with which they are portrayed in that account. As he began his cancer journey at age 3, chemotherapy, isolation, and spinal taps were just "the norm" for him, and that is how we acted about them with him. He never knew the struggles that went on in our hearts during those years, and how we battled our flesh and the devil just to keep our focus on Whom we were (and are) trusting in for his healing; he only knew that hospital days were the day to stop by the Make-A-Wish office for a peek at the peregrine falcon family that nested on their windowsill, and a stop at Whole Foods Market for some healthy treats. For him, we made it light. But in that book, my heart is bared. I'm not sure I'm ready for the 8 year old survivor who lived it all to read that account.

Still, as he completed the first page, trying to pronounce the names of the doctors he had in that first hospital, he stumbled across a word he couldn't quite make out.

"Mom, is "Lu-chem-ya" a type of cancer?"

"Jeremiah, that says, 'leukemia.'"

"Oh. Well, of course, I KNEW that was cancer!" (big smile on his face)

Hmmm...

Maybe he is ready for the book after all.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010 9:18 PM CST

All is well...

We have been buried under many feet of snow here in western Pennsylvania, but at long last, we are starting to see the sun, and all that comes along with it this time of year...namely, pavement, gravel, bare tree branches, etc. No grass yet, but we know it's under there somewhere.

Jeremiah has been in good health. We got a wii fit for the family for Valentine's Day instead of a bunch of junk food nobody needed, and he has been on there breaking a sweat every single day since then. School is moving along, and every day, I see more and more knowledge seeping into his brain during our homeschool lessons. I'm so thankful that the Lord saw fit to spare his cognitive skills during those 3 1/2 years of chemo.

He has been enjoying wrestling matches with his big brothers, and his little friends Elijah and Jesse at church, and is playing along on his mandolin as his siblings, who are all musically talented and play in our church's stringed ensemble.

Selling the book I wrote about Jeremiah, "Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death: One Family's Journey Through Childhood Cancer," has opened up many doors to share of God's goodness, and, as expected, has opened many doors of ministry to other cancer families, as we sold out of this book at our first homeschool convention this year in Indiana. People I have never met before saw the book, which we had placed between our cash registers, and came to tell me their stories of how and when their children were diagnosed with cancer. In between discussions about one son's petechiae, and Jeremiah's lowgrade nighttime fevers before diagnosis, I realized that this will be part of the new "normal" for us as we go around the country selling this book. Cancer is, thankfully, in our past...but cancer and cancer stories will always be a part of our lives. We are thankful for the ministry opportunity it allows us; for the chance to use it to God's glory by pointing others to Him through Jeremiah's story. Praise the Lord for His goodness!

Prayer requests that are near and dear to us right now:

1. Pray for our friend, Kitty Foster, who is home on hospice. Things are not looking good. Cancer is an ugly beast that, though it looked just a few weeks ago to be under submission, has chosen to fight back in full force.

2. Pray for Jeremiah and me to both remain cancer-free.

3. Pray for God to continue to use Jeremiah's story to point others to a saving knowledge of Him, which makes it all worthwhile.

4. Pray for safety for us as we travel around the country selling books. The season has begun.

5. Pray for me as I begin speaking once again at conventions - this year, I have been asked to speak on "Homeschooling Through Adversity." I know what that's like, obviously. There will be others who need encouragement. Pray that the Lord would direct me to give it and to glorify Him with my words.

As always, thank you for your prayers, and for thinking enough of our little guy to come here and see what's up with him.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010 1:22 PM CST

Good news from yesterday's hospital visit - Jeremiah's blood looked perfect, and he doesn't have to go back for bloodwork until July!
Needless to say, he is happy about that. :o)

On a sadder note, please pray for one of Jeremiah's oncologists, Dr. Steve A.
We just found out yesterday that he was in a bad car accident that killed both of his young children. :o(

Thanks for checking in, and for praying.

Monday, February 8, 2010 8:50 AM CST

We have been without electricity here in Pennsylvania, covered under a blanket of snow almost 3 feet deep, that fell within 24 hours. Thankfully, we have a generator, thanks to Keith, who drove an hour each way just after dawn to stand in line behind seven other guys buying generators. :o)

Tomorrow is Jeremiah's checkup appointment at Children's Hospital. Hard to believe it's been six months since we've been there, 3 months since his last blood draw. Please join us in praying for NO CANCER CELLS!!!

Please pray also for a local little boy, the son of some friends, Daniel. Daniel was diagnosed with A.L.L. around the same time as Jeremiah. We just heard that he is needing a bone marrow transplant, which means he has relapsed. I have not been able to get ahold of his mom, they are probably without power right now and not getting emails. But God knows the need, and we are lifting Daniel before Him and asking you to join us.

Traveling season for some of us starts in a couple of weeks. The heart is not ready, but the bank account is. :o) Praying for a successful season, as the Lord has led us to publish some exciting new series this year, and we are anxious to hear the comments from customers. I feel a very prolific year ahead, as we are already hard at work on more than one new series for our 2011 season.

Thanks for checking in, and mostly, for your prayers on Jeremiah's behalf.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010 3:39 PM CST

Things are going well around here. Jeremiah has been sick with body aches and stomach ache, but this appears to just be "something that's going around."

The book about his battle with cancer, "Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death: One Family's Journey Through Childhood Cancer," is now available for purchase at http://www.queenhomeschool.com, by clicking on "God and Cancer." It's a huge book - 653 pages, and we are selling it for $15.95, which is what it costs us. This story is not for monetary profit. :o)

Please keep Jeremiah in your prayers. His next hospital appointment is Feb. 9th, where he will have a general checkup and bloodwork. As always, we appreciate your prayers for NO CANCER to be found, and also for his immune system to kick in and kick out whatever is causing this latest round of not feeling well.

Thanks for your faithfulness!

Friday, December 25, 2009 3:57 PM CST

Merry CHRISTmas!!!

We had a gloriously uneventful Christmas this year, for which we are thankful. The last week or so here in southwestern Pennsylvania has kept us close to home, as the weather was so "wintery" that even Church was cancelled last Sunday morning, and we were left at home, feeling "unChristian" for missing church for the first time in many, many years, except when in the hospital.

It's the time of year here when we at Queen Homeschool Supplies, Inc. (our publishing company) are busily readying new books for publication. Every couple of days, another one is done, and all is coming together nicely. I have finished writing the book that we have dubbed "Jeremiah's Story," though the official title is "Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death: One Family's Journey Though Childhood Cancer." It is at the printer's now, and will soon be available on our website at cost. We are not out to make a profit on this book, we just want to use Jeremiah's story and the testimony of God's grace that it is to encourage others going through trials - whether they are dealing with childhood cancer or something else entirely.

The book chronicles 3 1/2 years of battling cancer in "just" 649 pages, including color photographs. I pray the Lord will use it in a big way.

Now, with all of the books I have been working on having been wrapped up, I find that it is time for me to once again pick up where I left off in writing "Language Lessons for the High School Student, Volume 3." Not feeling much like writing about how to write a research paper, etc. - but that was my promise all summer to many faithful customers who are waiting for its publication. Your prayers for direction and the "umph" I need to get moving, when I really feel more like, after pouring out my soul in Jeremiah's story for months now, is to just take a break from writing.

********************************************
Christmas...

Last night, we went to Mimi and Pap's house to celebrate with the extended family. We had a good time enjoying good food, and Jeremiah and cousin Addy got to catch up on some playing - much of which terrorized poor Mimi, who has not had a little one in the house except for occasional visits from the grandkids (none of whom live very close) in 37 years.

After getting home around midnight, the younger ones all opted to open the allowed "one present on Christmas Eve," which was Dad's tradition when he was a boy. Jeremiah picked his new Vegitales DVD, Evan a stringed instrument CD, and Luke, his coveted UnderArmor beanie. That hat had been a source of much frustration for me ever since the week after Thanksgiving, when I bought it at Cabella's, and the cashier forgot to remove the security tag. I got "beeped" when going out the door, came back into the store, and the security clerk at the front of the store took my bag, went through it over and over, and could not find the offending item, so I was told to just go ahead out the door. When we got home (2 hours away, I might add), I was wrapping the gifts I'd bought, and happened to see the ink-depositing security tag still on the hat. Ugh!

The following week, I "ran into town" (out here, there is not "running into town," and every trip is well - planned, because of the distance), and went to the one local store that sells clothing - Fashion Bug - to see if someone could remove the tag for me. They could not. Different type of tags used there.

A week later, Casey, Ben, and I went for a day-long shopping fest to a huge mall a couple of hours away. I took the hat with me, hoping that I could get someone to remove the tag in one of the stores.

I forgot to take the bag with the hat into the mall with me.

The following week, Casey and Kiley went shopping, and Casey determined that she would have it removed for me.

Unfortunately, she takes after her momma just a tad too much. She also forgot to take the hat into the mall.

Finally, a few days before Christmas, Keith took me to yet another mall to try my luck. On the way, we stopped at Gabriel Brothers. When I checked out, I happened to remember the hat in my purse, and asked the clerk if he could remove the tag. To my delight, he answered, "no problem," and proceeded to do so for me.

The only gift Luke asked for this year was an UnderArmor beanie (hat.) I was so glad it did not come with an ink-spraying security tag still attached when he wore it to bed last night. That would not have been too comfy.

Today, the boys and Haley awoke at 3 AM for their stockings. By 4, they were hoping to get us all up, but after getting to bed at 2, that was a no-go. Dad and I aren't getting any younger, and at 48, we need a few more hours than that!

By 7 AM, we were up and at it. All were happy with their gifts. After a "Happy Birthday Jesus" breakfast, complete with candles and singing, it's been a lazy, checking stuff out kind of day. Though there are a few sniffles going around, and a bit of a sore throat here and there, we have not had to say the words, "cancer," "leukemia," "blast cells," "blood draws," or "hospital" for a couple of months now, and it's been GOOD!!!

Hope you all have a blessed season of celebration of our Savior.

Praising Him anew for His glorious gift of eternal life, which began when He chose to leave Heaven's glory and come to earth as a humble babe in a manger...at Christmas.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009 8:30 AM CST

I can't believe it's almost Thanksgiving already! Where did 2009 go? Every year, the time seems to go faster.

Haley gave me an admonition to update yesterday. :o)
After getting a call from Children's Hospital yesterday with the results of Jeremiah's latest blood tests that were done on Monday, I thought the timing was right.

All counts were good - uneventful, if you will. Praise the Lord!
As the nurse read them to me over the phone, and I wrote them down, I had to stop for a minute and think about what "normal" counts are, so I could do the mental comparison. It was a good feeling. It means I have not been a slave to blood counts for 3 months. :oD

A couple of prayer requests I'd like to mention, though, if you feel led to pray...

1. Please pray for Jeremiah's continued headaches. He wakes up some mornings with headaches so severe that they wake him up, and he is in tears, holding his head and crying. So far, we have not been able to get any answers as to why he is getting these, and it has been going on for months - so, I am a bit concerned, as it is a sign of possible relapse. Though, yesterday's good news on the blood counts made me feel better, and my hope continues that maybe it is "just" a latent effect of all of the strong chemo drugs that he was on for so long, or some other unobstrusive foe.

2. This is a 2-part request. As many of you know, I used to do a lot of speaking at homeschool conventions, since I have written over 200 books for homeschoolers, and we own a publishing company for homeschool materials. In fact, I was speaking at a convention the weekend Jeremiah was diagnosed. Because of his ongoing treatment, I declined all speaking engagements for the past 4 years, because I never knew what the state of his health would be, and if I would be at home or in a hospital with Jeremiah, or at the convention. I did not want to be a scheduled speaker with my photo in a program, only to have to cancel, and leave people hanging.

After Jeremiah finished treatment last year, I was again asked to get back on the speaking circuit. With so many emotional ties to speaking at a homeschool convention, I just did not feel I could do it again.

But...the Lord has slowly been moving me in that direction again. Last Christmas, my dear pastor urged me to participate in the church Christmas program by quoting a selection of Scripture. Just standing behind that podium literally took my breath away, as all of the memories of the last time I stood behind a podium just came flooding back to me - the memories of feeling like I had to get done speaking so we could leave the convention and take my 3 year old to the hospital, because something was drastically wrong, etc. It was absolutely overwhelming.

Then, a number of months ago, I was asked to take over the junior girls Sunday school class at church. Again, I was behind the podium - this time on a weekly basis. The first class, I didn't think I'd make it through. But, with prayer and perseverance, I did. Now, I'm perfectly used to speaking from behind a podium to a group of 4th to 6th grade girls. :o)

A couple of weeks ago, my 4 oldest kids and I went on a missions trip to the Dominican Republic. It was a wonderful experience. So wonderful that, when we returned, our pastor asked those who went on the trip, including me, to stand up on the stage and behind the podium to give a testimony of how the trip impacted our lives. In front of hundreds of people. While all of my kids were sweating about the logistics of being able to speak comfortably before a large group of people with all eyes on them, I was equally uncomfortable about just being able to speak without choking up from memories.

But the Lord brought me through, and it was fine.

A few days later, I got another invitation to speak at a homeschool convention - in fact, the very homeschool convention we were at when Jeremiah got sick.
Funny how things in life come full circle.

Accepting the invitation to speak was the catalyst I needed to begin writing the book I have promised (or threatened?) my family (and others) that I would write about how the Lord has brought us through the valley of childhood cancer, and how He has blessed us along the way. I am on page 200 already.

My prayer requests from all of this lengthy intro are that you would pray for me as I embark on the avenue of public speaking once again, that I would be a blessing to those in attendance. I have chosen to speak on homeschooling through adversity. Obviously, I know the topic well.

Pray also for the book I am writing. It is titled, "Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death." Pray that the Lord will use it to encourage others who are suffering through tough times, and also that He would receive any glory due.

Pray for me, that the Lord would give me the words as I tell Jeremiah's story, and His intricate involvement in it.

It is time.

Thursday, October 8, 2009 7:51 AM CDT

HAPPY 8TH BIRTHDAY, JEREMIAH!!!

We praise the Lord for what He has done for you!!!

Today is "little guy's" birthday. :o)
He asked last night if he could open "just one" present before bed, so after church last night, he was allowed to pick one. He picked his mandolin.

He has wanted a mandolin for some time now, as his siblings are all musically talented and most play in the stringed ensemble at church. Jeremiah often picks up Haley or Luke's mandolin and picks out songs, longing for the day when he could have one of his own, and join them onstage. As Luke sat in the living room tuning it for him, he could barely contain himself, he was so excited to play his OWN mandolin!!! :o)

Please continue to keep Jeremiah in your prayers. He has complained lately of many aches and pains - and daily mentions that he has a headache. We had this checked out last month, and found that he had the coxsackie virus, which causes a headache; but after being treated for it for a month now, he still has daily headaches. He will get checked out again tomorrow, so please pray that all is well. And pray for him as he learns to play his mandolin - that the Lord will use him to minister for His glory.

Thanks for your faithfulness to keep us in your prayers!

Wednesday, September 23, 2009 0:20 AM CDT

Jeremiah has been doing quite well, aside from having headaches for weeks upon weeks, which were apparently caused by the popular Coxsackie virus, which seems to love our family, since it drops in for an extended stay every year or two. :o)
The last two days have been better; he's only complained of a headache a few times.

His older brothers, Evan and Luke, however, are suffering from extreme cases of poison ivy or poison oak! The boys have been hanging out in the woods quite a bit, playing army, digging trenches, swinging from vines, and stuff like that which boys do. They are pretty much covered with it. Surely it's only the mercy and goodness of God that Jeremiah is not also, since he was with his brothers every step of the way. But we do appreciate your prayers on Evan's and Luke's behalf.

School is back in session in the homeschool room, and Jeremiah said to me today, "Mom, I think I like my new Beta (Math-U-See) book." In fact, all of the kids have commented that they actually LIKE something about their school this year - an answer to my prayers! It is so much easier to homeschool when your kids actually enjoy their curriculum! And, since I wrote most of the curriculum they are using, it makes me feel better, too. :o)

We have had busy days, with a large landscaping crew tearing out all of our bushes, flowes, etc, and building new walls, putting in walkways, and planting new flowers, missions conference at church, hosting health screenings for a week and a half, painting the wood trim in the living room and hallway, and finally, starting school. But it's been a good time.

When you think of our family, please pray for us, specifically for these needs:

That Jeremiah and I remain cancer-free

For Evan and Luke's poison ivy or poison oak or whatever it is to go away

For our homeschooling year

For me, as I continue to write my latest book, "Language Lessons for the High School Student, Volume 3," which includes a course on writing research papers. Writing for highschoolers is always a special challenge, but my own 11th grader keeps me going, as I know she is waiting for the next volume. Thanks, Haley!

For safety, as there have been many burglaries and robberies in our area as of late, and though it is pretty much known who the culprits are, they have not yet been found or caught. Pray that the Lord would keep His hedge of protection around us and our home, our warehouse, etc.

For God's direction for our family as we endeavor to serve Him fully in all areas of our lives. Pray that we will all remain faithful, and be worthy of the calling that is ours in Christ.

Thanks for stopping by! We appreciate you taking the time to check on our little guy. Please sign the guestbook and let us know you've been here.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009 11:16 PM CDT

Answered Prayer Alert!!!

Jeremiah's hospital visit today went very well. He was measured in at 4 feet, one inch, and 47 pounds - though that was fully clothed and with shoes on. :o)

Blood counts were PERFECT!!! Praise the Lord!

I must confess, I had been a bit stressed as this day approached, and even more so at the hospital today. We arrived a few minutes early at the brand new Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh (it's BEAUTIFUL!), and were taken back to the waiting area in the oncology clinic, and given one of those round beeper-thingy's that they give you at restaurants like Olive Garden to let you know your table is ready. After we got "beeped" back, we were led to the lab for a blood draw, and then into our room, where we proceeded to SIT for exactly 2 HOURS, waiting for someone to come in and look at Jeremiah and give us the results of his bloodwork.

Normally, a nurse comes in after a few minutes and does some preliminaries, and then the doctor comes in and gives us the results of the bloodwork and pokes at Jeremiah some. But today, we sat in a room at the end of the hallway all by ourselves for 2 hours before Dr. Terzak finally came in to see us.

I was concerned because I know when there is a concern over a child's bloodwork, the doctor will look at it over and over, call another doctor in for a second opinion, etc, and it takes longer than usual. But, thankfully, the issue with timing today was something different. Our appointment was at 2:30.
Apparently, someone who had a 1:30 appointment had a "beeper-thingy" that did not go off, and they sat in the waiting room for half an hour before anybody noticed they had not come in. That put the whole schedule behind for the rest of the day.

New hospital, still working out the "bugs."
:o)

Thanks to all who have been praying. Please continue to do so. My dad had a pet scan today also, but we won't hear results for a few weeks. Please pray that they, too, are cancer-free.

Thanks for your faithfulness!!!

Thursday, July 23, 2009 11:22 PM CDT

Jeremiah is doing well with learning to read. Every night during family devotions, he reads a verse aloud from the King James Bible, taking his turn. It's amazing to see the progress he has made during the past few weeks!

As his next hospital visit approaches - he goes back for a six month checkup and bloodwork on August 4th, there is always a bit of apprehension in the air. While he seems as fine as any of our other kids, it's those "little things" that make a mom wonder if things really are OK. For example, he has no appetite at all. He will be 8 in October, but still only weighs 47 pounds. Yes, it may be that he is just a tiny little guy, as many of his siblings were at his age. It may be that 3 1/2 years of chemo have stunted his growth. Or maybe it's that I like to worry too much. :o)

Tonight, after we prayed, and he was kissing me goodnight, he told me his eyes were hurting. I asked if he was tired, and he said, "Not really." Ever searching for even the most minute symptom, I asked him what they felt like, and when they started to hurt. His answer was that they "always hurt."

Of course, that could be the thoughtless, unremembering mind of a seven year old at midnight...or, it could be something else. I'm praying for the former.

Please pray for Jeremiah's hospital visit on August 4th to go well, and for all results to be WONDERFUL - which means, of course, NO CANCER!!!
Pray also for my dad, Jeremiah's Pap-pap, who goes for his pet scan the same day, to remain cancer-free as well.

I'll update after the hospital, if I don't get on here before then. Hopefully, life will be uneventful enough that I won't. :o)

Thank you for your faithfulness to check on our boy, and especially, to pray for him.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009 7:59 AM CDT

I am not good with change. When Caringbridge changed their entire format, it took me a couple of MONTHS to figure out the new way to access the "author update" section of Jeremiah's website, since the change was not accompanied by directions of any sort. Of course, having been used to accessing the site in the old way for 4 years, once I finally figured it out through much trial and error, it was quickly forgotten again!

Imagine my delight this morning to find myself, after weeks of trying to figure things out again, back here in the "access" area, ready to type an update! Thankfully, I wrote down the steps on a sticky note, which is now attached to my computer.

Jeremiah appears to be doing well. We just finished traveling for the season (except for 2 more conventions that Dad has to fly to out west), concluding with the SEARCH convention - the convention that we were at 4 years ago when Jeremiah was rushed to the hospital and diagnosed with cancer, as well as the convention that we were at last year at this time when we got the call from Dr. Terzak, telling us that Jeremiah's end-of-treatment bone marrow aspirate came back clear of leukemia cells. For obvious reasons, this convention has a special place in our hearts. It was nice to complete it this year uneventfully.

We did have lots of people coming up to us and asking about both Jeremiah and myself, as they have been praying for both of us all these years. We had a few who picked up the tract I wrote, 'Why Would a Good God Let a Little Boy Get Cancer?" (email if you would like us to send you a free copy!), which we keep stacked by each cash register, and ask, "Did he die?" To which I delightedly answered, "No! This is him right here! The Lord healed him!"

Always good to share a testimony of God's goodness.

I have been a bit concerned about Jeremiah lately, as he just has a bit of a peaked look - slight dark circles under his eyes, and a bit more quiet than usual. But Keith will say something like, "You should have seen him over at the playground!" (there is an indoor playground at the SEARCH convention - the highlight for Jeremiah!), which keeps my fears at bay. Still, I look forward to getting a screening in August. He will also go back to Children's - the brand new hospital - for bloodwork in August. I'll feel better, as always, when that is all past, and the results are clear.

Other news on the homefront - Haley will be taking a course in herbal medicine for her last 2 years of homeschooling science. Alongside her, I will be taking a course to become a certified holistic wellness professional. Nothing else to do, you know. I am excited to learn more about the type of medicine - homeopathy, specifically - that God used to heal us from cancer. Of course, this statement is not FDA approved, so please disregard it as medical advice. ;oP

We are, as usual, working on new books, new projects, and new job positions at church, ranging from Sunday school teacher to bus route driver to sound booth technician. Four of the kids are involved in the church stringed ensemble - Kiley, Haley, Evan, and Luke. Casey plays the piano for junior church. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Didn't someone once say that idle hands are the devil's playground? We're trying to keep ours busy, if you can't tell!

This is the first year (upcoming) that I have to keep a homeschool portfolio for Jeremiah, who will turn 8 in Octbober. Such is the law for 8 year olds in Pennsylvania. Part of that portfolio includes a list of every book read by the student that year. Yesterday, Jeremiah read his first entire book for the booklist - "God Made Animals." In our house, we have a "treasure chest." All of the kids have always, as an incentive, earned a free item of choice from the treasure chest for each book they add to their booklist. Jeremiah, who is still working on mastering the advanced phonics in his "Language Lessons for Little Ones, Volume 3," has never had this incentive. He has always gotten to pick an item from the treasure chest for each batch of pills that he takes instead. Two cups full of pills, twice per day, necessitated that move on my part.

After 4 years of twice-daily treasure chest picks, things have not only gotten expensive, but difficult, as the variety of items that I can find which are so quickly used up is a challenge! Places like Oriental Trading Company and U.S. Toy know my name quite well!

Well, after my last shopping expedition at U.S. Toy, in which I could find nothing under $3.95 that Jeremiah does not already own, I decided that $3.95 twice per day is a bit much, and that it was time to move Jeremiah into earning his treasure chest picks by reading books, like his siblings.

I mentioned this to him, and he was none too thrilled. Suddenly, he got nothing for taking his pills any more, and had to WORK for his treats! I reminded him that the Bible says "If a man does not work, neither should he eat" (one of my favorite "momming" verses!), and began to settle in. By afternoon, he was BEGGING me to sit and listen to him read some more of the book (a bit lengthy for his ability, I thought it might take him a week to read), and by dinner time, he had finished the entire book, got an ovation from his siblings for adding his first ever title to the book list, and picked his water squirter from the treasure chest! Next, he filled up a large pot with water, sat it in the middle of the kitchen floor (on some towels - how thoughtful!), and proceeded to fill up the water squirter and empty it into the sink for the next few hours. He had a nice surprise planned for Dad when he came home from cycling - Jeremiah heard the vehicle coming up the driveway, hid behind the picnic table on the porch (it was dark and the porch light bulb had burned out), and BLASTED Daddy with cold water as he came up to the front door!
He (Jeremiah, that is!) got quite a kick out of that! :o)

Thank you for stopping in. I'll try to be more "regular" about updating, now that I have a sticky note to remind me how. :o)

Prayer requests:

Please continue to pray for Jeremiah. 4 more years until he is officially declared "cured" from the beast. By the medical staff, at least. We believe God has already made this declaration.

Pray for a little boy named Will, who is battling cancer that is all over his brain and spine. Will is 4 years old.

Pray for Raquel, an A.L.L. patient, who is at camp for the week, while in treatment.

Pray for fellow author Jessica, who was blindsided by a firetruck, and is still recovering, as you can imagine.

Thank you again for your love, your concern, and your prayers. They mean more than you can know.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009 11:16 PM CDT

Thanks for the continued prayers.

Jeremiah is doing well. In fact, he told me this evening, "Mom, I think this is the best day of my life." (and that at age 7!)

When asked what was so special about this day that I found quite stressful with busy-ness as we tried to "get it all done" - homeschool, warehouse work, taking care of several huge wholesale orders, conference calls, and readying to leave for the GHEA convention, his answer was that he and his brothers spent the day climbing a rickety ladder to the roof of Jeremiah's Make-A-Wish cabin and sliding down the sliding board they placed on the other side of the roof, while squirting each other with the hose. I guess that does sound like more fun than I had today!

When the day was all said and done, I was happy and relieved to see a bit of color to is cheeks, instead of the winter's pale and dark-circled eyes that I've been wondering about lately. Today, he just looks like a normal kid. Whatever that is. As fellow cancer families know, we have a new, distorted sense of normal. But it's OK. We know the truth of Romans 8:28, and we know that in all things, God has a bigger plan than the one we see with our finite eyes. Our job is not to figure it out. Our job is only to trust.

Trusting in Him,

Sandi Q (Jeremiah's Mom)

Friday, April 24, 2009 8:05 AM

Thank you for praying!
As my favorite Book says, " The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." (James 5:16)

It's been over 72 hours since Jeremiah's last headache.

As my friend, Miss Michelle, and I were driving to T.J. Maxx for some "girl time" on Tuesday, we prayed for Jeremiah. He was asleep when I left him that morning, in the very capable hands of his three big sisters, to go out for a long-scheduled trip to our favorite store and lunch with two of my dearest friends. I called every half hour or so to check on him, ready to drop everything and rush home at a moment's notice if anything was amiss upon his awakening. But from the time he awoke on Tuesday, his headache was gone.

Miss Michelle, ever the encourager, kept telling me that it was surely just a virus; there were lots of things going around, etc. I'm praying and hoping she was right, as he seems fine now.

Thanks to all those who emailed words of encouragement, especially those who've walked in my shoes, and know the fear that satan tries to strike us with any time our little ones who have battled cancer have any unusual symptom, particularly if nobody else in the family has the same symtpoms.

Please continue to pray for Jeremiah. How refreshing it is at this moment to realize that the anniversary of his diagnosis, April 19, just came and went, and we were so preoccupied with other things that it totally slipped our minds. Praise the Lord! He has given us this day, like that one, to enjoy. I'm thankful that we are able to enjoy that day for what it is TODAY, and not only as a remembrance that, 4 years ago, Jeremiah was diagnosed with cancer. Still, I look back in awe at all that the Lord has brought us through in these past four years, and how He has used Jeremiah's cancer in our lives, as well as in the lives of many others.

I like the words of Psalm 145:3, "Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable."

It truly is.
-------------------------------------------

Thursday, April 16, 2009 5:40 PM CDT

Asking for prayer this evening for Jeremiah. He has been complaining of a headache off and on for several days now, and today, as I took him to the grocery store in preparation for leaving tonight for a trip to a convention in MD, he said he was sick, and came home and fell asleep on the couch, where he's been ever since.

If it were one of the other kids, I wouldn't make much of this. But it's not.
Please pray.

Monday, March 30, 2009 10:23 AM CDT

All is well, now that I've FINALLY figured out how to access the "author sign in" area of the new caringbridge layout - WHEW!!!

Well, acutally, we have been battling lots of nasty stuff - viruses that have brought long-lingering sinus and bronchial issues, pinkeye, and as of last night, a stomach virus that started with one of us, and will probably kick in for the rest of us in a few days, as we are scheduled to leave for the IAHE convention in Indianapolis. :o(
Please pray that it doesn't, and that the ones who will be staying behind and manning the phone lines while the rest of us are gone will be recovered enough to do so by then.

I just wanted to relay a funny conversation I had with Jeremiah over breakfast this morning:

Jeremiah: (thoughtfully swirling his oatmeal around on his spoon) "Mom, I
wish we could get a swimming pool, so I could learn how to swim."

Mom: "Jeremiah, you know Daddy got rid of the swimming pool last year,
because we hardly used it, and because nobody wanted to take care
of it."

Jeremiah: "I would take care of it."

Mom: "We travel too much, and you would not be here to add the
chemicals or clean it every day."

Jeremiah: (contemplating this quite seriously) "I could build a robot to do it."

Mom: "Well, why don't you build the robot first, then we'll think about
getting another swimming pool."

A few thoughtful minutes later....

Jeremiah: "I'm going to need some metal parts. I can use that old yellow
dirtbike in the garage, I guess."

Mom: silence

Jeremiah: "Oh great - I just realized that I'm going to need a camera and a
remote."

Mom: "What for?"

Jeremiah: "So I can make the robot move from the curriculum fair (where we
are usually gone off to to sell our books), and to see if he is
doing his job."

:o)

About ten minutes later, as Luke was getting ready to run next door to check on something, Jeremiah asked, "Luke, can you bring me some metal parts when you come back over?"

Once that little guy gets set on something, there's no stopping him. I can hear him in the other room right now, trying to recruit a few siblings into helping him build a robot.

Maybe by next summer, we'll have another swimming pool. :o)

Thanks for stopping by, and for praying.
Both are appreciated.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009 11:35 PM EST

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MIMI!!!

Today's hospital appointment went well. All of Jeremiah's counts were great, with his ANC at 2700.
When Dr. Terzak looked in his throat, she said, "Wow! Your tonsils are HUGE, Jeremiah!" and proceeded to order a strep test. :o(
Since we have heard that almost every time we've been to the hospital, by whoever happens to be the "throat-looker," we're figuring that he just has big tonsils. They don't seem to be hindering him any.

The swollen lymph nodes seemed normal to the doctor, and I have purposely not felt them for the past few days, to try to allay my own obsession with them and to stop frightening my kids, who were seeing me feeling Jeremiah's neck several times throughout the day. I figured I would let the expert check them today, which she did. I feel better, and nobody was stressed over seeing me hovering over Jeremiah's neck all week. :o)

This visit to the hospital was kind of sentimental, as it was our LAST visit ever to our old familiar hospital. They are moving the children's hospital to a brand new facility in 59 more days. So, when we go back on August 4, it will be to the new hospital. It will be kind of strange not to get in the silver elevator and not push the "4B" button in the Desoto Wing, after 4 years of doing so.

After the hospital, we walked a block to Chipolte's for "linner" (in between lunch and dinner), and then drove to Walmart so that Jeremiah could finally use the gift card he won months ago for winning the Greenesaver coloring contest for his age group. He got a soccer ball and shinguards. I hope nobody from church reads this update, especially Brother Elijah. It seems when Brother Elijah plays soccer with the little guys, they often come away with bruised shins. Jeremiah has a plan for Brother Elijah...and it involves his new shin guards. ;o)

Please keep a couple of our dear friends in your prayers - pray for C., who is having some health issues, as well as B., who was told she might have cancer. B. is a teenager, and has no real family, so we have kind of "adopted" her from afar, while C. is like a sister to me. They could both use your prayers to the Great Physician.

Thanks for continuing to stop by and check up on our little guy.
-------------------------------------------

Saturday, February 28, 2009 2:37 PM CST

I can't believe it's been so long since I've updated!

Things have been hectic, busy, and for the most part, healthy here on the homefront.

Our newest catalog for Queen Homeschool Supplies is at the printer, although three of the books it lists for sale were not yet done being written, and the catalog will be on its way to our warehouse on March 7th. This always ups the pace a bit, as it happens every year at this time. :o)

We've stepped things up, and the first of "the three," "The Secret Room: A Tale of Tudor Times," is AT THE PRINTER!!!! Only two more to go - one that Haley is almost done writing, and one that I am plugging along with. Did I mention we thrive under pressure?

On the health front, we've all battled the FSME virus, of which I am the current sufferer. We went to the home show in PIttsburgh last night, and on the way home, my nose started pouring like a faucet. Of course, I had no tissues with me, and had to sniff uncontrollably the entire 2 hours home! But today, I am the happy owner of 2 full boxes of kleenex, so things are looking up.

Jeremiah had the virus about 2 weeks ago, and the lymph nodes on the left side of his neck are still swollen. Please pray that this is ONLY a result of the virus, as this is a concern in a leukemia (or any cancer) patient.
His next hospital visit is on March 3rd, so please pray for good news only.
We are so wanting to live COMPLETELY out of the cancer world.
He is looking good, and his energy is good, so I am optimistic that it is just from the virus, but still, your prayers are much appreciated.

Please pray also for a little boy named Sam Hutchinson (teamsam.com), who has some new neuroblastoma spots, and for Elijah Fowler, a little baby who also has this same nasty cancer (caringbridg.org/visit/elijahfowler)

Thanks for continuing to stop by, and mostly, to pray. We go out on the road again in 3 weeks. I am so not ready. Even though it will have been 4 years, I can still see as plain as though it is before my face this moment this upcoming homeschool fair 4 years ago. Jeremiah had been so sick for awhile, and the doctors could not find anything wrong. I remember being downstairs setting up our booth, watching Jeremiah and Haley from the glass-walled balcony above us, as they peeked down on us, waving. Even at that moment, I knew there was something terribly wrong with him, even though the doctors could not find it. He was so yellow, and those night fevers...

I remember being troubled about it all weekend, and how we stopped at Washington Hospital emergency room on the way home from the fair, where, once again, they found nothing amiss. It was the following week that I took him to the family doctor, and told her my suspicions of leukemia, which she laughed at.

It was the very next weekend that he was admitted, while we were away at a different convention, and diagnosed.

Though times are much better now, it's amazing how vivid those memories still are.

Praise the Lord for His goodness in bringing us to this point. That seems like so little to say in comparison to what He has done for Jeremiah - and for all of us.

Though it has been a difficult 4 years, I would not trade it for anything. I am thankful for the new perspective we all have on life, and the compassion for others, as we now know what it is to suffer. The closeness with each other, and with the Lord, through immense adversity, has been such a blessing, and being able to share Jeremiah's story with so many others, and to touch so many hurting hearts with God's goodness, mercy, and grace, has been awesome. Those things would never have been possible, had this trial not been allowed into our lives.

Many have asked, and the answer is YES, I will indeed some day write a book on this experience, as that is what I do - write books!

What I've found in the last 16 years of book writing is that, some books are easy to write, and some are not.

Even though this "book" has been a page of our lives, it will be the most difficult book I have ever written, for it is so close to home, and there is so much emotion involved. I will not begin until the Lord leads me - this is not one of those books I can rush under pressure, like the ones mentioned above. Though I have many ideas in my head of what I want this book to be like, I prefer to wait upon the Lord and see what HE wants it to be like. It won't just be an account of what childhood cancer is like, but a testimony of God's goodness through trials - and the entire purpose of the book will not be as a memoir for our family to savor - we have already lived this tale. It will be a testimony to the God who brought us through. It has to be just right.
So, for those of you who have asked, that is my answer. I would ask that you pray for me as I embark on this task, that the Lord would lead me, and that He would free up the time I need to devote to such a work. Pray that, above all, this book will not be for my family's glory, but for His glory alone.

For truly, He is the writer of this story...I am just the instrument.

Thanks for your continued faithfulness to pray!

Friday, February 6, 2009 8:12 PM CST

Screening today showed good results for both Jeremiah and myself (his mom)...
NO CANCER IN EITHER OF US!!! Praise the Lord!

I am battling an issue with my thyroid, if you would keep that in prayer. And Luke and Jeremiah both have FSME virus - but those are little things (well, not the thyroid, of course, as I've been battling hashimoto's disease for 14 years now.)

But all in all, it was a very good report.

Prayers needed for the family of a six month old baby named Will, who died from cancer today. Please drop by and sign his guestbook to encourage his family, and keep them in your prayers.
http://www.caringbridge.org/bravewill

Thanks for checking in.

Thursday, January 29, 2009 9:42 PM CST

It seems "abnormal" to finally be able to do "normal" things.

A few months ago, Jeremiah was finally allowed to have his first-ever dentist visit. All during the 3 1/2 years of treatment, it was just too risky to chance having someone's hands or dental instruments inside his mouth, and we were told to wait until he finished treatment to even think about taking him to the doctor. Between cancer and cavities, cavities were the lesser of the two evils.

Today, Jeremiah was allowed his first ever eye doctor appointment! As I was sitting in the room with Jeremiah, waiting for the eye doctor to come in and examine him, a nurse asked to see me in the hallway.

I assumed, as usual, it was to go over something on Jeremiah's much longer than the average seven year old's medical history chart. Imagine my surprise and delight when, after I stepped out and shut the door, she asked me, "Mrs. Queen, would you mind taking a picture of all of us? It's "Steeler Day," and we're all wearing our Steeler's shirts, and wanted to have our picture taken together. I looked down the hall, and there stood all the nurses and the eye doctor, dressed to support our local football team, who are apparently headed toward the superbowl (I'm not a football fan, so I wasn't keeping tabs on it!), smiling and awaiting my reply. How nice it was to be asked to step out into the hallway with a nurse for something so ordinary! :o)

Jeremiah's appointment went well. Much to his dismay, he does NOT need glasses, and he isn't color-blind like his brothers, oldest sister, and dad. But he did get a really cool pair of throw-away sunglasses to wear on the way home, which he somehow lost before we even made it out of the building!

A trip to Giant Eagle, and an ice ride as we drove back down our dirt road, which is covered with about 2 inches thick of ice rounded out our day.

Thanks for checking in. Please continue to pray for a screening appointment (I am supposed to call back tomorrow), and for good results from that.

One more thing - our family business is publishing children's books. If you have not already heard, there is a new act that will severely restrict the sale of children's books, the CPSIA Act, which requires a very expensive test on each and every print run of children's books, to test them for lead and phthalates. We have received ingredient labels and letters from each of our printers, letting us know that they are using materials that are compliant, and that should be enough to get us past the Feb. 10th, 2009 deadline for such, as soon as I use that information to write up a GCC (General Certificate of Conformance.) But, we are asking for prayers and that you contact your local congressman, if you are so inclined, to ask them to vote an addendum that would exclude books from this act. We have already witnessed several friends that are (were) also publishers of children's books dump their inventory because they could not afford the testing fee, which is huge - particularly when you, like us, publish hundreds of children's books. Thankfully, the act is focusing on books for children only ages 12 and under, but since our books are geared toward homeschoolers, that means most of our clients are ages 12 and under.

Thanks for your prayers and attention to this matter.

As a matter of more urgent prayer, I would ask that you pray for a little baby named Will, who is about to lose his leg to cancer in order to try to save his life. Please pray for Will, and drop by and encourage his family at
caringbridge.org/visit/bravewill

Another little boy, and the grandson of some book vendor friends, Jan and Gary Bloom, is Charlie Harris, who is also battling cancer. Charlie just turned 2 years old.
caringbridge.org/visit/charlesharris

Thanks for remembering these little ones...as well as our own.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009 1:45 PM CST

Days here have been filled with silly laughter lately.

We have been studying the Civil War during our homeschooling time. Last night, Keith was gone overnight on business, and the kids and I decided we would FINALLY watch the movie, "Gods and Generals," which I bought when I was teaching the Civil War to Kiley and Casey (now long-graduated at ages 22 and 21 respectively), and never got around to finding 3 hours to sit still and watch.

Of course, it was late by the time the movie was well into its course, and around here, what happens when it gets late is that we get...well...SILLY!

We were watching the scene where Stonewall Jackson gets out of bed to report for duty, and, as he got out of bed, I saw Evan, who was on the floor in front of the television, sit up, as if in disbelief, and he said, "Oh...he's not wearing a...a NIGHTGOWN, is he???"

Well, he was, of course, as that's what the men wore back in Civil War days - it was a lovely, high-necked, long, flowing white gown! We all laughed so hard, and then someone said something about, "Can you imagine what DAD would look like if HE wore a nightgown like that to bed?"

As you can imagine, the next half hour or so was nothing but constant laughing. We even had to pause the DVD until we were through.
By bedtime that night, the boys, who sleep with me when Dad is gone overnight, and I were still laughing uncontrollably at the thought.

******************************

Today, as I was teaching Jeremiah his math lesson, one of the problems was:
9 ___ = 10
He wanted to add 9 10 to get the answer, until I clarified to him what the problem was asking for.

Suddenly, he gave me this look of disbelief, and said in his most serious voice, "MAN, are these people STUPID! Even I know that answer!"

No, we don't condone that kind of talk, and I did correct him for his unkindness - but at the same time, just the way he looked at me and said that made me burst out laughing all over again!

*******************************
All in all, things have been going well here. I have been trying to get an appointment for Jeremiah and I to get screened, as a checkup, since it's been about seven months. And, as usual, they are full, and busy, and could not give me an appointment, telling me to call back at the end of the month and try to get an appointment for early February. Please pray that we can get in at that time, as we were supposed to get there in December, and were not able to make it then either.

Thanks for continuing to check in and pray. We appreciate your prayers.

Saturday, January 10, 2009 11:26 PM CST

Sorry for taking so long to update - but life here has been pretty much NORMAL for us - something that has taken some getting used to!

Yes, we are still extremely busy in the world of publishing, working frantically to get those last 5 or 6 new books done by the end of this month, so our new catalog can go to print.

And, we are back to homeschooling after the (nice!) holiday break - I am going a bit crazy trying to switch brain-gears back and forth between algebra, addition with regrouping, dividing decimals, and finding the circumference of a circle, among other things.

I still am only up to writing lesson 11 of the 180-lesson volume 2 book of the high school language arts curriculum I promised to all those customers who bought volume 1 this past summer.

We are still paying out more than we bring in every month for custom amino acid supplements, homeopathics, herbal supplements, probiotics, flax oil, shark liver oil, greens supplements, brain boosters, digestive enzymes, zeolites, noni juice, alkalynizing agents, and more.

Between being at church 4 times per week, working in the office and warehouse, doing laundry, homeschooling the 4 youngest children, planning meals, grocery shopping, running to different hospitals and doctors for bloodwork and checkups, dentist and eye doctor appointments, discipleship meetings, choir practice, Masterclub projects, daily cycling, bowflexing, playing duets on the piano, typing up a million-page history report for Bible college, keeping track of my daughters' shopping trips, church visitation, holiday get-togethers, spring convention planning, talking on the phone with authors and illustrators whose books we are publishing, writing up publishing contracts, playing scrabble, playing uno, making pancakes, etc., I guess you can say we've been...BUSY!!! (Note: Not all above-listed activities are those of all family members, but they all affect us all, that's for sure! For example, though it's been quite awhile since I've personally had a shopping trip, here I sit at 12:36 AM, awaiting the return of Kiley and Casey, who, even though we will be up at the crack of dawn tomorrow - or is it today? - for church, are out with a couple of friends from church, on yet ANOTHER shopping trip! And, dare I say, without having done the dishes before leaving! (KILEY!!!)

My brain is so mushy lately with all that is going on, that, after having divided the twice-daily pill doses for Jeremiah and myself, like I do every morning, I found that, by mistake, I had taken Jeremiah's custom amino acid formula capsules, and given him mine! Not once, but TWO days in a row!
He found that quite amusing; I was thankful that he and I are deficient enough in the same major aminos that our formulas are similar. :o)

All that to say, things are well here. Thanks to all those who have asked.
We have simply been busy. But in a good way. All hospital trips were only for follow-up bloodwork, and we have not gotten any calls from the doctor to "talk about results," for which we are thankful.

Please do continue to keep Jeremiah and me in your prayers. We need to call this week and get appointments to be screened sometime soon - hopefully this week or next. I'll post the results, of course.

And please pray for Evan. He has been having some major pain in his right side lower back for several days now. So bad that he is walking on crutches, because it hurts him to put any pressure on his foot. He even slept down on Luke and Jeremiah's bed last night, because he could not make it up to his top bunk, because of the pain. I could not get him an appointment at the doctor's unti next Wednesday, poor kid. He has been soaking in a tub of bath salts every day, sometimes twice per day, to try to soak out the pain. It came on a couple of days after a 40-mile cycling trip. I'm hoping it's "just" sciatica, and not kidneys - no fever, " just" major, shooting pain.
Please pray for his relief, and to find the cause.

Thanks again for checking in!

Friday, December 5, 2008 2:52 PM CST

Thanks to those who have asked how we are doing, since it has been awhile since the last update. In this case, no news is good news. Though we have all had some nasty, flu-like thing that ended in a still present cough, overall, we all, including Jeremiah, have been doing well.

As usual, this time of year, we have been very busy with all of the new books we are readying for publication in time for our January 2009 catalog. While some are already for sale on our website at queenhomeschool.com, some will, as happens every year, not meet our deadline. This is due in part to the fact that, while we began the fall season with the idea of publishing about 5 new books this fall, the list has since grown to about 25 or so, and so our time is divided between working on all of the new titles - writing some, editing others, proofing, designing covers, and, in the case of our new vocabulary program that is based on picture study, taking photographs and weeding through all of them to decide which ones to use. And of course, there is our involvement with church, which we are at 3 - 5 days per week. Busy, busy, busy! But all of it is good!

Jeremiah is moving right along with his school work. He is learning to read, among other things - and has asked, as he sees the rest of us all taking turns reading during family devotions, if he can read a verse also. He also asked if he could, like the rest of us, read from his own Bible, by himself, every morning. So, he is reading, out loud to me, a verse every morning, and another verse every evening during family devotions, out of the King James Bible. This in addition to his other schoolwork, of course. Not bad for a little guy whom, we were told, would likely have cognitive deficits due to his 3 1/2 years of harsh chemo. We praise the Lord for His goodness in allowing Jeremiah to be learning, growing, and thriving!

Looking back now, I see how having cancer during his preschool years was such a blessing in many ways for all of us - but especially for Jeremiah. I know this may sound strange - but, because of his cancer experience, he has gone from a shy little boy to a child who is very used to strange grownups poking, prodding, and asking him point-blank questions. It has taken away his stranger-shyness, and given him the "no problem" approach to be able to stand, at six years old, in front of our church of 250+ people and sing a solo about standing for Jesus. He is not afraid.

Having cancer has thrown him at an early age into a closer walk with the Lord. He was there in bed beside me as, night after night, I would lay holding him, crying out to the Lord on his behalf for healing. He saw the results of those prayers. He saw all of our faith increased. He knows no weak faith moments, as from his toddler-hood, he has seen only a family who drops to their knees in supplication to the One Who can meet every need, as we've prayed for his health, God's mercy, huge financial issues borne out of medical treatments, etc. The end result is a child who knows no indifference to things of the Lord. Jeremiah, at age 7, has a stronger faith in Christ than most adults I know. He is a bold witness for Christ, and in any crisis, his first response is to pray. If he wrongs someone intentionally, his immediately-repentant heart turns to ask forgiveness for his sin against them - usually without being told to do so.

Yes, having cancer has been a trial. But, as in every trial, if we look to the One who allows trials to mold and make us more into His image, it can also be a blessing - if only we let it. We are thankful that, from early on in this journey, the Lord has shown us to use it to give glory to Him, not reproach.

May you have a blessed holiday season!

Thursday, November 13, 2008 2:00 PM CST

Well, when you see a message in the guestbook from your own daughter telling you that you need to update...you know it's time. Thanks, Casey!

Things have been busy here, as usual. We have been busy with church, schooling, church, bike riding, church, writing books, church, etc. :o)
We LOVE our church - can you tell?!?

Jeremiah has been looking a bit peaked lately, and of course, all sorts of things begin to run through my head when he does not look quite "up to par."
So, I was thankful today when he awoke with a horrendous, bark-like cough.
(Cancer families will totally understand this!) My friend, Miss Dorothy, and I were riding at the bike trail on Tuesday, and she had told me to go on ahead of her, since she was not feeling up to speed. Last night at church, she showed up with no voice. So...I would imagine that whatever Jeremiah presented with this morning was of the same strain.

Please continue to keep him (and me!) in your prayers - for NO CANCER!
And also, please pray for Raquel Garcia, who is currently in the delayed intensification phase of treatment for A.L.L. Been there - it's harsh.

Visit Raquel and leave some encouragement at:
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/raquel

Thanks for stopping by!

Wednesday, October 29, 2008 7:46 AM

What's a late-night girl like me, who went to bed at 2:15 Am, doing up this early? Waiting for a contractor to show up and give us an estimate on replacing a broken set of French doors, that's what!

Jeremiah's hospital appointment yesterday went great - his counts were, as Dr. Terzak said, "PERFECT!" He has to go locally after Christmas for a blood count, and doesn't have to go back to Children's for...
...(drum roll!)....
4 MONTHS!!!!!

Since we've been going either weekly or monthly for almost 4 years now, that will be a weird change - but a welcome one!

Please keep praying that all will remain PERFECT on the health front - for both Jeremiah and me.
Thanks for checking in!
------------------------

Saturday, October 25, 2008 2:07 PM CDT

I guess it's been awhile, hasn't it?
Things have been going well for Jeremiah.
He sang his solo at church 2 weeks ago, and did a fabulous job. I thought he was going to freeze when he looked up and saw about 200 people watching him on the platform, but then he looked at me sitting in the front row, and he was OK. We had discussed how I would sit in the front row, and he could just look at me the whole time as I mouthed the words he was to sing, so he would not forget where to come in. But afterwards, he said, "I wasn't afraid at all. I looked at LOTS of people!" It was a sweet moment.

Yesterday, Keith and I took the three boys (can you believe none of our girls would go?) to the bike trail, and rode 8 miles. That was Jeremiah's limit. His little legs were going so fast to keep up with the rest of us. By the 8 mile point, he finally figured out how to switch the gears so that he didn't have to pedal so fast - but by then his legs were already tired.

Please continue to keep Jeremiah in your prayers. His next hospital appointment is on October 28th for bloodwork and a checkup. Pray that it will not be eventful.

Also, please remember Raquel Garcia in your prayers. Raquel is currently in the delayed intensification phase of chemo for A.L.L., and her ANC count has just did the drastic drop that is expected in this phase. It is a hard time for the family, as we know from experience, as they will be in isolation for awhile until she is done with this phase and her ANC has recovered. Tough during the holidays especially. You can visit Raquel's site at caringbridge.org/visit/raquel.

Thanks for stopping by!

Thursday, October 9, 2008 3:26 PM

HAPPY 22ND BIRTHDAY, KILEY!!!
Can you tell October is a busy birthday month in our home?
:o)
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Wednesday, October 8, 2008 7:00 AM EST

HAPPY 7TH BIRTHDAY, JEREMIAH!!!!

Today marks a turning point in Jeremiah's life.

For 3 1/2 years, he was in treatment. That has always been "over half of his life."

Today, it is exactly half of his life.

Do you know what that means?

It means that, from this point onward, he has spent LESS that half of his life in treatment for cancer!
Praise the Lord!!!!!

Can you tell I'm the eternal optimist? :o)

-----------------------------------------

Tuesday, October 7, 2008 8:30 PM CDT

Jeremiah has been sick with a virus these past couple of days, but he has rebounded and is currently doing well. Please pray for big sis Kiley, who now has what he had. :o(

Big news:
Tomorrow (Wednesday, Oct. 8) is Jeremiah's 7th birthday!
We are praising the Lord for His goodness to our little guy to bring him to this milestone. Please join us today in rejoicing with Jeremiah for another year of life!

Sunday, September 28, 2008 4:08 PM CDT

This morning for good behavior in Sunday School, Jeremiah won two prizes. One was a "nerds rope" - a big long licorice-type of candy covered in "nerds," which are hunks of color-coated sugar - the type of thing Jeremiah is not allowed to eat - artificial color, flavor, loaded with cancer-feeding sugar, etc.

As always when he brings home something like this, we make him share with his five siblings - which means he still gets to taste his treat, but he actually gets to consume much less than he would if he ate the entire thing himself.

After dinner today, he got out a knife and proceeded to cut the nerds rope into 8 pieces - one for every member of our family except me (he knows I don't eat such stuff at all), and one for Jake, who was over for dinner today.

The goal was to save a piece for Kiley, Haley, and Evan, who were at church this afternoon between services for teen soulwinning (Kiley was a chaperone.)

A few minutes later, after handing out the pieces he had cut to everyone else, he came into the kitchen, where I was, looking dejected, carrying the plate with the 3 pieces left for his missing siblings.

I asked, "What's the matter, Jeremiah?"
His response: "I guess I don't get a piece of candy."
"Why not?" I asked.
"Because these are for Haley, Kiley, and Evan. I dropped my piece in the foyer, and I can't find it."

What a sweet boy! He would not take one of the leftover pieces no matter how much I tried to coax him, as he had those reserved for his siblings!

Finally, it was agreed that we would cut the largest reserved piece in half, and he would save half for someone else, and get the other half for himself. His face lit up as he took the 1/2 inch piece from the foot-long candy, as if it was the most treasured treat in the universe!

I'm reading a book called, "Anti Cancer: A New Way of Life," which is very interesting. Much of the information shared is stuff I've read before, but it comes first-hand, written by a physician who accidentally discovered that he had brain cancer while filling in for a missing participant in his medical studies. Fascinating stuff everyone should read. I got it at Walmart. Full of some influence I'd rather not recommend (worldly, evolutionary mindset), but highly reccommended for what it is - an anti-cancer lifestyle roadmap.
Very informative.

Jeremiah is doing well. Next hospital visit is October 28. Please continue to keep him in your prayers. And remember to pray for him on October 12, in the morning. He will be singing a solo in front of 250 people at church - the song, "Stand for Jesus," accompanied by a choir. Kiley will be playing the piano. He's been doing great in the rehearsal sessions, but that is with empty seats in the auditorium. Pray that he will not be nervous, that he will sing out loud and clear, and be both a blessing to those in attendance, as well as a testimony of the Lord's goodness to him.

Monday, September 21, 2008 10:04 AM

Luke and Jeremiah were both baptized last night at church! I'm glad to say, as many friends came up to me afterwards, this "makes everybody" in the family. We are so happy for them, and thrilled that they have each chosen to follow the Lord's leading in this big step!
---------------------------------

Friday, September 19, 2008 9:30 AM CDT

Just a quick update to let you all know we are doing OK.

When Jeremiah was diagnosed, we changed many things to improve our family's health. One of those was water. We bought 2 countertop distillers - one for the bathroom and one for the kitchen, and began to drink all distilled water.

It takes 4 hours to make one gallon of distilled water. With a family of 8, you can only imagine the stress of keeping up with it, which by default became MY job. It seemed no matter what I'd do, every time I'd walk into the kitchen or bathroom, I'd see an empty pitcher where someone had finished the water, but did not set the distiller up to make another batch. VERY frustrating!!!

Finally, after almost 4 years of dealing with it, we got an Aquasauna whole-house water filtration system. It had to be installed by a licensed plumber, of course, at $500 (just for the installation!) So, we had it done. It has been great not to have to keep up with the water-making. But, when the plumbers installed it, they tightened one of the plastic fittings too tightly, and it cracked - flooding our FINISHED downstairs! We have been quite busy these past couple of weeks, first sucking water out of the carpet for 2 days, then beginning to box up our many, many, many, many books (which are housed downstairs on wall-to-wall bookshelves - think "22 years of homeschooling, book publishers, book collectors, etc." and you'll get a picture of what we've been doing these past couple of weeks!)

Anyhow, to make a very long story short, the plumbers' insurance paid for us to have the carpet replaced in our entire downstairs, as well as 5 of the bookshelves, which were damaged. The disaster cleanup company broke one of the ceiling lights, and bought a replacement. The only trouble now is that we have to put the light up, put the bookshelves together, and unpack everything (books!)

It will be a good thing in the end, as the carpet was 18 years old and needed replaced anyway, and it did not cost us anything (at least not in money!) And the bookcases needed to be cleared out - I got rid of 30 boxes of books, and the shelves will still be wall-to-wall! So, all's well that ends well - it's just that we still are not at the end of dealing with all of it! :o)

Jeremiah is doing great.
He has been busy riding his bicycle all over the place, and playing in the "new room" downstairs while I unload books back onto shelves after I put them together. And doing school. He is getting to be a good reader, and moving right along in math.

So, that's what we've been up to.

Thanks for continuing to check in and pray for us.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008 9:43 PM EST

Today's hospital appointment went very well. Jeremiah sat like a pro when his finger was pricked and squeezed, without even making a face.

After waiting for about half an hour just for the doctor to come back to the room to give us the counts and check him over, I was beginning to wonder if something was wrong, as normally they are back right away. As we had been standing in line at the lab, I could overhear some of the lab technicians talking about blasts in someone's blood, and noticed that it took them much longer than usual to scrutinize the specimen, because five or six different people all had to look at it and agree that there were blasts. That's why I was a bit concerned.

Not to worry, though! When Dr. Terzak finally did come back with a copy of Jeremiah's counts, she walked in and held them up, saying, "These are worth framing!" They were perfect:
WBC: 600,000
ANC - 3,300

After she said "perfect," I didn't even ask about platelets - even though last night, when he lost his upper front tooth (finally!), it bled like crazy, and naturally, the first thing I am used to thinking of is "low platelets."

Afterwards, we went to Trek of PIttsburgh, to pick up the road bike we had specially ordered for Luke - the LAST KDR 1000 (kid's road bike) out there!
We are big-time into cycling, and Trek is our brand of choice for bikes. Luke has a Trek mountainbike, and usually borrows my Trek roadbike, or his sister Kiley's, when he rides with "the guys" - but both are way too big for him at ten years old. We went to our regular bike shop, Wamsley Cycles, in Morgantown, to order the Trek KDR 1000 a couple of weeks ago, but found out that due to the low demand for kids' road bikes, this model was discontinued, and there were none left, even though they are still featured on Trek's website.
But, Trek of Pittsburgh was able to find one in their warehouse, which they brought over to the store near Children's Hospital for us. And now, Luke is the proud owner of this beautiful, blue and black bike.

Afterwards, we stopped at Olive Garden for dinner, where Jeremiah ate spaghetti and salad until he could eat no more.

All in all, except for the major load of cash dropped at both the bike store and Olive Garden, which took up almost my entire paycheck that I just cashed this morning, it was a good day. And everyone needs to splurge once in awhile. Why else would I keep writing all those books, if not to be able to splurge once in awhile? :o)

We did not get to visit Ben Remsing in the hospital, as we had planned. When I went to the admissions desk to ask his room number, we found that he was recently discharged. So, that is great news, after spending nearly a year in the hospital! I'll have to find out where he is now, so we can drop by with the gifts we had gotten for him.

Thanks to those who left the encouragement in the guestbook. Even though Jeremiah is doing great, I guess our lives have been forever altered, as has our sense of freedom and ability to be carefree and not be suspect at every little bitty health issue, like a low-grade fever, stomacheache, or dark circles under the eyes. For though those things are a normal, everyday part of regular childhood nomalcies, we know they can also be signs of relapse.

So, we'll keep trusting in the Lord, and praying that one day, we can learn to accept life's little glitches as just that - "little." And even when the BIG things come, like the deaths of Max and Sophia, which broke my heart twice more, we'll continue to trust in Him and thank Him for each day that we DO have, instead of constantly worrying about those we may not.

Philippians 4:6 - 7:
"Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

His peace truly does pass all understanding. And it keeps our hearts and minds through Him. I guess I need to remember to LET Him keep them - even when times are tough.

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Monday, September 1, 2008 8:26 AM CDT

Max Mikulak died last night at 8:45 PM. Please pray for this family - yet another family we've watched lose their little one to cancer. Max fought a long, hard battle.

Please pray also for Jeremiah's hospital visit on Tuesday (tomorrow), for only good news.

Update 5:54 PM

It's been a rough day for my heart.

Making my "usual" rounds of the websites of the kids I keep up with, it hit home once again how many, many kids I've checked in on and prayed for regularly during these past almost 4 years. Almost all of them have died. In fact, the ones who are still alive can be counted on one hand with leftover fingers, and my own Jeremiah is among them.

I KNOW there ARE kids out there who have survived childhood cancer and lived long lives after the fact; but after losing Sophia Castro just a week or so ago, and watching Max spiral downward this last week, and finally pass away this morning, it has been a discouraging time once again.

I know that the Lord is in control, and that He does not want us to dwell on what COULD happen, as none of us is guaranteed another day of life on this earth. And He wants us to be of good cheer, as He has already overcome this world and all its tribulations. I know these things in my spirit. But my flesh still battles with the sadness, as well as the "what if's."

Please continue to pray for all of us who, even though we have technically "finished" the battle, know we are never truly "out of the woods," which is why Jeremiah goes back to clinic tomorrow...and will continue to do so regularly until he is grown.
Pray for encouragement, and for faith to forge on, knowing Who holds the future.

Of course, if you would like to share any encouraging stories of other kids you know who have survived childhood cancer without relapses, and are now old and gray (or even just several years past treatment successfully), we would love to read them in the guestbook.

On another note, please pray for our visit with Ben Remsing will go well. We plan to stop in and see him while we're at the hospital tomorrow for Jeremiah's visit. And pray for Ben. He's a young boy who has been fighting for his life for as long as we've known him now - about 7 or 8 years.

Thanks for stopping by...and for your prayers.

Thursday, August 28, 2008 9:58 PM CDT

What a sweet little boy...

After we got back from church visitation tonight, I went over to do the bike trainer, like I do every night. After over an hour of exercise, I came over at about 10 PM, only to blow it all by looking frantically for something to EAT!!!

Of COURSE, my first inclination was to go for something healthy...like the bowl of peaches from our own peach tree that was sitting in the middle of the kitchen table. But, what I REALLY wanted was...

CHOCOLATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The other day, Haley had made a pan of brownies, and we had them for dessert that night (it's OK - dessert is really a rare occasion in our house, so it was an occasional splurge) with chocolate ice cream. She had also thawed out a container of (worst of the worst, I know!) cool whip to eat with this concoction; but nobody remembered to get it out, as we were all so awed by all the chocolate that night.

Well, tonight, Luke was having (like his mother, I guess) a "sugar attack," and found the thawed cool whip in the fridge. He begged to have it - but the only way I would allow it was if he cut up some fruit (healthy!) to dip it in.

Imagine my surprise later, when I came into the kitchen to find my four youngest children sitting there eating fresh fruit...
covered with not only cool whip, but topped with fudge sauce (where that came from I have no idea!)

Of course, this did not look at all appealing to me, but that big blob of thick fudge sauce sure did. I started searching the pantries, and asked the kids, "Don't we have any real chocolate in this house?"

Of course, as the one who buys the groceries, I already knew the answer...NO!

About ten seconds later, my Jeremiah appeared with a huge smile on his face, and his arm outstretched before me. In his hand, lo and behold, was half of a Hershey bar - HIS Hershey bar - that he had saved in the back of the pantry from a couple of weeks ago when we made smores over a fire in the warehouse yard while I was burning the boxes our books come in.

He insisted that I take the chocolate. I insisted HE did.
In the end, we shared. I could not turn him down. For posterity's sake, you know. ;o)

On another note, and a much less frivolous one, please continue to pray for Max Mikulak. mikulak.blogspot.com

Tuesday, August 26, 2008 5:57 PM CDT

Just a quick post and a plea for prayer tonight,
Please keep a little boy named Max Mikulak in your prayers.
Max had his first day of school (2nd grade) yesterday, and made it through just 15 minutes. He left before the other kids even came into the classroom.
It may very well be Max's last day of school.
You see, Max is dying. He has cancer.
Please drop by his website at http://www.mikulak.blogspot.com/
and leave an encouraging message for his family.
A photographer has been doing a photo-blog of Max's journey at
mashedpotatoesforbreakfast.blogspot.com
You have to go and take a look at this sweet, blue-eyed boy. Seeing those eyes will remind you to pray for his comfort during his final days with neuroblastoma, a nasty childhood cancer we've watched too many little ones die from.

Pray also for a little boy named Ben Remsing. Ben has been very sick for many years, and we've just found out he's been in the hospital we go to for about a year now. We are planning on visiting him next Tuesday when Jeremiah has his next clinic appointment. Oh, and please pray for Jeremiah's visit to go well, and his counts and all to be perfect, with no cancer.

Jeremiah is doing exceptionally well. He learned to ride his dirtbike, and went riding with Dad and his older brothers. As soon as they came home, he asked, "When are we going again?"
His top teeth are hanging on by a thread...but still hanging on.

We have all been very busy packing mailorders for homeschool supplies every single day, and are still behind. To say the Lord has really blessed our business again this year is an understatement! He has even provided another helper in the warehouse, as Travis has been coming over and packing orders for several hours each night after his day job. It's that time of year.

I could go on and on about how well things are going around here lately, but I won't. I don't want to take the focus off the requests at the top of this entry.
Please pray for these little ones.

Sunday, August 17, 2008 11:35 PM

While making my "rounds" this evening to check on all of the caringbridge kids that I keep up with, I was saddened to hear that little Sophia Castro passed away tonight.

Sofia was a beautiful little girl who had battled leukemia for a long time. After her last relapse, she had a transplant, and then, sadly, she contracted leukemia again - but this time, it came from the marrow of the donor. This was a sad time for Sophia's parents, as their only child had no further options for treatment. Still, Sophia continued to amaze the doctors as she continued to keep the leukemia at bay. When I checked on her just yesterday, she was reported to have just 5 percent blasts (blast cells are leukemia cells) in her blood.

Sophia's sudden death came as a shock to everyone; yet all are thankful that she died peacefully, and without suffering, as was our prayer for her.

Please drop by and sign her guestbook to encourage her parents, Valeria and Gonzolo, who lost their only child.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/sophiacastro

And please, as you continue to pray for Jeremiah, remember to pray for Valeria and Gonzolo too.

And thank you, Nancy, for the encouraging report in the guestbook. We trust that God DOES have BIG plans for Jeremiah's future. And we are always looking for ways that the Lord can use Jeremiah's struggle through leukemia for His glory.
Thanks for sharing...and for your continued prayers. :o)
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Friday, August 15, 2008 8:01 AM CDT

Thanks for checking in.

All is well. Jeremiah continues to do well. Remember a year or so ago, when our family went to the bike shop and bought bikes for all of us? Well, Keith (AKA "Dad") and Evan have been riding like crazy. They even ride once per week with a group called the "Fairmont Flyers." They average between 20 and 30 miles per ride - but they also ride with our pastor and youth pastor, going up to 55 miles at a time!

Well, Jeremiah has been after me (who does NOT ride up to 55 miles at a time! Well...I guess I do ride the "up to" part - just not the "55" part!) to ride up to the local general store and back with him - a round trip of about 3 miles. The other day, he and Haley, Luke, and I did just that. I wondered how Jeremiah would do, as during his chemo days, he just never had that much energy. But, his little legs were pumping around and around, all the way! I could hear him breathing hard as he tried to make it up our road, which is a long, gravel-covered hill. He had to get off and walk, and I walked with him, wondering if it was going to be too much for him to continue the ride. But he did great, and was SO excited to be able to ride on the road, instead of just around the yard! He had his "real" cycling shirt on, with his padded shorts (we call them padded underwear, as they are not fit for outside apparel!) on underneath his warmup pants - looking the part of a real pro. Maybe one day he'll be ready to ride with the Fairmont Flyers, too!

I'm so glad to see his energy level coming up. I almost said "returning" instead of "coming up;" but it's been so long, over half of his life, since he's been free of chemo drugs, that I can't remember what his energy level was like before cancer entered our lives. I'm just thankful that he is full of energy and ready to do things that a normal six year old should be doing. God is good.

It's also a blessing to see his brain functioning well. One of the concerns of 3 1/2 years of chemo is arrested brain development. Though Jeremiah was not reading by age 4 like his three sisters were, it is not because of permanent brain issues, though I know there are still latent effects that could show up. Last night, when we met at church to go out on visitation, Jeremiah's Sunday School teacher, Miss Shelly, asked him if he knew his verse for Sunday. He hadn't even heard it yet, as I had not had time to go over it with him. I have been over at the warehouse packing mailorders more hours per day than I would like to admit, as this is our busy "back-to-school" time in the homeschool publishing business.

Last night, after we came home, I decided that I'd better at least familiarize him with this week's verse. As I gave him the reference, Jeremiah 33:3, I got no further. "I know that verse," he interrupted before I could even begin the verse, and he proceeded to tell me the verse perfectly, from memory, "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not."

The Lord spoke to me through those words as Jeremiah said them. There he was...a little six year old boy who had spent over half his life on drugs so strong I was told to wear gloves to change his diapers. Drugs that cause brain damage and arrested brain development, among other things...reminding me not to worry about these issues. The Lord definitely showed me some great and mighty things...that Jeremiah's brain is functioning just fine. Hopefully, I'll see much more of that next week when we start back to homeschooling!

Mimi is home from the hospital, and is eating pureed foods, at least. She will need surgery on her jaw when the swelling goes down, but we are thankful that things did not end up worse, particularly considering how hard she hit her head on the parking lot. BTW, she did say that she will still go shopping at Target, even after the fall! :o)

Thanks again for checking in. Don't forget to sign the guestbook and let us know you dropped by!

Saturday, August 9, 2008 4:39 PM

Update on Mimi -
She still has not seen the surgeon (unbelievable!), but she is in a regular room on the trauma floor. Status, as far as we know so far is that she has a broken nose, a broken eye socket, and a broken jaw. Something very painful is going on with her arm, which she fell on. It is the same arm the dog bit her on, and the same arm she has had trouble with for years, from many years of working in a nursing home and lifting patients twice her weight.

I told her maybe she was supposed to be a lefty, and this was a sign. ;o)

At least she got a chuckle out of that. :o)

She also suffered a concussion.

Her heart rate had dipped to 30 last night when they first measured it, so they did another echocardiagram this afternoon, and the tentative news is that it looks normal, and that the dip was probably due to shock.

But, when I spoke to her a few minutes ago, she seemed in good spirits. She cannot eat or drink, due to the broken jaw and the constant flow of blood out of her nose and mouth, so they are feeding her through a tube. And she cannot see to read or even watch television, due to one eye being swollen shut and the fact that her glasses were smashed in the fall. So, she is just sitting in bed talking to my dad.

Please continue to pray for all the evident needs resulting from the above chronicle of the situation.
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Friday, August 8, 2008 11:11 PM EST

An urgent prayer request tonight for my mom (and Jeremiah's grandmother), Margie Benty, AKA "Mimi."

Regular visitors here will remember that Mimi was walking in her neighborhood about a week or so ago, and was attacked by a German shepherd. This is bad enough for anyone, but for a little, "almost" five foot lady who is old enough to have a 47 year old daughter (I would not DARE to post HER age, so I'll post mine instead - you can do the math!), it was quite bad. The dog got her upper arm and shoulder pretty badly, and the wounds are still not healed.

Today, someone found Mimi in the Target parking lot, face down in a pool of blood. It seems she was running to her car in the rain (Mimi may be "over 50," but she is still "high energy!"), and slipped or tripped over something, and landed right on her face. It is not yet clear if she was knocked unconsious, but whoever found her asked if she had been knocked out, and she did not know for sure. Anyway, they took her by ambulance to Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh, where she remains in the intensive care trauma unit. She cannot have phone calls or visitors, and the last I heard, she had not yet seen the surgeon that they had been waiting already to see for several hours. So, they drugged her heavily and she is now asleep.

Her nose is definitely broken, and her one eye is swollen completely closed, and totally black. They think she may have fractured a cheekbone or something. No brain damage showed on the CAT scan, praise the Lord. But, she may need reconstructive surgery on her face. This is quite traumatic for any woman, but for those of you who know my mom, you know this is devastating news to her.

Please keep her in your prayers. Will post more news as I hear something. Hopefully she will not have to wait the entire weekend to know what's going on, like we did when Jeremiah was first diagnosed. That was the longest weekend of our lives.

Thanks for your prayers, Lynn, George, Julie, Nancy, and all of the other "regulars" who continue to drop by. We appreciate them much!
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Thursday, August 7, 2008 11:46 PM CDT

The stitches have healed! Praise the Lord!
Only a little scar, about an inch and a half, across the side of his chest, remains to remind us of the last 3 1/2 years worth of chemotherapy!

Not really...

Tonight (or this morning, actually, for it is 1 AM here - so much for getting to bed early for a change!) as I sit contemplating all that has transpired during the last 3 1/2 years, I realize that this journey will never really be "over."

For, like any major episode in one's life, it has changed us - and those changes will remain.

Many may finish a journey like this and harbor anger for having to suffer the circumstances. Others may come out at the end bitter against God for what they had to endure. Still more may finish the course and decide never to look back.

None of those options seem right for us.

From day one, there was no anger, bitterness, or resentment against the Lord for allowing this burden to come into our lives. Instead, there was one question:

"How are you going to use this, Lord?"

That was my question at the beginning, the day we found out that Jeremiah had cancer. Even though his bone marrow was at 99 percent cancer cells, I had complete faith that God would heal him, and use this in a mighty way in his life. I knew He had allowed it into all of our lives for some reason. It was up to us to determine to do all we could to use it for His glory, so that He COULD use it.

Now that we have made it this far, it amazes me to look back over our lives and see all the marvelous ways God has used Jeremiah's cancer for GOOD.

Allow me to reflect...

Day one on the cancer floor. If you care to read back to the beginning of the "journal history," below, you will be amazed at all the details of how the Lord worked to put us exactly where He wanted us when Jeremiah was diagnosed, and how He used it, even from the beginning, in a mighty way - to bless us and others. There we were, 7 hours from home. Stuck in the hospital, with a 3 year old newly diagnosed with cancer. I remember thinking, as I looked around the cancer ward at the other families, what a ripe mission field this was. Everyone here was here for one reason - their child had been diagnosed with a usually fatal disease. Everyone's child was facing eternity. This was a different world.

I remember going to the parent's lounge that first day to wash our laundry. There was a load in the dryer, and I took it out and folded it, so that I could use th dryer - a small courtesy. As I came back later to retrieve my dry clothes, there was a lady there waiting for me. She was the owner of the laundry I had folded - and she thanked me over and over for my small kindness. She had forgotten all about her laundry as she sat with her teenage son, who was had a brain tumor, and was not expected to make it through the night. He died later that evening.

I shared with her how she could know for sure how both she and her son could go to Heaven. She already knew. Through our tears, we shared a smile, knowing for certain that she would see her son again someday. It was a bittersweet moment. Bitter, as her young son's life had come to an end. Sweet, as he would be healed for eternity, and she had the assurance that comes only from knowing Christ as Savior, and knowing where her son would be waiting for her.

A blessing...in a place many would think of as hellish.

During our 3 week stay at CHOP, I learned that sometimes, it doesn't matter what you have to do to make someone happy - you just need to deny yourself and do it. Jeremiah, on steroids, in a steroid rage, wanted COTTAGE CHEESE NOW!!! Nothing else would do! Leaving big sister Haley with him in the room, I went down to the cafeteria to find some. There wasn't any. I walked out of the hospital to the hospital next door. No cottage cheese. Finally, in desperation, I asked at the front desk where I could get some. I was told the way to the local convenience store - a mile away through inner-city downtown Philadelphia. So, off I WALKED - 2 miles roundtrip through downtown Philadelphia, praying all the way, to come to the local WaWa store. They had ONE small container of cottage cheese there - just for my boy.
When I got back to his room an hour or so later, he ate the entire container.

On the way home from the first 3 weeks in the hospital, we stopped at Walmart. It was the first time in 3 weeks (except for the above-mentioned "cottage cheese walk.") that I had been out of the hosital. I learned that day that really, we are all self-centered. I stood gasping in the middle of a crowded Walmart, feeling more alone than I have ever felt in my life, as, all around me, life went on for everyone else. Here I was, with a 3 year old with cancer. They were nit-picking at their kids for running down the isles or asking for a candy bar. I was buying rubber gloves so I could change my son's diapers, as he was back in diapers after 3 weeks in bed, and his urine was so toxic from chemo drugs, I was warned to wear gloves to change him. How could these people not understand what was going on??? They were so self-centered!

Actually, it was ME who was self-centered. Though life went on as usual for everyone else, I expected the world to stop just because I was facing a major trauma. I learned that day to look for the needs of others. There are many all around us who are suffering, and we cannot see their pain for our busy-ness. We need to take our eyes off "self," and reach out to others.

Compassion was a lesson I taught, as well as learned, the day Jeremiah, who had gone from 28 pounds to 40 pounds in 3 weeks from steroids ans was unable to walk because of the fluid retention and neuropathy from vincristine was finally able to go out in public again. He was just a few months into treatment, and had not yet lost his hair. He looked like just a VERY chubby little boy, and I normally carried him around in a baby sling, as he could not even stand up. That first day when his ANC cound was high enough to come out of isolation, we were so excited to go out in public after 3 months of isolation.

I carried him into the Dollar General store a few miles away. Carried him around the whole store, as I dared not to put him into a germ-laden buggy. By the time we got to the checkout counter, I had to try to stand him up while I dug the money out of my wallet to pay for our purchases. He whined and whimpered, reaching his pudgy little arms up to me, as he leaned against my skirt to try to hold himself upright.

The lady cashier looked at him with contempt, and said, "You're big enough to walk yourself. You shouldn't make your momma carry you, as big as you are."

She looked at me just as a tear escaped my eye. I said, "He has CANCER. That's why he's so big, and that's why he can't stand up. I'm happy to carry him. It means I HAVE HIM HERE to carry!"

That cashier has asked me how my little boy was every single time I've gone into Dollar General since that day. She learned a lesson in compassion, and so did I. Don't assume anything about anyone. Unless you are walking in their shoes, you can never know truly what their situation is.

Through the years, Jeremiah's cancer would continue to work in all of our lives...changing us.

No longer do we take our health for granted. No longer do we think there will always be "tomorrow." No longer do we seek only to fulfill the frivilous lusts of the flesh.

Yes, cancer in a little boy is something none of us ever want to face. And yet, even in the midst of life's most horrendous trial, God stands there, holding out His hand to lead us through. It's up to us to grab it, and to walk the path in a way that is pleasing to Him.

Tuesday, August 5, 2008 3:56 PM CDT

We've had a busy couple of days around here.
This week is "Junior Days" at our church.
There are special services for the 1st through 6th graders Monday through Wednesday, and Thursday morning, Keith and some others are taking the 4th to 6th graders to Washington DC to culminate the week. Pray for safety!

Yesterday, Haley and I spent the morning and afternoon making a bunch of pepperoni rolls (my first time ever, since we don't normally eat things like that) to take on the church bus to Valley Falls State Park, WV. We went and heard some great preaching from Bro. Joe Kaiser, played silly games, played on the playground equipment, and after a talk about safety from the park ranger, walked over to look at the falls. On the way home, we stopped at Dairy Cream Corner for ice cream. It was a perfectly beautiful, NORMAL day!

I cringed while watching Jeremiah playing some of the "food games," where he had to chug a bottle of some sugar-laden drink, and then chew a bunch of gummy worms in a race. Normally, he is not allowed sugar, so it was a splurge, and I was apprehsive, but I behaved myself and stayed in my seat, letting him participate like a normal kid. As he jumped from boulder to boulder with all the other boys, someone expressed their concern about somebody slipping and having to go get stitches, and Bro. Kaiser said, "What's that? Did I hear something about somebody having to get stitches?"
Of course, there was Jeremiah, full of stitches from his surgery, which had not yet healed, jumping along with the rest of the boys. Thankfully, he only twisted his ankle. No stitches were ripped open. :o)

When the evening was over, we had all made it through unscathed - even Jeremiah's ankle was feeling better. Just the same, I'm glad the rest of the week's activities are indoor preaching services at the church. :o)

Jeremiah's day today was spent like any other six-year-old. He spent it at our book warehouse, watching me pull orders while 4 of his siblings packed them. :o)
Well, I know this is not normal for other six year olds, but it is in our house! He rode his bike around, tripping me up as I dashed back and forth across the warehouse, sat on a step ladder in the packing area watching the others pack, and singing along to the soundtrack from "The King and I" and "Phantom of the Opera" with the others. Then, when Luke decided he would rather dawdle than pack orders, someone said something about Luke needing to get fired. I mentioned that I knew of someone looking for a job, who might be interested in taking over Luke's job - and Jeremiah looked at me funny and said, "Me?" Funny! Maybe in a few years.

Thanks again for dropping by. Please keep praying for good health for Jeremiah.

Saturday, August 2, 2008 7:49 AM CDT

Well...I did it.
About a million dollars' worth of unmatched socks, accumulated over the past 23 years, are gone. Two complete, overflowing garbage cans' worth. Thrown away for good.

It was painful. There were many memories in there...Haley's first little girl socks with the lace around the ankles were in there (well, one of them was); so was Evan's first little boy sock - big enough to fit my thumb comfortably - but with no match. Five of Jeremiah's Spiderman socks - but no two the same.

This was the result of years of trying to come up with the perfect sock-keeping system in a household of eight people.

I tried many things through the years...all white socks for everybody, thinking surely they would always have a visible match - but not realizing that, with eight different sizes of white socks, things could get pretty frustrating!

Next came the "pretty socks" stage. ONLY patterned socks, whose match would stand out of the sock pile like a sore thumb, were purchased for everybody. This did not work - it only made losing a match more painful, as "pretty socks" cost markedly more than their plain white counterparts.

Then we did diaper pins - every member of the family had their own color and/or design of diaper pins. Blue ducky pins for Kiley's socks, white ducky pins for Casey's, pink ducky pins for Haley's, etc. Everyone got about ten pairs of their chosen diaper pins to start, and was required to pin each of their pairs of socks together before tossing them into the hamper. This worked great for a couple of years, until the diaper pins, from too many washings, I guess, started coming apart in the washing machine - OUCH! This was not fun to the one (me!) who would reach into the machine to retrieve the wet laundry, only to be met with an unfriendly pin end up under their fingernail!

After that came the weekly "sock matching parties," in which both the white socks container and the colored socks container would, one at a time, be dumped into the middle of the living room floor for matching. I've never seen my kids exit the living room so fast. Apparently, they were not in a party mood very often. At least not when sock-matching was involved.

Most recently, in desperation, I purchased everyone their own white mesh garment bag, and wrote their names on them with permanent marker. They were to take their dirty socks off and put them into their bag, and when their bag was full, or they needed clean socks, they were to put it into the hamper. After being dried, the person putting away the laundry would readily see whose socks they were (the name was on the bag), and would put the bag on that person's dresser. Each person was responsible for matching their own socks.

This current system works great - for those who use it. Some were just too lazy to be bothered by having to put their socks into a bag and zip it shut. It was easier to just leave their socks on the living room or bedroom floor, or throw them loose in the hamper. The problem is, those who fold laundry do not bother with the sock-matching, and just dump all the loose socks into one of the "white socks" or "colored socks" bin until they overflow onto the laundry room floor. Then I call a "sock matching party" in which I am the only attendee.

It was time to get serious.

Now, the rules are thus - if you are too lazy to use your sock bag, your unmatched socks are thrown in the garbage. When you run out of socks, you can pay to replace your own socks. If you, in your uncooperativeness, have misplaced your sock bag because you were too lazy to use it in the first place, you can buy yourself a new one. I am done with matching socks!

Yes, it was a painful decision - but amazingly, my laundry room, now minus those two huge containers of unmatched socks, as well as their overflow, is much easier to walk through! And hopefully, this frustration is over. There are more important things in life than spending hours each week going through unmatched socks.

Jeremiah is doing great. He faithfully uses his sock bag, by the way. :o)
He has been riding his bicycle all over the place, begging me daily to ride on the road with him up to the general store a mile and a half away. Of course, he must wear his complete "bike outfit" to do this. He has the padded bike shorts, which he wears underneath a pair of warmup pants for padding, a bike shirt with pockets for his biking snacks along his waist in the back (it is red, white, and blue, and says "USA" across the chest), bike gloves, etc. - the whole nine yards, all bought from the local bike shop. No sense not looking the part of the pro-cyclist he aspires to become.

His hair is slowly growing back in after his unforseen self-cut last month. He's still carrying his port around, but not as frequently as he was when it was first removed. Life goes on...and life after 3 1/2 years of chemo proposes to be normal. I praise the Lord for that WONDERFUL word - NORMAL!!!!

Thanks for checking up on our little one. Please continue to keep him in your prayers. We are trusting the Lord to keep him cancer-free, and to use him for a long life of service. We much appreciate your willingness to stand with us in prayer to that end.

Other prayer reqeusts -

Please pray for a little girl whose mother just contacted me. Her name is Raquel Garcia, and she was just diagnosed with A.L.L. in June. We know the battle that lies ahead for her, but the Lord is in control. Drop by and check on Raquel at www.caringbridge.org/visit/raquel, and sign her guestbook to encourage her and her family. They need it right now.

Don't forget to sign the guestbook before you leave!

Monday, July 28, 2008 5:51 PM CDT

Today is another monumental day in Jeremiah's life - the day his mediport was removed.

Since we ddn't have to be at the hospital until 11:45, Keith decided to go to worok for a couple of hours in the morning. Of course, this is why the nurse from surgery called me to ask if we could come in an hour early!

Fortunately, Keith made it home earlier than planned, and we made it to the surgery center half an hour before our rescheduled time. Jeremiah, trooper that he is, hardly batted an eye when the procedure was explained to him, and chose the bubble-gum scented "magic air" to breathe while he fell asleep. Within an hour, the surgeon came out to tell us that the whole procedure was over with.

Next thing we knew, we were back in recovery, with me feeding Jeremiah an orange slushy, his first allowable "food" of the day, while he laid wrapped in a stack of white blankets, only his little face showing out of the middle of the cloud of whiteness.

He got to pick an item out of the hospital treasure box (he chose a yo-yo), and then we were off with a prescription for codeine for his pain.

Though we were adivsed not to let him eat before reaching home, since it was 3 PM and Jeremiah had not yet eaten (except for a dixie cup full of slushy), he begged to go to get something to eat. So, after asking repeatedly if the allowable "clear liquids" would be enough until we were done with the 2 hour drive home, and being repeatedly told, "I'm HUNGRY, not thirsty, Mom!" we stopped at Olive Garden for something substantial. We know by now how Jeremiah reacts to anesthesia. While many kids get nauseaous and vomit, Jeremiah usually does not (except for the one time they overdosed him on Fentanyl/Versed, and he threw up all over the deli case at Walmart!)

He wolfed down two bowls of salad, a bowl of spaghetti, and an appetizer of calamari (!), and then, satiated at last, gave a big smile and asked to go home to show the now-removed port to his siblings.

He slept the entire way home, but once we pulled in the driveway, all the kids came running out to greet us, having heard the vehicle coming up the driveway. Jeremiah heard their voices, and sprang up out of a deep sleep to show them all his removed port, as well as his bandage on the surgical site.
He decided that he did not want to stop and let a train run over the port just yet, as first he wants to take it to church to show Elijah and Jesse, his friends. What a thoughtful little guy!

Though we were advised to give him some codiene as soon as we got home, and that he would likely sleep the rest of the day, Jeremiah continues to defy the odds. He is currenly out riding bikes with three of his siblings, jumping over the jumps, stopping occasionally to pick and eat berries from the blackberry bushes that grow by the bike track. He hasn't even mentioned any pain, so we are holding off on the codiene, hoping that he doesn't need it.
Of course, the insurance once again refused to pay for this drug refill; they have been a nightmare throughout the last 3 1/2 years, and we usually end up just paying for the meds, as it takes so much time to fight it out for each and every refill. Last time, it took me 1 1/2 hours at the pharmacy just to get someone at the insurance company on the phone, only to have them say they were closed, and could not do anything about checking into it until the next day. Since we live half an hour from the pharmacy, it wasn't feasible to have to put in a total of 2 hours driving to come back and try again the next day. Hopefully, we are done completely with drugs and drug companies now!

I took about 20 pictures to chronicle today's events, and was going to to a collage and put it up here for you to see, but "somebody" misplaced the cord to my camera, so I can't do that right now.

Thank you all for praying for today. It really could not have gone any smoother, and it was evident that the Lord's hand was upon Jeremiah, as well as the surgeon's hands. Just as He has led us through the last 3 1/2 years of trials through Jeremiah's battle against cancer, we trust Him to continue to lead the way as we forge on through the healing and rebuilding journey to come. May He continue to be glorified.

Saturday, July 26, 2008 10:27 AM

Just a prayer request this morning. Please keep Jeremiah in your prayers. We got the call yesterday to schedule his port removal surgery, which will be on Monday, July 28, at 11:45 in the morning.

Though done as an outpatient surgery, it is very delicate surgery, as the port's "arms" are inserted into the main arteries by his heart. Please pray that the doctor's hands are steady, and that Jeremiah will not have any problems with the anesthesia, as he has in the past. Pray that he will wake up afterwards with no difficulties, which, if you remember, was what we have faced in the past.

Afterwards, our plan is to head to a set of train tracks and watch a train run over the removed port. That has been Jeremiah's request for a long time.
Hopefully, a train will oblige, as we do not know the train schedule; and we will not have to spend the entire day waiting for a train to come!

Please pray for continued good health. Jeremiah seemed to be developing a case of the sniffles last night before bed. If he is sick at all, they will postpone the surgery - and this is one surgery we are anxious to be done with, so that we don't have to worry about a fever being caused by a line infection.

Thanks for checking in, and for your prayers.
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Tuesday, July 22, 2008 1:52 PM CDT

Jeremiah's two best buddies at church, Elijah and Jesse, both have crew cut hairstyles. A few weeks ago, Jeremiah, who has always been afraid of the hair clippers, asked to get one too.

Big sister Kiley, the resident boy-hair-cutter in our house, cropped it off right before his kindergarten graduation, and he has been happy as a lark ever since.

Until this morning.

"Mom, can I get my head shaved bald?" was his plea this morning from behind the closed bathroom door.

"Jeremiah! You've already been through the bald phase in life (chemo days) - enjoy your crew cut, and wait about sixty years. Then you can be bald again," was my reply.

Fast forward an hour.

Mom cleans the bathroom.

Mom goes to the warehouse to check on someone's order.

Mom returns, goes into the bathroom, and finds HAIR all over the counter.

Mom goes into the kitchen, and says to the three boys in there eating (as usual), "Whichever one of you guys trimmed your hair and left the mess all over the bathroom sink needs to go and clean up after yourself."

Evan's reply: "It wasn't me." (he was my guess, as he came home from youth
conference last Friday night in sore need of a haircut around the ears.)

Luke's reply: "Not me either."

Jeremiah's reply:

That's right. No response. It was then that I noticed he was wearing a hat.
And a very sheepish smile.

A quick hat-removal from his older brother revealed the culprit of the bathroom mess. Jeremiah had tried to cut the front part of his hair shorter, and had, in the process, cut some lovely BALD patches into his front hairline.

And I was just thinking yesterday how much I could not wait until his bangs grew back in. :o(

So, his plea for baldness was not a desire to go back to the heavy chemo days, but rather to cover up his bad haircut.

Kiley came to the rescue, and right now, Jeremiah is sporting a VERY short crew cut, with a few extra-short (translation: BALD) spots in the very front.
Guess it will be awhile until he needs another haircut!

Go figure...the kid cries when he loses his hair to chemo, can't wait for it to grow back, and when it does, he wants it shaved off.
Who says that little kids are undecisive?

As we were all over at the warehouse packing orders this afternoon, we fell into our usual "packing party" silliness, and Kiley said to Jeremiah, "Hey Jeremiah, do you remember the book, 'Where's Waldo?'"
He didn't. We had gotten rid of those books long before he was born.

"Well," she continued, "they're going to write a new one about you - and call it, 'Where's Baldo!'"

Jeremiah didn't get the joke, but the rest of us, though we tried to supress it for the sake of politeness (obviously, Kiley did not get any of that!), thought it was funny.

Jeremiah goes in for surgery on July 28th to have his port removed - so please keep him in your prayers. And don't forget to sign the guestbook to let us know you dropped by!

Thursday, July 17, 2008 9:59 AM

Just a quick update to let you know how the hospital visit went. Of course, we were all numbed up and ready to stick the needle through Jeremiah's port well before we got to the oncology clinic. The needle went in easily enough, and the waste blood was collected, but do you think for a moment that the nasty, worn-out port would cooperate and give the blood needed for the counts to be taken? Of course not! After about half an hour of trying everything we could think of, it was our little man himself who said, "You can take the needle out and just use my arm." Of course, the arm was not numbed, which I reminded him; and after some more though on that, he decided to go with the finger stick, even though he hated that last time, due to much squeezing and squeezing of the little finger to try to get two slides and one tube worth of blood out. But, trooper that he is, he sat and hardly batted a big brown eye as the "pinchy thing" stuck through his finger. He looked at me and flinched as the cut was made, his eyes bulging, and I thought he was going to cry, but no - he sat quite composed this time as the nurse squeezed and squeezed, "milking" his ring finger of the needed blood. He's become quite a pro by now.

After the latest port episode, we met with Dr. Terzak, and it was decided that, since it isn't working very well any more, we won't wait until September to have the port removed. Hopefully Jeremiah will have his port removal surgery within the next two weeks. I am still waiting to hear back from surgery to see exactly which day it will be.

I can still remember standing outside of that operating room at Children's Hospital, Keith and I, holding onto each other and trying not to cry, as our little one laid through those doors getting his port put in. That was a rough day, to say the least. It's still hard to believe that the end of this journey has come. It will be one of those "full-circle" moments when the port comes out, and an emotional day, I'm sure. As we stood there at the beginning, relying on God for our strength to get though that day, this time we will stand praising Him for His goodness to our little boy, in allowing Jeremiah to make it to this point.

Jeremiah's counts were "perfect," according to Dr. Terzak. For the first time ever, I did not even ask what they were, nor did I request a copy to take home for my files. The word "perfect" was enough.
She said, "Jeremiah's prognosis is excellent." We left floating on clouds.

Please continue to pray for Jeremiah, as well as the rest of our family. Keith and Haley left for Phoenix, AZ this morning at 4:00. Evan is feeling fine, and is in Hammond, IN for a youth conference until the end of the week. He finally remembered to call me yesterday, using someone else's cell phone (our children do not have cell phones, save for the adult ones), and here's what he said: "Mom? Sorry I forgot to call!" Boy, that's the thanks I get for feeding this 101 pound, 5 foot 6 1/2 food disposal for the last 13 years??? :o)
Anyway, he's having a great time, hearing some great preaching, and feeling great - so thank you for your prayers.

Now it's Luke who is sick. Last night after church, he told me he thought he was getting body aches in his legs - the first sign of his brothers' sickness a few days ago. So, I guess today (he's still asleep after a late night last night) will be spent keeping him comfortable - but at least now we know it's a 24 hour thing.

Thanks for continuing to lift all of us up in prayer. Don't forget to sign the guestbook before you leave!
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Monday, July 14, 2008 10:14 PM CDT

Today's screenings went very well. NO CANCER present in Jeremiah, or myself - praise the Lord!

In fact, Jeremiah looked great - the only thing found "off" at all was residual methotrexate (did I ever mention how that is my LEAST favorite chemo drug?) in his brain, and some coxsachie virus in his liver.

Personally, it was my best screening ever. I even got a comment of "you look PERFECT!" from my screener...until I mentioned the recent dosage increase in my thyroid medication. Once my thyroid was checked out in detail, it was discovered that I once again have epstien barr, and it has settled in my thyroid. Here we go again! I am in treatment for the next 4 months to get rid of it. But, I've been through that before. And after all, I would choose epstein barr over stomach cancer again any day!

On the way home (a 4 hour drive), Jeremiah refused to eat, and slept the whole way. It was a bit strange for him, as he also slept the entire way there. After awhile, I noticed he felt warm. By the time we got home, it was obvious that he didn't just have the coxsachie virus in the liver - he has it like Evan had yesterday. Fortunately, Evan is feeling much better today - though not fully recovered. Haley, Evan, and I went out and picked some raspberries and blueberries for Jeremiah, which is the only thing he would eat all day. I also gave him an 8-oz container of coconut water, a natural body temperature reducer, over the period of the next 5 hours, along with the coxsachie remedy every 15 minutes, and now he is doing much better. Tomorrow we go to the hospital, so we'll see what they have to say.

Prayer requests tonight are many:

Pray for Evan to be fully recovered by morning, as he is scheduled to leave for the church group trip to Hammond, Indiana at noon. He will be gone for 5 days, and I hate to think of him being so far from home and SICK - and without MOM! Pray for safety also.

Pray for Jeremiah's fever not to spike during the night, and for him to be well and fever-free tomorrow, so they don't admit him to the hospital. Even though he is a month out of treatment, he still has his port in his chest - so if he gets a fever, there is still the possibility that it could be a line infection, and therefore, he will be admitted for 3 - 5 days while cultures from the port are grown and observed for bacteria.

Pray that tomorrow's hospital visit will bring only good news, health-wise. And that Jeremiah's wellness will mean we can go to my parents' house after the hospital to visit my baby sister, Chrissy, who is in from New Mexico for just a week. Since my parents live 2 hours away from us, and we are busy every single day this week with something major that cannot be cancelled, this is actually the worst week of the summer to be able to squeeze in a visit. But, we hate to miss seeing Chrissy, as she's not here very often!

Thanks for your continued prayers!
It's nice to see the names of some old friends in the guestbook!

Monday, July 14, 2008 5:29 AM

Please pray for Evan. He has had body aches and fever since Saturday night. He is scheduled to leave for a trip to Hammond, Indiana on Tuesday morning with our church group, for a teen rally he was looking forward to.

We are leaving in about half an hour for screenings. It's been 6 months since the last ones. I'll keep you posted. Pray!
===============================

Friday, July 11, 2008 7:53 AM CDT

We've been busy enjoying the days of summer around here. Our friends invited us to their house to pick wild raspberries about a week ago, and we spent a few hours picking almost 3 gallons of raspberries. Lately, we've been picking berries around our own property, only to have Jeremiah call me over the other day to show me some wild blueberries he had found on our hillside! We've lived here for 9 years, but have never noticed the wild blueberries that now cover our hillside. I'm not sure if they've been there all along, of if God just put them there this year for Jeremiah to discover to celebrate his new life without chemo, knowing they are his favorites. :o)

This week has been spent at church every night for Vacation Bible School. We've had a great week with Brother Tim and Miss Trish Souza, and their "Bible Time" program. Part of the focus is memorizing Bible verses. It was announced on Wednesday that every child who memorizes ALL of the verses required for their age group gets to go into the "mystery room." That sure spurred on some extra practicing; at least in our house! Jeremiah and several of his siblings are hoping to get to say their final verses for the week (Jeremiah has to say a total of 15 verses for the week) tonight, and enter the prized "mystery room."

Other than that, things have been pretty normal around here. It's nice to be "off" of chemo! But after 3 1/2 years of treatment, my heart still falls to my feet any time Jeremiah is feeling a little bit "off." The other night, he was not feeling well, and the first thing I thought of was the "C" word. Of course, we all prayed fervently, and by morning, he was fine again. But once cancer enters your life, I guess it's normal to be "on guard" for it. I know since I've been diagnosed with stomach cancer, I purposely notice how my stomach is feeling each day - all day long - just to make sure everything feels normal. So, I guess that is our new "normal." I guess I'll take it over active cancer and active treatment any day.

Please pray for our upcoming week. Keith and Kiley will be flying home from California, where they are at a homeschool convention right now, on Sunday. On Monday, Luke leaves for a week of camp at Mount Salem Revival Grounds. Also on Monday, Jeremiah and I will go to be screened again, just to make sure there is no cancer present in either of us. Tuesday, Evan leaves for a teen youth conference in Hammond, Indiana. That is also the day Jeremiah goes back to the hospital for his first post-treatment bloodwork and checkup. It is also the day I go for bloodwork at a different hospital in a different city. Should be interesting to fit THAT day all together! Wednesday night is church, of course. On Thursday morning, Keith and Haley will leave for Arizona for another homeschool convention. On Friday, my sister Chrissy is coming from New Mexico to visit, and on Saturday we have a big cookout to attend at a friends' house. Whew! How I look forward to the NEXT week!

Yes, things have been relatively "normal" around here, but that does not mean they have been slow!

Thanks to those who continue to check in on Jeremiah, and especially to pray. We covet your prayers during these next five years, until we hear the word, "CURED."

Don't forget to sign the guestbook before you leave.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008 11:26 PM CDT

As I was lying in bed just a few minutes ago, next to Jeremiah, who asked if he could sleep with Daddy and me this night, I was reflecting, as I held his little hand while he fell asleep, at the awesome power of our God, and how He orchestated each circumstance of our lives to bring us exactly to the place where we are right now.

Jeremiah's cancer diagnosis was no surprise to Him, for He knew it would come long before He even created Jeremiah. I'm going to give you a quick recap of just how God orchestrated the circumstances:

My husband and I got married in 1985, after having met at a health club where I challenged him to participate in the aerobics class I was teaching. He took me up on the challenge. That was the start.

In 1986, while I was pregnant with our first child, Kiley, Keith got a job at PennDOT, and developed a friendship with a man named Charlie Stahl. One afternoon, we stopped at Charlie's house, and I met his wife Bonnie. We became fast friends.

About a year later, we sat in Charlie and Bonnie's living room, and as I was reading a storybook to their 3 year old daughter, Tara, I mentioned that in just 2 more years, she would be starting school. Bonnie told me, "My kids are never going to school. I'm going to homeschool them." That was my introduction to homeschooling. Funny how things turned out - Bonnie never did homeschool, but that was the introduction for me, even though Kiley was only 7 months old. From that point, we knew we would homeschool - and have been now for 21+ years!

Homeschooling led me to seek out a math curriculum. At a homeschool support group meeting, a friend named Rhonda Cole lent me a demonstration video for a program called Math-U-See. I was hooked, and bought the curriculum. We loved it so much, that we invited the program's creator, Steve Demme, to come to our home and put on a demonstration to some friends (all of who ended up buying this wonderful curriculum that night!)

Later, during an interesting time of circumstances of which I will spare you the details, Steve Demme asked Keith and I if we would be interested in becoming representatives for his growing math curriculum. Since I was now expecting our 4th child, Evan, and Keith had been out of work recovering from arm surgery for 8 months, it was not a good time to start a business. But the Lord had other plans. He was setting the stage - orchestrating each step of our lives - for the future. After a night of prayer on the matter, we decided to start our own homeschool supply company, with Math-U-See as our first product. I won't go into the details of the next 15 years, as the Lord grew and expanded our business into our own publishing company, though we still remain regional reps for Math-U-See; but this decision to start a homeschool supply company was a pivitol point in our lives that we almost missed - and if we had, I shudder to think of what may have happened - as you will see.

You see, over the next 12 years, we traveled from one homeschool convention to another, all over the eastern half of the US. And through this lifestyle, we have gotten to know many other publishers and vendors quite well, as we see them every week at different conventions.

The day Jeremiah was released from the hospital after his initial 3 week stay at diagnosis, it was the day to set up for our largest homeschool convention of the year - CHAP. Since Jeremiah could not go into a building containing 10,000+ attendees, due to him being in isolation mode (due to potential germs), he and I stayed out in the motorhome in the parking lot while the rest of our family worked at the convention.

Several other vendors came out to visit during those three days in the parking lot. One of them, who shall remain nameless for his own security, was a man I'll call "Bob." "Bob" was a vendor whom we had known for 12 years. He knew about Jeremiah's diagnosis, and he came to give me the phone number of a woman who had been through similar circumstances with her own son, and found enormous help through a lady who did alternative treatments. I called her within the hour, only to find out that Sharon's own son had done remarkably well by adding these alternative therapies to his traditional regime. She went on and on about how helpful the treatment was, and I felt compelled by the Holy Spirit to check into it. I came to find out later that the woman was "Bob's" wife. Yes, good old "Bob," whom we had known for twelve years, but had never met his wife, as she did not attend conventions.

Within days, we were in "Bob's" wife's office, and everything that Sharon had told me was evidently true. This woman has been so very helpful for over 3 years now, in putting us in touch with the right places, as well as helping us find what to do for and give Jeremiah to support him throughout his treatment.

And God knew about her all along.

As I looked at Jeremiah sleeping this evening, it ran through my head how God used this woman to save Jeremiah's life - for I truly believe Jeremiah would not be where he is today, were it not for this woman and the help she offered.

But then, I realized that there was much more to Jeremiah's condition today than just one lady.

It was the mighty hand of a gracious God, who planned our lives since we, Jeremiah's parents, were born, knowing how it would all go, each step of the way.

We are humbled and honored that He loves us so much that he provided each step.

Monday, June 23, 2008 9:44 PM CDT

Deu 10:21 He [is] thy praise, and he [is] thy God, that hath done for thee these great and terrible things, which thine eyes have seen.

God is so good! Yesterday at church, there was a graduation ceremony for all the homeschool kindergarten students. And among them...six year old, cancer-free cancer survivor Jeremiah Queen!

We are so blessed to have witnessed this monumental event in Jeremiah's life. While graduation from kindergarten doesn't necessarily seem like a grand occasion in the scope of life, it is a huge milestone in the life of a little boy who has lived over half of his young life fighting cancer; who just 3 1/2 years ago had bone marrow that was 99 percent cancerous, and did not respond to the initial chemotherapy administered, and was labeled a "slow responder," giving him a lesser chance of survival; who has been "brain fogged" with brain damaging chemotheraphy drugs for over half of his life, and is still learning to read and do math. Yes, kindergarten graduation is an event that 3 1/2 years ago we were not sure Jeremiah would ever even see.

And yet, he has not only made it, by God's mercy and grace, he is thriving!
Praise the Lord - for He has done great things!

We're trusting that He will continue to work His will way in Jeremiah's life, and keep him in perfect health as he begins to recover from the harsh chemicals that have supressed his immune system for these past three and a half years.
Please continue to lift him up in your prayers!

Sunday, June 15, 2008 3:42 PM CDT

We got home from the SEARCH convention at 2:00 this morning. As usual, it was not an uneventful weekend for the Queen family!

On Thursday, we set up our booths, then went to O'Grady's Family Restaurant with our good friends, Kris, Derek, and Wes Wilcox (The Book Peddler), and Todd and Debbie Wilson and famly - let me see if I can name them all in order...Ben, Sam, Catherine, Ike, Abe, Maggie, Caleb, and Jedediah (Family Man Ministries.) A lovely time.

Friday, we were half done selling for the day, when Dale Kemmerer, one of the organizers of the SEARCH convention, came up to me with kind of a worried look on his face, and asked, "Sandi, where's Keith?" As I pointed him in the direction where Keith was talking to Kris and Todd, I saw them talking for a few minutes, and then my husband disappeared with an even more worried look on his face. As Dale came walking past again, I asked him, "Is everything OK?" After which the following conversation commenced:
Dale: "Well, it looks like your trailer took a roll across the parking lot."
Me: "Looks like?"
Dale: "OK. Your trailer took a roll across the parking lot."
Me: "What do you mean?"
Dale: "It rolled across the parking lot and into someone's van."
Me: "Are you sure it's OUR trailer?"
Dale: "Pretty sure."
Me: "How sure?"
Dale: "Well, it says, 'queenhomeschool.com' across the back door."
Me: "Yeah, that's pretty sure."

Yes, somehow our cargo trailer, which was parked in the same place for over 24 hours in a level parking lot, got moved across the parking lot and into someone's van, the trailer tongue making a huge dent in the van's bumper.
I know why this happened. You see, we have been dealing with an issue with our insurance agent for about a month now. They want to drop coverage on us because they realized that we don't just SELL books, we PUBLISH books -which for some reason makes us a higher liability. Their explanation is that someone COULD get hurt or killed following advice given in one of our books, and we would be liable. It doesn't matter that the books we publish are language arts and spelling curriculum, handwriting programs, Bible studies, history story books, etc. We are liable! So, now we wonder what will happen.

The evening ended on a much better note. As we "did dinner" with the same friends on Friday evening, we got the much-anticipated return phone call from Jeremiah's oncologist, Dr. Terzak, to tell us that JEREMIAH'S BONE MARROW IS CLEAR OF LEUKEMIA CELLS!!!! Praise the Lord! After that, the trailer/insurance issue paled in comparison, and the night was a happy one. UNTIL Luke, who had banged his forehead NINE times on the indoor slide at the convention site, started complaining of concussion-like symptoms. As we went back and forth over what to do - should we go to CHOP, the hospital we were closest to - the one where we went 3 1/2 years ago, when we were here for this same convention, and Jeremiah ended up staying for 3 weeks and being diagnosed with cancer? Or should we just observe him for awhile and see how things were going?

We decided to give it an hour or so. After we got back to the hotel, he seemed better, and thankfully, we didn't have to go to the hospital..

After the close of the convention on Saturday, a lady whom I don't even know by name, came up to give me a copy of a book called "The Indian Book," by Holling C. Holling. She had it for sale at the used book sale, I guess, and nobody bought it.. So, she brought it to give to me, because she thought I would appreciate it. WOW! I ddn't get the chance to explain, and she was off! But, you see, for many years, I have collected out-of-print children's books. One of the authors whose books I have collected was Holling C. Holling. I own every book by Holling - except for one; which I had previously (in our pre-cancer days, when I had money for such frivolous things!) tried for about 3 years to get from ebay and various online antique book stores, but I was always outbid, or couldn't find this rare title. The title, as you may have guessed, was "The Indian Book." God is so good! So, if YOU are that lady who gave me the book, please know that I do indeed appreciate it - I was just speechless when you gave it to me!

Today at church, the moment we have been anticipating for weeks was finally revealed...the winner of the junior class Bible contest! Who memorized the most Bible verses perfectly? Who turned in all the extra assignments perfectly? Who did all their take-home work perfectly?

It was a first place tie between our pastor's son, Isaiah, and our very own LUKE QUEEN! Their prize was a tool every boy would love to own - one of those multi-tool/knife thingy's that guys like to carry in their pockets.
Congratulations Isaiah and Luke - you both did a wonderful job - and the prizes you will carry in your hearts will last a lifetime!

Thanks again for checking in. Please pray for Keith, Kiley, Haley, and Evan, as they leave tomorrow morning for a week in NC at a youth conference with a group of teens from church. Pray for their safety, for their hearts to be challenged and changed, and for the Lord to work in every heart in attendance. It sounds so REGULAR and NORMAL to ask for prayer request like these, instead of asking for no cancer cells. But please pray for no cancer cells also!

Tuesday, June 10, 2008 5:24 PM CDT

" Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."
~ James 5:16

To all those who were faithful to pray for today's hospital visit - your fervent prayers did indeed availeth much! After all the apprehension from the doctors, nurses, and parents (us!) over the complications that could have arisen from today's spinal tap and bone marrow aspirate, sedation, pain management, etc., all went off with no problems. In fact, we had quite an eventful day, full of God's goodness, guidance, and mercy.

First, Keith woke this morning at 6:05 AM, and immediately woke me. We were LATE! We were supposed to leave for the hospital at 6:30, and several of us still had to get showers and such. But, we finally made it out the door at 6:45, and made it to the hospital by 9:20 - ten minutes early!

As I discussed once again the concerns of sedation and pain management during the bone marrow aspirate with physician's assistant Whitney, who would be performing the procedures, we agreed that we would have some extra pain medicine on hand, just in case, as well as an emergency "rescue" remedy to counteract the effects of the sedation, in case he could not be awakened.
No need for either!
As I sat there surrounded by six nurses and doctors awaiting to finalize procedures, I saw Jeremiah flinch as Whitney injected his vertebrae, which I had numbed with lidocaine cream, with lidocaine liquid. This was to numb the inside of the skin area, up to the bone - but it would not numb the bone. As I saw him flinch, it brought tears to my eyes, as I could see that he was still feeling the pain, even though his skin was numb. After another quick prayer for no pain, I looked up to see Whitney preparing to shoot the tube through his skin and into his bone. I asked her how long a "normal" bone marrow aspiration normally took, as the last time, it seemed to take HOURS (though in fact I know it was only minutes.) She said IF the tube went in the right place, and IF the marrow was conducive, and IF everything went perfectly, then it would take 5 to 10 minutes - but that was usually not the case. So, I prepared mentally for a long haul.

I watched as Whitney shot the tube into Jeremiah's bone. He did not flinch. As soon as she pulled back on the syringe, the marrow started to flow out. She looked at me and said, "Not even five minutes! This is RECORD time!"
Praise the Lord! The waiting nurses took the syringes of marrow and spilled it out onto waiting slides to be examined by the pathologists later this week.

Next came the spinal tap, which also yielded the required spinal fluid right on cue. Perfect! In all, the "invasion" of foreign objects bringing pain into Jeremiah's back lasted only about five minutes. His counts were perfect.
Afterwards, Dr. Terzak came in to tell us she had done a preliminary look at his marrow, and it looked great - but that she could not guarantee that until the pathologists looked at it later this week.

Then, we had "the talk" about how Jeremiah is now done with chemo, provided the marrow scrutinization comes back as we hope it does, and how his prognosis is good, but that there is no guarantee he will stay cancer-free. She did say, as we already know, that Jeremiah got his leukemia at the "perfect" age of 3 1/2; that he had the "best" type of leukemia to get if you are going to get any, and how he had done so well through treatment that she had high hopes for his complete recovery. Of course, for those of us trusting in the Lord for Jeremah's complete recovery, and not in traditional medicine, we are just going by faith - and lots of fervent prayer!

Next, we went to the Make-A-Wish center, where Jeremiah and his siblings got to each pick a toy out of the "toy closet," and we got to see Jeremiah's name, age, and wish on "the wall" of names and wishes. We also got to meet a special lady who checks on Jeremiah's site regularly. Make-A-Wish in PIttsburgh has a nest of Peregrine falcons right outside one of their windows, which we got to see. This was special, since we had also seen the nest last year, when the mother falcon was sitting on her eggs. Today we got to see the baby birds, now as large as their mother.

After a stop for lunch, we went to Walmart. When we came out, Luke took the buggy back to the buggy parking spot, and found a lady's purse in another buggy. Keith went through it for her contact info, and we found out where she worked, and tracked her down. She came back and met us in the parking lot for her purse - and was so relieved, as she had just cashed her paycheck, and all of her money was in that purse! So glad that God had Luke there at the right moment!

On the way home from Walmart, I saw a sudden bolt of blue light in the sky. Imagine our surprise to see that a telephone wire had come off the pole, and laid clear across the major highway! Traffic stopped in both directions for a moment, while drivers tried to decide what to do. Keith called 911 to report the downed wire.

After that, we made it home with no more excitement. At this moment, Jeremiah is sitting in the bathtub playing with his new scuba diver/submarine set from Make-A-Wish - a good end to a great day!

We appreciate your continued prayers as Jeremiah stops chemo - that he will remain cancer-free, that the marrow results will come back clear, and that the Lord will bless Jeremiah with a long, healthy life on this earth, and use him in a mighty way.

Don't forget to sign the guestbook before you leave!

Tuesday, June 10, 2008 12:05 AM

Praise the Lord!
The LAST DAY of CHEMO is here!
It is 12:05 AM, and we leave for the hospital for my little boy's last dose of poison in just six and a half hours. Can you tell why I cannot sleep?

For all you late-nighters and early-morningers (how's that for verbage from the lady who writes grammar programs for a living?), please pray fervently for all to go well at today's hospital visit. See specific needs and requests below.

Will update later this evening, after we are back home. It will be a long day - but it is the day we have been looking forward to for 3 1/2 years.

Praise the Lord!
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Sunday, June 8, 2008 11:23 PM CDT

Just a few URGENT prayer requests I didn't want you to miss:

1. Pray for Jeremiah's LAST chemo visit on Tuesday, June 10th. Pray that all will be well - no cancer, of course, but also no complications, and no pain. I won't go into the gory details that you regular readers already know about concerning complications from past spinal taps and bma's, but if you are not aware, you can click on "read journal history," below, to read about it and see the great need.

2. Pray for NO HEADLICE!!! You read that right! I got a call after church tonight telling me that a little girl in Jeremiah's Sunday School class last week had lice!
Of course, being that pesticides were the cause of Jeremiah's cancer in the first place, we surely cannot even consider putting pesticides on his HEAD to kill lice! I know there are natural remedies for this, as I have read them in the past - but now that we are faced with the possibility of our first case of headlice ever, I cannot find the book that told what to do! If anyone knows of any natural treatments, just in case any beasties show up here, please email me or leave them in the guestbook!

3. Please pray for Keith Main, Jake's uncle, who is having symptoms of possible lupus, which runs in the family, or lyme disease. He is a pastor in Connecticut, and cannot even preach his revival meetings this week, due to his health. Pray for the bloodwork he has had to identify the problem, so he can be treated.

As always, thank you for your fervent prayers! Will update again after Tuesday's appointment.

Sunday, June 1, 2008 1:43 PM CDT

I can't believe it's June 2008 already - the month we've been looking forward to for 3 1/2 years - the month Jeremiah finishes treatment!

As I look back on these past 3 1/2 years, it blows me away to see the hand of God in our lives. On the day Jeremiah was diagnosed, when at first it seemed as if the bottom had fallen out of our world, He was there, upholding us with the right hand of His righteousness, just as He promised in Isaiah 41:10.

During those dark first months, when Jeremiah hovered literally between life and death, God was there - our rock, our fortress, our ever-present shelter in the time of our storm.

As Jeremiah walked through the valley of the shadow of death, we feared no evil, as His rod and staff was there to comfort us.

I remember the day of Jeremiah's diagnosis as if it were yesterday. I remember the exact words of Dr. Orczy as she told us, "We know what Jeremiah has...and we are sure..." And yet, over and above all, I remember clearly the incredible feeling of peace I felt - peace that could only come from God. In John 14:27, Jesus Christ said, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." That peace that passeth ALL understanding was very evident in our lives at that time.

I remember our then pastor, Pastor David, driving 7 hours to see Jeremiah in the hospital, and to comfort us. After a short time in the hospital room with us, he said, "You don't need me here. You have the peace of God. You are all right." He slept in his van in the hospital parking lot that night, and drove the 7 hours back home the next morning. But he was right. While we much appreciated his coming so far to visit, we had all we ever needed in our Lord, whose omnipresence had never left our side - even during the bleakest and darkest of times.

Thank you all for keeping up with our little guy all these years. We much appreciate your support, and mostly, your fervent prayers. Though Jeremiah finishes up with chemo in just 9 MORE DAYS (Wow! The revelation of that just hit me - only 9 more days!!!), his alternative and supportive treatments will continue. He will also continue to go to the hospital monthly, just like before, for bloodwork and checkups. This will continue for many years to come. Leukemia is famous for its "revisits" (aka "relapses"), and though we don't mind company, this is one visitor that is not welcome in our lives ever again!
We ask that you continue to remember Jeremiah in your prayers in the coming weeks, months, and even years, as the Lord lays him upon your hearts.

Please pray especially for:
June 10 - Jeremiah's LAST chemo appointment! He will get the dreaded bone marrow aspirate and spinal tap with methotrexate that day. If you have not yet read the entry where the concerns of the bone marrow aspirate, the pain involved, and the lack of sedation, please click on "read journal history," below, to get an accurate picture of all we are dealing with here.

Pray that this will indeed be Jeremiah's LAST EVER chemo appointment, and for NO relapse - ever!

Pray for safe travel, as some of us are leaving this Wednesday for the HEAV convention in Richmond, VA.

Thank you for your continued prayers. I will update more after Jeremiah's hospital appointment if you don't hear from me before then.

Please don't forget to sign the guestbook before you leave!

Sunday, May 25, 2008 9:50 PM

Whew!
We've been busy! Just got home this morning from Winston-Salem, NC, the NCHE homeschool convention. Left last night at 4:30 PM, and drove straight to church for Sunday School this morning. Trying to catch up - my usual activity for this time of year.

Please pray for those of us who are sick with sore throat & runny nose (right now, it's just Evan and me, but with 8 of us in the family, I'm sure it will be here for awhile as we all pass it back and forth!)

Jeremiah is doing well right now. Will try to post a more detailed update sometime this week, as we are actually home for a week!

Please pray for a little baby named Ian who was just diagnosed with a life-threatening blood disorder - and for his family.

Don't forget to sign the guestbook!
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Tuesday, May 13, 2008 8:03 PM

Today's hospital appointment went well. I got a call from Dr.Tersak yesterday, asking me if it would be OK to change Jeremiah's spinal tap that was scheduled for today to next month, since he will have to get a bone marrow aspirate then anyway. That way, he will not need to be anesthesized twice in two months.

So, today's was a much shorter visit than anticipated! His counts were great:

White Blood Cells: 4.9
ANC: 2,300
Hemoglobin: 13
Plateletts: 296

Nurse practitioner Roni saw Jeremiah today. What memories it brought back to see her! Nurse Roni was our preferred nurse, and the one who developed the "Jeremiah Queen Method for Lumbar Punctures" that is now used in CH of Pittsburgh, just so that Jeremiah would be comfortable and be able to see the television to watch his video during the spinal tap. About a year and a half or so ago, Roni got transferred up to the 8th floor (the oncology floor), and we have only seen her once since then, when she poked her head in the door for a quick "hello" about 8 months ago. So, it was a treat to see her again, and to catch up on things. But it also brought back a flood of memories of earlier days when Jeremiah was just a swollen, bald little boy with cancer who cried every time someone came into the room. As Roni looked at him today, she just kept saying over and over, "You look AWESOME, Jeremiah!" And he does, praise the Lord!

Next month's visit will signal the end of 3 1/2 years of treatment for Jeremiah. A date we are looking forward to - though not without trepidation. For, as Roni explained, our "safety net" will be yanked out from under us at that time, and only then will we know for sure if the last 3 1/2 years of chemo were successful. Though the only way to go is forward.

We are trusting the Lord to keep Jeremiah cancer-free for a long, healthy life on this earth to use for His glory. We do not know fully WHY the Lord allowed this trial of childhood cancer into our lives, just that He has a purpose, and wants us to use it for His glory.

Please pray with us that the Lord will keep a hedge of health and protection from cancer, as well as latent side effects from treatment, around Jeremiah.

Pray also that next month's visit will go well. As I got the call yesterday reminding me of next month's "end of treatment" bone marrow aspirate, I was immediately taken back to the first ever bone marrow aspirate Jeremiah had back on April 19, 2005. Even though he was too weak to speak audibly, I can still hear his gutteral screams of "Stop! You're hurting me! Make them stop!" over and over, as the doctor stuck the metal tube into his hipbone. The maximum dose of morphine had no effect. I remember crying uncontrollably as I held him in the fetal position, using all the strength I had. By the end, we were both soaked with sweat - and tears. It was not a procedure I want him to endure again.

The next bone marrow was done, at our insistence, under general anesthesia in the operating room. I held him in my arms, dressed in a paper jumpsuit, hat, and boots, until he fell asleep. He felt no pain.

After much conversation with Dr. Tersak, back and forth, weighing the benefits vs. the dangers of putting him under again, it was decided (by her) that we would try to do the aspirate while he was awake, with just fentanyl and versed, the meds he gets during his regular spinal taps. I was not thrilled with this decision, as I know Jeremiah only gets half the dose of these drugs that he "should," as he had trouble being awakened after one LP, and it was a very frightening time for all of us. Ever since then, he has been on half dose of these meds. But half dose means half of the pain meds. And if the maximum number of doses of morphine did not quell his pain, I am concerned that the half dose of fentanyl/versed will not either.

Finally, it was agreed that we would let them TRY the bone marrow aspirate at the time of the next lumbar puncture, and if it seemed Jeremiah could not tolerate the pain, they would STOP, and he would be rescheduled to have it done in the O.R., under general anesthesia.

Please pray that this is not necessary. Pray that the fentanyl/versed will be sufficient, and that they will not give him so much that his heart rate drops and he does not wake up on his own.

We are trusting that the Lord, who knows ALL the details, will work this all out. Next month's visit is on June 10th.

We covet your prayers on Jeremiah's behalf.
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Wednesday, May 7, 2008 10:03 PM CDT

I hope that two updates in one week are not too much for you to bear!

Jeremiah continues to do well, though we ask that you continue to pray to that end, as many of us are heading to the CHAP convention tomorrow at 4 AM, where we will be selling books until Saturday evening. Please pray for safe travel also, if you would. And, Jeremiah's next hospital appointment, next Tuesday, where he will get his LAST spinal tap with intrathecal methotrexate!!!!!!! Pray that his port will work, that the fentanyl/versed combo will be effective, but not overwhelm him, and that the tap will be painless, productive, and clear (no cancer cells present.) Oh, and also - after the hospital visit, we are meeting our homeschool evaluator in the parking lot of Whole Foods to evaluate the homeschool portfolios of Luke, Evan, and Haley - which I have not even STARTED to put together yet (did I also mention that this is on Tuesday, and that we will not be home until late Saturday night? And gone all day Sunday at church? See why I'm asking for prayer?) ;o)

I know that many other parents whose children have cancer read this page, just like I have kept abreast of many other children's cancer journeys since my own son was diagnosed. In light of that, I wanted to share something my pastor shared with me last Sunday evening, which I think will be really helpful to these parents.

Many people stress themselves out over situations that are uncontrollable to them. For me, it was not so much my son's cancer diagnosis, as I knew from the start that my Lord would take care of that. But there was another situation that has majorly affected our family over the years, which had tormented us for 18 years. It was all due to another person's sinning against us in a huge way, and the consequences of that person's sin, which caused a major trauma in our family. The details are not important to understand the truth that our dear pastor shared, so I will just cut to the chase and share what he said.

He said to me...

"You just need to dig a hole and put that whole mess into it. Cover it up and bury it - and then leave it alone. Then, you need to relinquish the DESIRE to CONTROL the situation, which is uncontrollable to you, and just leave it in God's hands. Miss Sandi, you need to remember - you are not a VICTIM, you are a VICTOR through Jesus Christ!"

"1 Corinthians 15:57: But thanks be to God, which giveth to us the VICTORY through our Lord Jesus Christ."

As I said, this was a totally different issue, but it was something that haunted me for 18 years, as I had always wished the person would have made things right, and that things would have turned out differently. But finally, I see that it is out of my control, and I need to stop pining about it and wishing things had turned out differently when I personally have no control over the situation.

This is true for SO many different situations, and I have shared it with many friends this week who are struggling with different issues. But I see also how perfect it is to share with parents of chidren with cancer. So many are frustrated because they want things to go differently - or maybe even because their child even got cancer in the first place. But, only when we finally let go of the situation, and relinquish the desire to control the situation that is uncontrollable to US, and leave it in GOD'S hands, will be free from the pain and trial that comes from worrying and fretting.

Our pastor is a wise man.

I hope his lesson is a help to someone else reading this!

Other prayer requests this week:

Please pray for Mrs. Tam Bowman, our pastor's wife. She is sick this evening.

Also, Brother Dave Burnett, from our church. Brother Dave has leukemia - but also, he got a splinter in his finger, which got infected. Today, they had to amputate his finger. Pray also for his wife, Miss Jeanie, who is in a wheelchair.

Please continue to pray for our neighbors, the Phelps family, who lost their home Sunday night.

Pray for my uncle, Frank Farber, who is still hanging on after being told 2 weeks ago that he had a week left to live.

And, as always, please keep praying for Jeremiah and me to remain cancer-free.

We'd love to hear in the guestbook that you stopped by. Unless you are that "unique" person who keeps leaving the nasty SPAM in there that I have to keep going in to remove every few days - you can just bypass the "sign guestbook" button, please. There are many other places online where you can go to pay for advertisements, instead of having to leave them in the guestbooks of little ones fighting terminal diseases - shame on you!

Monday, May 5, 2008 6:14 PM CDT

Thanks to those who have been concerned about us - we are OK.
We were in Atlanta, GA at a homeschool convention, selling our books. We left there Saturday night at 6 PM, and Keith drove straight home (14 hours!) so that we could make it home for Sunday School the next morning. Is he good, or what?

Not much going on here, health-wise, which is good. Jeremiah and I both need to get screened sometime this month, somehow. It is a busy month with lots of conventions to go to, so I just don't kow when we'll fit it in.

I wanted to share something that blessed me today. You all know by now that we pay big bucks every month for pills and supplements, screenings, etc. In fact, just within the last month, I had to put over $7,000.00 worth of supplements on our credit card (again.) I am not worried about this in the least, as I have watched monthly during these last 3 years as the Lord has met this need in the most incredible ways over and over each month.

Last night, on our way home from church, we stopped to visit some neighbors who live at the farm across from us. While we were there, we were told that another neighbor's home had burned while we were at church, and they had lost everything they owned. There is a mother, a father (who is on anti-rejection drugs for a heart transplant he had a few years ago), and a little boy.

The Lord gave me such a burden in my heart to help these people. While I have never lost my home, I have had a child fighting cancer for over 3 years now, and the Lord has really used this to make me more sensitive to the needs of others. As He prompted me to give to meet this family's needs, I looked at my credit card bill, and wondered how I could do it. My entire paycheck was already spent on pills, and the bill was not even dented. BUT, GOD already had it taken care of!

I prayed that He would show me a way to reach out to this family.

When I awoke this morning, the burden to help was still very heavy on my heart. As I was preparing to deposit checks from the sales of the convention into our business account, my daughter, Kiley, came in and handed me a check for $300 that she owed me from a car downpayment 2 years ago. I knew immediately that that check was the answer to my prayers! As I said, I didn't worry about my own expense, as I know the Lord will provide somehow for that, and I am looking forward to seeing just how He will do that.

A quick stop to find out the sizes and exact needs, and I was off to shop for the family. I really wanted a pair of shoes for the little boy, as I was told that was an urgent need. The family was not home at the time of the fire, and escaped with only the clothes on their backs. But, after driving half an hour each way and stopping at 5 different stores, NOT ONE store had any sneakers in his size. I was disappointed to come home with just sandals, a few outfits, underwear, socks, etc. for the little boy, some basic essentials for the mother, and a whole bunch of stuff for the father. I felt I had bought too many things for the father, and not enough for the others in the family.

As I went to drop my purchases off with one of their relatives, I shared my disappointment in not being able to find what "I" wanted for the lttle boy. What I was told in response nearly knocked my socks off!

The little boy went to school that day, and the school had given him a bunch of clothes - including the shoes that he needed (which I could not find, but God knew my budget was limited to $300, and I needed to focus it elsewhere.) I was told that, of all of the family members, it was the FATHER who was in the most need, as he did not even have a shirt on when the fire broke out, and escaped with ONLY one pair of jeans that he was wearing. Wasn't it kind of God to lead me to the mens' shirt racks over and over in each of the stores I visited? I ended up with about ten shirts for the dad, as well as 3 pairs of pants, a belt, socks, underwear, and a few other things like deoderant, toothbrushes, etc. I was just so blessed and once again awed at how God knows every little detail of our lives. He knew how much I had to spend, and who was in the most need. My frustration was mine alone, as He was in perfect control of the shopping excursion, and did not let me find what I did not need. Isn't He good?

As a bonus, the Lord let me share this story of His provision of the shopping money with one of their lost family members, who was just FLOORED that God could do such things. Pray that this will be an open door to sharing the Gospel in the future.

And please pray for this family - that their needs - ALL of them - will be met.

Thanks for stopping by!
Please sign the guestbook and let us know you were here.

Thursday, April 24, 2008 8:43 AM CDT

Update: 10:56 PM

I just had to share another "weird" happening that I forgot to share earlier.
Last night on the way to church, we ran over a dead possum (did I mention we live waaayyy out in the country?), and didn't think anything about it. When we got to church, Keith dropped the kids and I off at the door, as usual. Then, Kiley came in and told me that he was going to the service station down the street to get a flat tire fixed.

It seems that one of the possum's RIBS broke off, and punctured our tire! There it was, stuck in our tire - gross! It took 3 plugs to plug the hole. Unbelievable. That almost tops the winter escapade of Kiley running over a dead deer and dragging the deer's complete leg (up to the shoulder) 150 miles - again on the way to church, then to Travis' house, then back home again. Moral of the story: Don't run over innocent-looking roadkill.

On a much more serious note, I just got a call from my mom telling us that my uncle, Frank Farber, is in the hospital, and is not expected to live more than a week. Uncle Frank has been a part of my life for 47 years, and though I have not seen him much in recent years, it was a blessing to have him here visiting with his adult children over the Christmas holidays. He has been suffering with some major health issues for a long time, including dialysis, which they have decided to stop. Please pray for Uncle Frank to not suffer, but especially pray for his spiritual needs. His daughter, Cindy, and her husband, Joe, are traveling in to see him on Saturday. Knowing them as I do, I'm sure they are planning to share the Gospel with Uncle Frank one last time. Please pray that he will hold on, and that he will accept his free gift of eternal life that Jesus has already provided for him.
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Just thought I'd give an update to show you how goofy our family is. :o)

Most of you know that we own a publishing company, Queen Homeschool Supplies. For the past 15 years, we have spent the majority of weekends every spring and summer traveling around the country to homeschool conventions, where we set up a huge multi-booth display and sell the books we publish. With 8 people crammed into a 30 foot motorhome for hours and hours at a time on the way to and fro, as well as being squished behind a table where we set up our cash registers, things can get pretty interesting from time-to-time, and often, by the end of a convention, when we are packing up and wiped out from the weekend's work, things can get pretty silly. We've garnered quite a number of funny stories as memories, and this past weekend was no exception.

There we were at the MACHE convention in Frederick, MD, packing up after two days of selling. As usual, we did not get started in packing up until about 4:20, even though the convention was officially over at 4:00, due to last-minute shoppers in our booth area.

Finally, as we had all of the math materials packed away, a lady came over wanting to buy Algebra materials. Of course, those had already been packed away. I had been suffering from a major case of cocsacchi virus, and was on Sudafed so that I could even breathe. Sudafed does STRANGE things to me, and I actually laughed when she asked, assuming she was joking, since the fair was obviously closed (all the vendors around us had packed up and some were already gone!) But, she wasn't. We had already closed out both cash registers and batched out our credit card terminal, meaning we would have to reprogram our register just to be able to accept our sale. When we told her this, she asked how long that would take (not a matter of if we were willing to go through that again - just a matter of how long it would take us!)

Well, of course, we couldn't take the time to do that - we had to be out of the convention hall by a certain time. When we tried gently to explain this to her, she did not want to hear it, and was upset that we had packed up "early" when she wanted to come and get her stuff. She demanded that we give her free shipping if she would call to order later. Since the math program is the one item we sell that we do not publish, we explained that we are not ALLOWED to give free shipping, and that in fact, we had been there for two fulll days, giving all customers plenty of time to come and purchase in person and thus avoid shipping charges. We did finally dig through the boxes we still had in the building, looking for the items she wanted, and did sell her some - but some of the stuff was already packed away out in the trailer, meaning she would have to order it later.

On Monday, she called. She got Casey, and told her how she had been at the MACHE convention, and how the reps there had packed up early so that she could not purchase the materials she wanted, and how she should get free shipping. Casey told her that we could not offer free shipping, and that in fact, the reps there did not pack up early, but actually stayed open 20 minutes late to accomodate last-minute shoppers. When the lady asked her if she had been there, and Casey told her she had, the lady simply said, "Oh."

At 4:00 this morning, Kiley and Casey left to go to the MassHOPE convention in Massachusetts. Haley and I are covering the phones that they usually cover.

At 8:00 this morning, the phone rang. It was THE LADY, once again trying to get free shipping because the reps at MACHE had packed up early! When I explained the situation to her again, she asked me if I had been there, and when I told her I had, she said, "Oh." And hung up.

Immediately, the other phone line rang, and it was HER again, going through the story again. This time she told me that the man there told her she could get free shipping. That man was my husband, and I KNOW that he did not tell her that, as I was standing right beside him! So, I told her that I was sorry, but that we could not offer free shipping. Again, I got the "Were you there?" question, and when I answered, "Yes," her answer was "Oh."

After she hung up again, there was enough of a pause for me to catch my breath, before she called back on another phone line with the SAME story! By this time, I had caught on. I remembered the LAST time my daughters had gone to MassHOPE, with Keith , and I stayed home. It was when Jeremiah was in isolation, and I had to stay home with him. Casey had called me from the pay phone in the lobby on our 888 number, pretending to be that year's "unusual" customer, who had called repeatedly and asked for free materials in a long-winded, 30 minute answering machine message.

So, by this time, knowing what was going on, when "she" asked for free shipping, and if there was any other number she could call to get free shipping, I said, "Yes, there is. In fact, the lady at this number will actually PAY FOR your shipping. Her name is Casey, and here is her phone number!" I proceeded to rattle off Casey's cellphone number. Of course, being the ultimate professional at this game, Casey kept her straight voice, and asked, "Was that 'Tracey?'" To which I replied, "No, CASEY - just like YOUR name!"
And she thanked me and hung up.

As she did, the other phone was already ringing. It was Kiley, laughing her head off! She, of course, was in on the whole thing, being the driver/accomplice as Casey called from the seat beside her.

By this time, we were all laughing so hard, I was crying uncontrollably (from laughing) and could not even talk! What a way to start the morning! Needless to say, while I hope my girls have a good time selling in Massachusetts, I can't wait until they are HOME, where I can SEE them when the phones ring!

Please pray for safe travel as they spend the day today driving up to MA, as well as their trip back home on Saturday and Sunday. They will be staying at as hotel alone on Saturday night in the Harrisburg area, their half-way point, so that they can rest up before coming back here Sunday afternoon. Even though they are in their 20's, they are still my "babies," and this is their first time out on the road alone. Please pray for traveling mercies, and that Kiley will keep her eyes on the road and avoid drinking Pepsi, which sets her off in a mood of uncontrollable giggles (I think this is what started the whole thing today, as she had been drinking Pepsi on the way!)

Thanks for checking in and praying!
(Hello to Lisa Ogg! Hope you enjoy the peek of what it's like for us vendors after the convention! Thanks for your faithfulness in checking on Jeremiah every day.)

Monday, April 21, 2008 6:27 PM

Just a funny "Jeremiah Story" to share today.

As I was helping Jeremiah with his Math-U-See lesson this afternoon, I urged him to pay attention, since it was for HIS benefit that I was doing all this talk about "hundreds," not for my own, since I had already been through this lesson with each of his five older siblings. His response was, "Yeah, I know, I know. I'm the sixth. I'm the youngest. Everyone else in this house is my elder."

Just the way he said, "Everyone else in this house is my elder" was SO funny!

Keep praying!
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Sunday, April 20, 2008 2:15 PM CDT

Since I had to get into the "behind the scenes" of the site in order to once again remove SPAM from the guestbook here (What kind of person would leave spam in the guestbook of a child with cancer??? It's beyond me!), I figured I would update.

We had an interesting week here. All is good health-wise, except that we are all suffering in various intensities from the cocsacchi (sp?) virus. We just got back late last night from the MACHE fair in Frederick, MD. While there, I was so sick, I didn't know how I was going to function. But, God is so good, and already had me taken care of before I could figure it out!

While walking around before the sale started to say "hi" to some of our other vendor friends, I happened to mention to one of the vendors' wives, who happens to be our personal homeopath/naturopath/miracle worker that I was really sick. She mentioned this virus, which she has been finding and treating in her clients lately. Since we had battled this same virus personally a couple of years ago, I immediately recognized the symptoms, and knew from experience that was exactly what I was suffering from. Well, of course, both of us being from Pennsylvania, and here we were in Maryland, I thought my best option would be to somehow make it through the weekend, and have her send me (she is 4 hours away from our home) a bottle of remedy for this virus as soon as we both got home. But God had me beat! She said to me, "I have a bottle with me. I have been taking it myself as a preventative, since I have been in contact with so many people who have it." And she GAVE it to me. I took it every 15 minutes that first day, and by the end of the day, felt markedly better. Now I am down to 3 times per day. Still feeling crummy, but at least functional. And improving slightly each day. Praise the Lord!

MACHE was a good fair for us, sales-wise. We needed it. We came home and ordered several thousand more books printed, and we need to pay for the ones we already had printed. But, we also had another large book vendor come up to us at MACHE and say to me, "I want to carry your books." I asked, "Which ones?" Her reply - "All of them. People keep coming into my shop and asking for them, and we need them all." Wow! God's goodness never ceases to amaze me. He blessed us with the ability to write a bunch of books that have really taken off in the homeschool market, and every week, we have been getting calls and emails from stores all over the world wanting to carry our books. This is just amazing to me - but it can only be of God, and I am humbled to be a part of something so big, and to just sit back and watch Him work as He continues to grow our publishing company that we started almost 15 years ago with just one little booklet, "From Girl...to Woman! God's Plan for the Marvelous Changes That Will Take Place," which I wrote out of desperation for my own 3 daughters. When God does something, He does it BIG!

Jeremiah is doing very well. It was exactly 3 years yesterday since his diagnosis. Life has been a roller-coaster at times, physically and emotionally, but God is in the front seat, and I can honestly say, "It is well."

The little guy just finished up another course of steroids, and was thrilled to have his favorite steroid food of the month, PIZZA, for dinner today. He has asked for it every day. We got some at MACHE, as they were selling them there, on Friday. He wanted it again on Saturday. But knowing that I had planned to get pizza today, since we would get home so late last night (11 PM) from MACHE, and that everyone wants dinner NOW as soon as we come home from church on Sunday's, I just couldn't consent to pizza 3 days in a row! So, Jeremiah had his pizza - complete with ranch dressing to dip it into (pizza is the ONLY thing he does not put KETCHUP on!) today, and now he is satisfied...at least until tomorrow. :o)

Thanks for continuing to check in on Jeremiah, and for your continued prayers. Not that we are counting down or anything, but he has 2 months left of treatment. Please pray that these last 2 months will go well, and that we will never hear the word, "relapse." It is a constant thought that pops up whenever there is any iota of abnormalcy - pale-looking lips, a warm forehead, a period of inactivity, loss of appetite...it doesn't take much to set a parent of a child who has had cancer on alert for the possible symptoms of a relapse. Pray that these next 5 years (the time that must go by before Jeremiah is officially declared "cured") will be event-free, healthy, and that we will be able to rest in the Lord, knowing He already has Jeremiah's future in His loving hands.

Don't forget to sign the guestbook before you leave!

Tuesday, April 15, 2008 3:44 PM CDT

Today's hospital visit went well. Though Jeremiah's cough continues to sound rattly and horrible, his lungs are clear. His ANC was 2500. Nurse Practitioner Whitney, who has witnessed the high ANC's Jeremiah has presented for the past 3 years, only chuckled and said, "We know him and his high ANC's!" As treatment time comes to an end in a few months, the concern over the high-end ANC's seems to have diminished.

One interesting note. Jeremiah goes to the dentist tomorrow for the first time ever. I was told to give him a high dose of Ammoxicillin one hour before his dental appointment. He is allowed to have his teeth cleaned, but nothing else.

I don't know if I mentioned that Kiley wrecked her car on the way home from church last Wednesday night. She went off the road and landed in a deep ditch, and had to be pulled out. When she was pulled out, she tried to drive the car, and it sputtered to a local church's parking lot. The next day, we had it towed to a local garage, where the prognosis was not too good. She had ripped off the oil pan, transmission pan, and shoved the radiator out of place. Today, the insurance agent went to look at it, and declared it a total loss. She had just spent two entire days cleaning it inside and out, waxing it, etc., and had the oil changed that very day. Ouch! Not sure what will happen now.

On a more positive note, the fundraiser concert held by the Soul Seekers of Greene County a short while back ended up raising exactly $6,000! That is exactly 2 months' worth of expenses for Jeremiah! We are praising the Lord for such a great donation, which has already been donated in Jeremiah's bank account, which was down to exactly $12. Whew!

Please continue to pray for our unspoken needs. I can't even begin to go into the great detail, but God knows the need, and will hear your effectual, fervent prayer. Let's just say that there are many stresses right now. We are doing fine, health-wise, and as a family. But, this is the time of year when we are being torn in many different ways, running all over the country, and the expense outlay is enormous. We have had to order many, many tens of thousands of books to be printed for our upcoming conventions. (this is a business expense, not a personal expense - thankfully!) With many stores now carrying our books, we also have to keep THEIR book conventions and the books they will need. With over 200 titles that we publish, this adds a high stress level to an already high stress burden! Please pray for the stress to diminish.

And continue to pray for good health for all!

Friday, April 11, 2008 8:03 PM CDT

I guess it's about time I did an update, as it's been awhile.

We have all been sick lately - after the headache incident, Jeremiah developed a nasty runny nose and cough, and we all have or are recovering from it now. I have been watching him closely this last week or so, as he does not seem his usual chipper self. More than once I have caught him lying on the floor somewhere, telling me is is just "tired," even though he slept until almost noon.
I am hoping and praying that it is just the cold he is fighing that has sapped his energy. He goes back to clinic for chemo and counts on Tuesday, April 15, and I am anxious to see what they have to say. Until then, I continue to watch, wait, and pray. Please join me.

The fundraiser concert last Saturday had very low attendance, but it was a blessing just the same. We still do not know the final outcome of what was raised, as they are paying bills for holding the concert out of the money raised, I guess. That's what it sounded like in the email I received. No matter what, we are thankful that a group of folks we don't even know were so kind as to put on a fundraiser for our son in the first place. They are a very sweet group of people - the Soul Seekers of Greene County.

This week has largely been spent in running back and forth to the dentist, paying taxes, and wondering how we are going to pay for pills. It has been gray and rainy, and unfortunately, I am one of those "sunshine people" who needs the sun to make me feel cheery. So, I am feeling just as gray as the weather! It has been a hard and stressful week. After my last conference call evaluating Jeremiah's and my plasma, I have gone full-out in keeping to the LETTER of what we need to do nutritionally, and it has worn me out - literally. I feel drained and tired, and gray and blah! I need some sunshine!!!

Next week proves to be just as busy, as Jeremiah has clinic on Tuesday, and on Wednesday, he has his first ever dentist appointment! He was never allowed to go to the dentist, but now that he is nearing the end of treatment, he can finally go and get his teeth cleaned and checked! His first "big tooth" is starting to come in, and he is looking forward to seeing what the dentist is all about (haha! Not after all the "I don't want to go to the dentist" comments he's heard from his siblings all week!)

Sorry for such a dreary update. I am just beat. I know folks want to know what's been going on, but I have been in such a "funk" after Emily Lester died from leukemia a week or so ago, I have decided that I need to stop checking on so many other kids with leukemia, because it just rips my heart out every time another one dies. It is discouraging, and even though I know that, as a Christian, I should not let it get to me (God is not the author of fear...be anxious for nothing...trust in the Lord...I could go on and on), my heart is just broken. And, to see Jeremiah so weak, lethargic, and pasty-looking all week has not helped.

Please continue to lift us all in prayer - that the Lord would just lift us up and hold us close - and that He would keep Jeremiah healthy and cancer-free.

Will update again after Tuesday's visit.

Saturday, April 5, 2008 12:32 PM

Please pray this morning for the family of Emily Elizabeth Lester, who passed away after a 6 1/2 year battle with A.L.L.

Emily was a beautiful, courageous young woman who lived life to the fullest. She was recently accepted at Duke University - but soon after, was found to have relapsed. She died at St. Jude hospital during the wee hours of this morning.

I have followed Emily's journey, and often looked to her site for inspiration and encouragement over the last 3 years, as she had been doing so well. She was one of "the ones" I looked to when other kids I was following had relapsed and died, as her continued good health was an encouragement.

Of course, the news of her passing, even though I had seen it coming in recent days by the entries on her site, does not leave those of us still fighting the fight unscathed. Another dark cloud hangs over the horizon this morning, as yet another young one has succumbed to this horrible disease.

And yet, we must press on - must continue to hope. For without hope, all is lost already.

Please continue to lift the Lester family in your prayers, and continue to pray for the rest of us left fighting the battle. Please pray for Jeremiah, whose treatment for A.L.L. will end in June of this year, to stay cancer-free.

If you would be so kind as to drop by Emily's site and leave some encouragement for her family, the address is caringbridge.org/fl/emilylester.

They need your prayers, as well as your kind words of encouragement.
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Thursday, April 3, 2008 5:01 PM CDT

I just had my conference call from Canada to discuss the latest results of both Jeremiah and my plasma analysis.

Not the best news, but not the worst. We are both very low in some of the critical amino acids. Things that are affected are our immune system response, sleep patterns (ha! I knew that!), stess levels, and some other things. It is obvious from the results that we both still have a long way to go in fighting the burdens of damage that cancer (and chemo, in Jeremiah's case) has placed upon our bodies, and will have to stay on the program for a long time yet. Of course, this means that another $6,000.00 is being charged to my credit card this week. Please pray that it will go through!

Pray also that our bodies will begin to be able to rebound, and that Jeremiah's results will go back up by his next test, in 3 months. We are both having new custom formulas made to compensate for the additional needs of our bodies. It was apparent also that Jeremiah is fighting something else that forced some of his critical aminos back down after finally having come up last time. It is most likely a virus. The plasma was sent on March 18th, and our family has dealt with so much in the way of viruses this winter, I can't even remember what he may have been fighting at that time - it may already be past. But today, after having had that fierce headache for several days in a row, and then a day-long reprieve, he awoke with the same horrible cough that several of the other kids have. So, here we go again.

I was also told that both Jeremiah and me need to eat more fat - LOTS more fat, I was told! Imagine telling that to a 47 year old woman who used to be a professional dancer, who has been trying to get back in "ballerina shape" since having her 6th child 6 years ago! It was NOT what I wanted to hear - at all! "Eat LOTS more fat, more oil, more protein, nuts, cheese, butter, etc. etc. etc." was NOT one of the highlights from the conversation! I tried to sneak some additional butter into Jeremiah's dinner, but he found it. He already takes 10 huge, horse-pill sized flax oil capsules every day, along with all of his other stuff. I take 26 of them, along with my other stuff. So, hearing it was not enough, and that my formula will be upped from the current 13 capsules per day of custom formula to about 20, because of all of the additions, was kind of discouraging. Please forgive me for sounding like I am whining, but I know there are many who just want to know what we are doing, and how we are doing with it, and I am just trying to paint the picture of what is going on.

Please don't forget the fundraiser this Saturday at 6:30 at the Waynesburg high school auditorium. It is a Christian concert for Jeremiah's benefit. Please come and support Jeremiah's fund. In light of my own medical expenses, which are enormous, we also have been dealing with Jeremiah's expenses for over 3 years now, and have no end in sight. He will be done with standard treatment in June, but will still be on all of the customs for at LEAST another year after that, to help him recover from the burden of damage from the chemo, and rebuild his immune system. So, if you can make it, please come. There is no specific cost, just a love offering which will go towards Jeremiah's fund. If you cannot attend, but would like to donate, you may send a check made out to "Jeremiah's Fund" to:
Jeremiah's Fund
168 Plantz Ridge Road
New Freeport PA 15352

Thanks for your continued prayers. It's always good to know, after a day like today, that we are being constantly lifted before the throne of God's unending grace. We know He will continue to provide and take care of us. He always has.

Monday, March 31, 2008 2:33

11:26 PM update:

Kiley, Casey, and I went to the ladies' meeting at church tonight. When we got home, Jeremiah was sitting up (a far cry better than he's been for 2 days!) Soon, he walked to the kitchen to take his pills - with his head off the floor! He says he is feeling better. Whew!
Thanks to all for praying.
Please keep the prayer going - we still have four other kids coughing, with sore throats. I'm praying Jeremiah does not awaken with that in the morning.
At least if he does, it won't be as frightening as the sudden grasping of the head with both hands, screaming out in pain. That was unnerving. It's amazing how quickly things can turn - one way or the other.

Lesson to self: Don't take those good days for granted. Life is full of sudden turns.

Praising the Lord for His goodness.
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Update:

No episodes of anything happened during the night. Jeremah slept in his "old place," between Daddy and me, so that I could keep an eye on him all night long without having to run back and forth through the house to do so.

He awoke this morning with a headache still, but no clutching of the head and screaming out in pain (tears and all), like yesterday. He crawled into the kitchen with his head on the floor (it doesn't hurt that way, only when he sits or stands) and ate 2 strawberries and some cottage cheese for breakfast, while he and I played Memory on the kitchen table. Later, Douglas Farhman, an illustrator who contracts for us and has been visiting for the last 3 days, left, and Jeremiah actually laughed while Douglas talked to him before leaving. He spend much of the day so far on the couch like yesterday with a cold, wet washcloth on his forehead, but at least the pain does not seem as intense.

This afternoon, on her way over to our warehouse, Kiley found a salamander, and brought it in to show everyone (After digging out our "Pets in a Jar" book, we set up a habitat for the cute little fellow, who is right now in a mason jar on our kitchen counter), and Jeremiah perked up enough to STAND up and watch the salamander climb around inside the jar. Then it was back to the couch.

So, even though he is still not 100 percent (he's actually maybe about 20 he's doing a bit better than yesterday, I think. He has been playing, albiet laying down on the couch to do so; and has not cried over the headache all day so far. He did tell me that "he's had this "really bad headache pain for about eleven days now...or nine, I think. I forget which one." ;o)

Thanks for your continued prayers. Keep 'em coming!
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Sunday, March 30, 2008 3:45 PM CDT

Update 5:21 PM

I spoke with the oncology fellow, who said to try the Tylenol, and see if relieves his headache. He has also been very lethargic all day - just lying around whining that his head hurts.

I gave him Tylenol at 5:00, and he is now sleeping. We are to play the "wait and see" game, and see if the tylenol takes away the headache enough to perk him up, since there are no other apparent symptoms (no fever - he is actually feeling cool to the touch, though he has had that pale, pasty look since yesterday, when I looked him over real well and wondered if there was something about to happen...it manifested into the headache today. Amazing thing, that God-given mother's intuition!)

If he is still lethargic when he awakens, we are off to the hospital. Please join me in praying that he will awaken chipper and cheerful - and pain-free.
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URGENT PRAYER REQUEST!!!!!

Jeremiah awoke this morning with a bad headache, but no apparent fever.

We went to church, where he threw up, and then Keith took him outside to wait for the rest of us (I was in the nursery working.)

Now, he is crying because his head hurts so bad. I am waiting for the oncologist on call to call back to see what to do. Please pray that we won't have to go to the hospital, and that Jeremiah feels better very soon.

Will keep you posted.

Saturday, March 29, 2008 10:07 PM CDT

Today was the day of our first homeschool curriculum fair of the season, in South Hills, PA. This is a fair we almost didn't go to again, as the last two years were really down in sales for us. But, praise the Lord! Today, the sales were very good - the best we've EVER had at South Hills! Not huge by any means, as this is a very small compared to most we attend, but we sold enough to pay for all the math stock we purchased to sell, which is much more than we hoped for at a fair this small - and, we have some math stock left over for the warehouse shelves to boot! Thanks to all who have been praying for the financial needs.

Speaking of such, I got my results from my latest plasma draw, and though I don't have my confreence call to discuss them until Tuesday, I already saw them...and knowing what I do by what I saw, I know that I am going to have to remain on the custom amino acid formula for another six month period, at least. That means another $6,000.00, to be paid upfront. Ouch! So, please continue the prayers on that end! There is a fundraiser concert for Jeremiah's benefit fund next Saturday, so please pray for a good turnout here, so that at least Jeremiah's $3,000.00+ expenses will be met, so that we can put all of MY expenses on our credit card, and not have to cover his expenses also. We know the Lord will continue to provide. He always has. He always will. We only ask that you pray. And for those who would sign mean "nasties" in the guestbook to the effect that I even mentioned financial expenses, I'm asking in advance that you please don't. This is the reality of two people in the same family being treated for cancer - it is expensive, and much is not covered by any insurance. So, if you don't want to pray, that is fine...but please don't sign negative comments because I asked for prayer for this need.

Back to today's book fair...it was a long day. I went to bed at 1 AM, and was up at 4:30 AM to do my Bible study before we left. But it was worth every bit of yawning that swept over me all day, as I got to see many dear friends that I only see once a year, at this fair. Two of those special ladies and I share a special bond that none of us wants to share.

Michelle Livingood's 14 year old son, Will, just had his colon removed because of a lifelong battle against colon cancer. He is doing well, but has an ostomy bag that he will need to have attached to him for as long as he lives. Will is inspiring. He is already back to pitching on his baseball team, ostomy bag and all. Go, Will!

Michelle Lutz's sweet little Abby is picctured on the cover of my book, "Language Lessons for Little Ones, Volume 3." That's her smiling face and sunshiny blond hair. When the fair first opened this morning, a lady I didn't know came up to me and picked up the book with Abby's photo on the cover. She said she had seen that book in our catalog, and just had to see the face of that sweet little girl on the book cover, as it really drew her to the book.
I didn't have the heart to tell her that Abby died from cancer (Wilm's Tumor) last May. Right after she left, Abby's mom, Michelle, came over to say "hi." As she pointed to Abby's face on the book cover, we both grew teary-eyed as we hugged a hello. Though it was hard to share, I knew she was blessed when I shared the other shopper's words about Abby.

Please continue to pray for these families. Life goes on after the death of a child, but I know from experience, having had three babies die before birth, those children are never forgotten, nor are they replaced - no matter how many others God may bless with. Michelle (Abby's mom) is expecting another baby (a boy) in 4 weeks, and the family has submitted paperwork to adopt a little girl from Ukraine. I know this will help to heal the brokenness in their hearts, but I know also that there will ALWAYS be one member of their family who is missing - no matter how many more children they have.

Jeremiah is doing well. Some of the other kids have coughs, and I think he may be coming down with it, so please pray that it is nothing major - especially for Jeremiah. But seriously - if a cough and sore throat are all we have to deal with this week in the negative realm, I really have no right to complain at all. Things could always be worse.

Thanks for stopping by - please let us know you were here by signing in the guestbook. We check every day to see who was here!

Wednesday, March 26, 2008 11:07 PM CDT

A funny Jeremiah story from today...

Our church, Calvary Baptist, in Mannington, WV, has a prophet's chamber. This is a guest suite where visiting missionaries and preachers can stay when they come to visit our church. Miss Melissa was in the prophet's chamber this evening, making up the bed. Miss Melissa and Brother Hervie have 3 children, one of whom is named Spurgeon.

Tonight on the way home from church, Jeremiah said, "Oh, I think Spurgeon lives at the church."

"Why do you say that, Jeremiah?" I asked.

"Because I saw his mommy making his bed."

Too funny!

Don't forget the upcoming fundraiser for Jeremiah's medical expense fund.
Saturday, April 5, at the Waynesburg Central High School, there will be a Christian concert featuring the Hargus Creek Bluegrass Band, Jonathan White, and Cindy Sites & Commitment. There will also be a Christian artist onstage painting while the music is being played. There is no specific cost for tickets, but there will be a freewill offering taken to benefit Jeremiah's Fund.

Doors open at 3 PM, though the concert doesn't start until 6:30 (Word has it that our favorite band, The Hargus Creek Bluegrass Band, featuring our future son-in-law, Jake Main, will start playing at about 6:15, so be early!!!)

Hope to see you there!

Sunday, March 23, 2008 11:20 PM

It was such a blessing to be HOME for Easter this year!

I need to ask for urgent prayer for the daughter of some friends. I cannot share any more at this time, as the matter has not been made public yet, and more tests are going to be run on April 3rd, I believe. But, please pray for the physical need of this young girl - that God will touch her body and heal completely. I will share more if and when the time is right; but for now, your urgent prayers are appreciated.
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Thursday, March 20, 2008 10:00 PM CDT

The Easter season is upon us! Tomorrow is Good Friday...the day we remember Christ's crucifiction on the cross. For Christians, this is the most touching day of the year, as we remember why our Jesus died - to pay for the sins of the world. Our sins. Because we could make it to Heaven no other way than to pay for our sins through eternal death in Hell, our Jesus loved us so much that He chose to pay our sin debt by dying in our place. It is our heartfelt prayer that YOU have accepted His free gift of salvation, free to all who choose to ask to receive it, just by calling on His name. If you are unsure what this means, or would like to know more, please visit our business website at queenhomeschool.com, and click on the link that says, "Why Would a Good God Let a Little Boy Get Cancer?" Or, email me, and I will be happy to share.

In the meantime, we are rejoicing in this time of year - Christ's sacrifice to give us the gift of salvation, spring flowers starting to show their tips through the ground, and the red in the thermometers starting to climb (if only it would STAY up!!!)

As our two courting daughters were making plans tonight to go over their beau's houses tomorrow, I lamented that neither of them would be home to color Easter Eggs tomorrow - our usual Good Friday activity. It was then that Kiley said, "Remember, you weren't here last year." I had almost forgotten. Last year at this time, Jeremiah was admitted to the hospital the day before Good Friday, with a fever. We spent a little over 3 days inpatient, he and I, and were going to have to stay until Monday, but I BEGGED to go home for Easter, as I had 7 baskets to fill! (one for each of our 6 kids, and one for Daddy too!) Finally, a fellow (all the "regular" doctors were off for the holiday) took pity on us and called our regular doctor with news of Jeremiah's condition, and we were allowed to go home at MIDNIGHT - the very start of Easter! We made it home by 2:30 AM, and I filled all the baskets before crashing, exhausted, on the bed. Sunday morning, we all made it to church - though Jeremiah was so weak, and had to sit on my lap wearing a mask, and didn't get to attend Sunday School or Children's Church for fear of germs.

We are praying for a less-eventful Easter this year! You are welcome to join us!

We spent the evening tonight walking around the nearby town of Hundred, West Virginia, hanging doorhangers on all the house doors, inviting folks to church for Easter service. At the end of the service, during the invitation, our family is leaving to go and hide 2,100 Easter eggs for local children to come and find after the service - except for Kiley, who will be playing her guitar for the closing song. Then, we are coming home to have an Easter feast before the evening service. Pray that no sickness or fevers spoil our plans this year!

And especially, pray that the visitation efforts of the past few weeks, hanging out doorhanger invitations every Thursday night, will yield fruitful results, and that many who are unchurched will come out on Sunday morning to church and hear the Gospel.

Please continue to remember the fundraiser for Jeremiah on Saturday, April 5th, at 6:30 Pm at the Waynesburg Central High School. It is a benefit concert on Jeremiah's behalf, featuring 3 conservative Christian music groups. Our favorite, the Hargus Creek Bluegrass Band, will be opening for the benefit! One of the reasons this group is our favorite is because our future son-in-law, Jake, is in the group, along with his dad and brother. The other is because they are just the best Christian musical group out there! So, come out and hear them play on April 5th! There is no specific ticket cost; there will be a freewill offering taken to help offset Jeremiah's continued medical expenses.

Thanks again for stopping by. Please sign the guestbook and let us know you were here.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008 7:08 PM

Thanks for praying!
Today's clinic visit went well. We got there 15 minutes early, and were taken in right away. When a student nurse came in the room with our regular nurse, and could not even figure out how to get her gloves on, I was a bit apprehensive when it became apparent that SHE was the one who was going to access Jeremiah's port...the port that has refused to give up any blood for the last several visits without much hoopla.

Oh, me of little faith! I had asked a friend just the night before to PRAY this morning that Jeremiah's port would willingly give blood! And it DID!!!! What an answer to prayer!

His counts were great - ANC was a little high at 2300, but Whitney, our nurse-practitioner, did not seem concerned. "We know he normally runs high," she said. And I do know that, but usually they want to raise his chemo after a few months of consecutive high ANC's. So, again I was thankful that they did not want to raise his chemo. This far into treatment, I hate to see it raised, when he is doing so well. He is already on a double dose of what he "should" be taking for his size, just to keep his ANC down. How I long for the day when we can go in just for counts, and no chemo, and watch his ANC skyrocket, showing how strong his immune system has become!

Platelets today were 311,000
Hemoglobin was 12.9

We sent off his plasma sample for analysis, which I should hear back about in about 2 weeks or so. Will keep you posted.

In the meantime, we appreciate your continued prayers for good health and NO CANCER CELLS.

Please pray also for:
Emily Lester - having a tough time with her 2nd
relapse for A.L.L.
Sophia Castro - trying to make the best of her days
with relapsed leukemia that is untreatable.

Please sign the guestbook and let us know you dropped by!
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Sunday, March 16, 2008 3:26 PM CDT

This past week has come and gone, and all is well. No major health crisis, no trips to the hospital (except for me for a blood draw), and no fevers - praise the Lord!

We have been busy preparing for our first homeschool convention of the year at the end of this month in South Hills, PA - ordering massive quantities of books from the printers to load up our rolling wooden shelves, planning where all the new books are going to go on the shelves, etc.

Life has been good. But we know not to let down our guard, for our adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Already this week, we have watched several little ones with leukemia take a turn for the worse. Emily Lester, who is in St. Jude, has finally turned a corner for the better at last report, having had a touch and go week. And little Sophia Castro is hanging on. Dylan Mayo continues to fight...and we continue to lift all these other little ones fighting this beast daily in prayer.

Please continue to remember Jeremiah in your prayers. He goes to clinic on Tuesday for chemo and counts, as well as a blood draw to send his blood off for amino acid analysis - the same test I had done on Thursday. About 2 weeks after our plasma samples are received by the lab for analysis, I will have conference calls to discuss the most recent health news for each of us. These results will also determine our newest custom amino acid formulas. Please pray for the huge financial need as we try to figure out how we are going to pay for another round of this. I am praying that I will be released from the program, and therefore, we will save about $6,000.00 for this month's expenses. Once you reach a certain point in recovery, you get weaned from the program. Of course, it has only been 6 months for me, and Jeremiah has been on it for 3 years now, but I did not have chemo for my cancer, which really wreaks havoc on the immune system, hence a lengthier recovery for Jeremiah's immune system.

Pray for good counts and good results for Tuesday, and for the course of steroids (dexamethasone) that Jeremiah will start on Tuesday evening. I've got the house all stocked with cheese, cottage cheese, sour cream, milk, yogurt juice (drinkable yogurt), and all the other dairy products he will crave.

Thanks for stopping by to visit - please remember to sign the guestbook and let us know you dropped by!

Friday, March 14, 2008 11:47PM

This is Casey (Jeremiahs sister) and I just wanted to say today is Sandi's (my moms) "Happy Birthday" to her, since she turned (well, I won't say how old she turned) but her birthday was today!! So, Happy Birthday!
Thanks for putting up with us all :)
Love, All of your kids.... Kiley, Casey, Haley, Evan, Luke & Jeremiah (and Jack & Trixie) hehe

-----------------------
March 11th.....

I just wanted to share a nice article that was written in the Greene County Messenger, about an upcoming fundraiser on Jeremiah's behalf.

To read it, copy this link and paste it in your browser:

http://www.heraldstandard.com/site/tab4.cfm?newsid=19370756&BRD=2280&PAG=461&dept_id=614678&rfi=6

I was supposed to be mailed a copy of the paper, but never got it. So, if anyone in Greene County is reading this, and has an extra copy they can send our way, we'd appreciate it very much! Send it to the business address, below.

Jeremiah has not had a fever since Sunday evening. Thanks to all who prayed. So far, it seems that we all are well - at least for today!
Jeremiah, of course, is the one I watch most, for obvious reasons. He is looking pale and pasty to me, but so far, no fever. Low grade fevers are what I dread most - even more than a high fever. I high fever means possible infection or virus. But it was a low-grade fever that was his first symptom of cancer.

Please continue to pray that the Lord would keep him healthy, that his immune system would completely recover, and that his next clinic visit would reveal GOOD counts, and NO CANCER!

Thanks for your continued prayers on Jeremiah's behalf.

For those in Greene County, PA or surrounding areas, please remember the upcoming fundraiser on Saturday, April 5, 2008 at 6:30 PM at the Waynesburg High School Auditorium. There will be several Christian music groups, as well as a Christian artist painting live onstage during the singing. The music is not Christian rock, but more conservative. You can get a preview of one of the singers at jonathanwhitemusic.com. There is no specific cost for this event, but there will be a freewill offering taken, which will be donated to "Jeremiah's Fund," to help offset his continued medical expenses. Although Jeremiah's chemo will end in just a little over 3 months (Praise the Lord!!!! Where did those last 3 years go????), he will still be required to make monthly hospital visits for the next 5 years, and will still be on an extensive (aka expensive!) supplemental program to rebuild his immune system. This will likely be the last fundraiser he will be blessed with, so we are praying it will be a huge success!

Thanks for dropping by to check on Jeremiah. Please be sure to sign the guestbook before you leave. And please pray also for Emily Lester, who continues to battle leukemia from St. Jude's.

Sunday, March 9, 2008 1:28 PM CDT

Luke is doing better. Whatever he had lasted only that one night. Thanks for praying!

This morning, Jeremiah awoke with a runny nose. Thinking it was nothing, we all went to church as usual. After service, Miss LouAnn, Jeremiah's Sunday School teacher, came up to me and asked, "You are aware Jeremiah has a low-grade fever, aren't you?"

I wasn't. It was 99.5.

I am praying it is just because of the runny nose, but please join us in prayer that it is nothing other than that. Of course, if it gets to be 100.5 or greater, we are off for a long (probably late-night) drive to Pittsburgh, which we don't want to have to resort to.

Please continue to keep Jeremiah in your prayers.

Next clinic visit for chemo and counts is March 18. He will also have his regular blood draw to have his plasma sent off for analysis, to have his custom formula made.

On that same note, I will be sending my plasma off this week. Please pray for that, as well as for the $6,000.00+ bill that will accompany it. Thankfully, there is another fundraiser coming up for Jeremiah, which I pray will cover his expenses for at least a month. It is on Saturday, April 5, at 6:30 PM at the Waynesburg Central High School Auditorium. Two Christian singers will be sharing their talents - Jonathan White, and Cindy Sites & Commitment. There will also be a Chritian artist, Mountainman MIke Lamborne, who will be painting live onstage during the concert. There will be a freewill offering to benefit Jeremiah. Call Kevin Hartley at 304-775-5363, or Brenda Stone at 724-839-7080 for more information. The concert is being sponsored by Soul Seekers of Greene County, whom we much appreciate.

Thanks for your continued prayers.

Thursday, March 6, 2008 11:27 PM

Here we go again...

Luke has been revisited by whatever we were all suffering from a few weeks ago. He slept until almost noon today, and then only awoke because I made him. As the day went on, he was not his usual "less-than-quiet" self, and just kind of hovered around the house. At one point, I caught him lying on my bed quietly, which he just DOESN'T do. Those who know Luke know he is NOT a quiet person!

Around dinner time, he started complaining of a headache. A bit later, as some of us were playing Scrabble, I heard Luke crying from the other room. This is TOTALLY out of character for Luke unless he feels horrible. Of course, he did.

HIs head hurts, his stomach hurts, and he is tired. He threw up once already, and is keeping a large bowl nearby, just in case. Same as last time.

Please pray for him; that it is a quick and total recovery. And pray that the rest of us are spared this time around - especially Jeremiah, for obvious reasons.

Thanks for continuing to come before the Lord on our family's behalf.

There is more from today, some good, some bad, but I will not bother to share, as right now Luke's health is the most important thing. So, we appreciate your fervent prayers on his behalf.

Thanks.
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Wednesday, March 5, 2008 9:40 PM CST

Everybody is doing well right now, so there isn't much to update. So, I thought I might share something totally unrelated, for a change, to CANCER!!!!

Years ago, I kept a website called, "Do it 4 Jesus," where I shared tips for homeschooling and raising a large family. One of my ongoing pet peeves was matching the many SOCKS that come with a large family. Of course, back then, there were only six of us, and now there are eight, making the matter of "solving the sock issue" more of an issue than ever! I hate to share this publicly, but here goes...

...over the past few years, our family has ammassed a collection of 2 entire large plastic garbage cans full of unmatched socks!!!

There - it's OUT!!!!

Some of the tips I've shared in the past have been things so elaborate as this:
1. Buy EVERYBODY in the family non-descript, white crew socks, and that way,
it's EASY to match everybody's socks, as they are all the same, except for
the sizes. (This did NOT work, as it is the sizes that are MOST important
to match up properly!!!)

2. Buy NOBODY plain white socks - instead, spend a fortune on all of the
cute, patterned, design-covered socks, so that every sock's match is
easily identifyable at first glance. (This did not work, because I was
spending WAY too much money on socks, and when one sock was lost, it
became a traumatic experience such as, "My POOH sock is missing!!!" Also,
at least when all the socks were white, it was always easy to find a match.)

3. Buy huge, color-coded diaper pins (the kind used for cloth diapers - this
tip was shared by the mom-of-many pro, Kathy Von Duyke) - a different
color for each family member, and have everyone pin their matching socks
together as they are removed from their feet, and throw them in the
hamper already matched in pairs. All the pink ducky diaper pins were
Haley's socks, all the blue teddy bear socks were Keith's, etc. (This worked
great for about six months, until the pins started popping open in the
washer or dryer, and poking me HARD in the fingers, or worse yet,
under the fingernails when I went to get the clothes out! Yikes!!!)

After all of that, I threw in the towel (or...sock?), and just got 2 plastic garbage cans - one for white socks and one for colored socks. Every couple of weeks, or whenever the sock drawers were low, I would dump one of the sock bins out onto the floor and announce that we were having a "sock party," and that all were invited. I know it's hard to believe, but I rarely had anyone show up for these parties until I started doing it in someone's OCCUPIED bedroom, where I would dump the socks out on the floor, lock the door, and sit in front of the door to barricade it.

But, in the back of my mind, the gears were always turning. I KNEW there had to be a better way!

So...

...about 4 weeks ago, Haley and I went shopping. I bought a white Woolite brand mesh laundry bags (the kind you use for washing delicates) for each member of the family. When we got home, we wrote with permanent marker across the top of each bag the name of its proud recipient, and then distributed the bags. Each person is responsible for, upon removing their socks, putting them into their labeled bags. When their bags are full, or when they wear a pair of socks that don't match the other socks in their bags (if the bag is full of white socks and they wear a red pair, for example), they simply zip their bag shut and toss it in the hamper. After being washed, the bags are thrown into the dryer, and then returned to their rightful owners, who are responsible for matching the contents and putting their own matched socks into their sock drawers.

Wa-la! The sock problem is OVER!!!!!

Of course, we still have those two garbage cans full of socks from the past, as they are worth so much money I hate to just throw them all away, and secretly, I keep hoping that a match or two will turn up here or there when someone is cleaning out under their bed or something.

But now, I'm finding that the problem is that nobody DOES clean out under their beds!!!

If anyone has some tips for solving that issue, I'd be happy to hear from you!

Thanks for dropping by, and please continue to pray for Jeremiah. He's doing well right now, and doesn't go back to the hospital for another 2 weeks, so we're living our "normal" life right now. But we know how delicate life is now, and how things can change in an instant, so we appreciate your continued prayers.

Saturday, March 1, 2008 11:47 PM

We awoke this morning to ice everywhere, and snow pouring down! Kiley got stuck in the driveway trying to go on visitation for the church bus route, and had to stay home. A neighbor tried to make it up our road on his 4 wheeler with chains on the tires, and almost went over the side of the hill. He turned around and went back down.

Did I mention that today was to be Evan and Luke's birthday party?

Well, after much deliberation as to what to do (should we cancel?), Keith took a ride up the road and back down, and actually PUSHED THE 4 WHEEL DRIVE BUTTON, so you KNOW it was BAD!!!!! He said that, since almost everyone who was coming to the party had 4 wheel drive, we would just let them decide. In the end, only Mimi and Pap decided not to come in their little non-4-wheel-drive car (they live 2 hours away on a fair-weathered day.)

Everyone else made it, and we had a nice time. A funny story - today was our pastor's birthday as well (Happy Birthday, Pastor Bowman!)
He is a big cycling enthusiast, and has recently bought a new bike. He had his eyes on a new pair of cycling shoes at the bike shop, and Mrs. Bowman really wanted to get them for his birthday. Of course, every time the guy from the bike shop called their house to tell her the shoes were in, Pastor would answer, assuming it was for him (he is a frequent visitor there and often rides cycles with the men who work there, even though many of them are much younger - Pastor is "the man" when it comes to cycling!) Finally, it was decided that Keith, who was going to the bike shop (he cycles with Pastor) on Friday to drop off a new wheel to be put on his bike, would pick up the shoes, and Mrs. Bowman would give them to Pastor when they were here for the boys' birthday party.

Well, Mrs. Bowman and I were talking about this transaction on the phone yesterday morning, and apparently Pastor overheard, and thought perhaps something was going on about his birthday, I guess, because later, Mrs. Bowman called me to try to smooth things over with a completely different conversation, so he would think perhaps it was just a continuation, and not suspect it was about his gift.

To make a long story short, Keith got the shoes, Mrs. Bowman gave them to Pastor, and he was very pleasantly surprised. Now he can continue to cycle in style. :o)

The roads going home were not as bad, as the day got sunnier as it went on, and the ice that had formed overnight had begun to melt. So, all's well that ends well. We missed Mimi and Pap's presence, but we're glad they didn't have to drive 2 hours each way in the ice also. Please pray for Mimi, who fell down the outside porch steps while taking her dog out this morning (they were covered in ice), as she hurt her tailbone, which she broke many years ago when I was 17 years old (30 years ago - YIKES! I still remember waking up to the sound of her screaming as she bounced down the cellar steps, and having to go and pull her back up. It was a long time healing, sitting on a donut for months.) Please pray that it is not broken again, and that she feels better quickly.

Also, please pray for Travis and his family, as they have been without water in their home for a week now. A main water line broke (city folks!), and the whole area is out of water until it is fixed. Quite inconvenient, as you can imagine.

Thanks for continuing to check on Jeremiah and pray for him.
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Wednesday, February 27, 2008 7:58 AM CST

HAPPY 13TH BIRTHDAY, EVAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I remember this day 13 years ago well. After giving birth to 4 girls in a row (one was born after her soul went to Heaven), I had my first son!

The very first time I saw Evan, I thought two things:

1. What am I going to do with a BOY?????
2. Boy, does he ever have long, skinny legs!

Well, I figured out what to do with him - buy lots of FOOD, and a few toy trucks - and basically the rest was the same as it was with the girls. But those LEGS - they are STILL long and skinny as can be! Only now, he's as tall as me. At least he was when he went to bed last night - this morning he will probably be taller. That's the way it seems to be going lately. He grows visibly overnight!

Jeremiah has a cough. It doesn't seem to be affecting him much in his ability to play. He and Luke moved all of the living room furniture around yesterday, pretending that the carpet was hot, molten lava, and they had to stay on furniture to avoid stepping on it. So, they spent the entire evening climbing back and forth between the couch, chair, coffee table, piano, loveseat, and a few strategically-placed pillows and stools that were considered "safe."

But, he laid in bed coughing all night - a nasty-sounding, rattly cough. Please pray it's just the tail end of the viruses we have all been battling, and not pneumocystic pneumonia - always a concern with a child on chemo.
(MIMI - Not to worry - just pray! I'm not saying it IS pnuemonia - just to pray that it isn't! He does NOT have a fever!)

I'm still planning that "boy party" for Saturday, though I have not heard back from ANY of the boys invited, and I have to order the food by tomorrow at the latest (the fruit trays and veggie trays, etc.) Hopefully, I'll know something by tonight, since we will see all of the invited boys at church. I'll let you know how that goes!

Our new catalogs for Queen Homeschool Supplies, Inc. arrived yesterday! We were absolutely shocked when the truck driver opened the back door of his truck, and we saw 3 pallets of catalogs sitting there shrinkwrapped on the pallets, but with NO BOXES!!!! The door to our warehouse is situated such that the truck cannot get right up to it, meaning that we have to unload everything by hand and carry it about ten feet into the warehouse. Not too big of a deal, except in this case, when the catalogs were not boxed, and it was raining! It took us an hour and a half to get them all unloaded and stacked up (I had planned for boxes to be stacked - easy! But, instead, we had to lie wooden pallets on the floor, cover them with cardboard, and then carefully build huge stacks, balancing the string-tied bundles, which are not nearly as easy to balance as boxes are.

When we were done, I gave the truck driver one of the gospel tracts we publish that are titled, "Why would a good God let a little boy get cancer?", with Jeremiah's photo on the front. He looked at it and said, "My sister's little girl was just diagnosed with A.L.L." (the same type of leukemia that Jeremiah has.) We talked for awhile about cancer and how it is not discriminatory, treatment, side effects, etc, and I gave him one of the books we publish to give to kids with cancer, titled "Still the Same Me," which tells a child through simple explanation and photos (of Jeremiah, of course) what they can expect to happen as they go through chemotherapy and cancer treatment.

Please pray for this family, who is just beginning the ALL journey with their little 4 year old girl. At least she is a girl, and only has 2 1/2 years of treatment, rather than the 3 1/2 years of treatment for little boys with ALL.
It was a blessing to me to be able to encourage him and give him these resources for his niece, and it was a blessing for him, I'm sure, to have seen Jeremiah over at the warehouse as we unloaded the truck - looking like a healthy, normal kid - and nearly done with treatment!

Please also continue to pray for Emily Lester, who continues the fight for her 2nd relapse with ALL, and for the family of Mickey Lineham, who passed away from ALL a few days ago. And for all of our little friends with cancer:

Sophia
Jay
Sam
Hunter
Jackie
Ethan
Josh
Luke

Don't forget to sign the guestbook before you leave.

Saturday, February 23, 2008 1:58 PM CST

Things are much better around here, heath-wise.

Evan is doing SO much better, he is off with Dad and 3 of his siblings, playing paintball for the day. Amazing how those remedies kicked that host of viruses right out of him.

Jeremiah and I have had a busy morning. I was up until 1 AM finishing a book I was writing (Pictures in Cursive Primer, the precursor to the rest of the series we just published.) About half an hour after going to bed, I realized that I would have to change something in the format to get the book to be laid out like I had intended (seeing one page at a time on the computer is not the same as seeing the finished book), and that kept me up for about 3 more hours stewing over it. Finally, I got up and just changed the thing! I had to add 3 more pages, and change all of the page numbers and lesson numbers to make it all right, as well as change the entire introduction to the curriculum - but now it's done and just waiting for Haley to finish the covers!

Jeremiah, AKA "Steroid Man," has been up since early too, and has been baking all morning wtih me. We made homemade pretzels from scratch (cinnamon as well as regular), and also cupcakes inside of icecream cones, which we are going to decorate in a little while to take to church tomorrow for a spaghetti dinner the teens are hosting to raise money for camp. Somehow, I got the short end of that deal - I paid $7 per ticket for ten of us to go to the dinner, and then I got called to make dessert for the dinner. Then, I find out that the $70 I paid for the dinner tickets was only going to save Haley $7 off her camp fees of $150! It would have been cheaper for us just to pay for her to go to camp, like we did last year! But, this way is more fun, as we get to share in the fellowship of a church-wide spaghetti dinner! ;o)

Speaking of "Steroid Man," I find it quite amusing to watch the cravings that steroids can bring. When Jeremiah was first diagnosed, and we spent those first long weeks at CHOP, if you recall, I walked 2 miles through the heart of downdown Philadelphia to buy him a container of cottage cheese - that was all he wanted. And so it continued for about 6 - 8 months. Cottage cheese, cheese nachos, string cheese, and a cup of milk, to be precise. And, some nacho cheese Doritos on the side. Then, it was nachos and melted cheese every morning for breakfast - for about a YEAR! Next came the chips and salsa phase - upon awakening each morning, I would ask Jeremiah what he wanted for breakfast. He would always come out and look through both pantries, both refrigerators, and spend about half an hour at this. Then, he would blurt out, "I guess I'll have chips and salsa!" Big surprise.

Now, he is back in the "cottage cheese" phase. The steroid pulse began last Tuesday. By Wednesday morning at breakfast, he was asking for cottage cheese. He hasn't eaten cottage cheese for about two years. But, I was ready for him, as I have been every month for the past 2 years. Knowing how hids tastes gravitate to either spicy Mexican or dairy products during steroid pulses, I have kept both ready and available. And so, wa-la! The white mound was produced...and he was satiated. With a glass of milk on the side.

I've laughed recently when reading little Hunter's website (caringbridge.org/ma/hunter), as her mom describes Hunter craving bacon, and how she was already cooking up her 4th pound of bacon that week for her daughter, who is younger than my little 39 pound Jeremiah. I almost wish (except for the nitrites - yikes!) that Jeremiah would crave something fattening like bacon! He is such a little bag of bones; and this latest bout of vomiting and nausea, which lasted nearly a week, did not help. He is just a twig. As I laid beside him on the bed while he was sleeping, I had my arm next to his leg. His thigh was smaller around than the top of my arm!!!! Now, I'm not as thin as I used to be, but come on, I'm only a size 8! Here's this little guy, still fitting in his size 3T underwear at age 6 1/2! The organization that analyzes Jeremiah's plasma every 3 months for nutritional analysis keeps telling me that he needs more fat in his diet. I can tell - he needs more fat on his BODY as well! But how do you tell that to a 6 year old? "Here, Jeremiah, eat this stick of butter, and chase it down with this glass of fresh-pressed olive oil," just hasn't worked. Please pray that Jeremiah will start to consume some major calories, and put on some much-needed weight.

Pray also, if you would, for Emily Lester (caringbridge.org/fl/emilylester), who is struggling through her 2nd relapse for ALL.

Remember to sign the guestbook and let us know you stopped by!
And, check out our BRAND NEW business website at
http://www.queenhomeschool.com
It has a whole new look, and was just uploaded at 1:00 this morning - as I was finishing that book! There is a family photo of all of us under the "about us" button, for those who are interested.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008 7:41 PM

Thanks for checking in.
Today's hospital visit went OK. There were some difficulties with Jeremiah's port. It would receive, but not give any blood. After several syringes of heparin, then 7 syringes of saline, as well as three repositioning of the needle, it was decided to wait until after the vincristine and fluids were given (one is NPO - "no products orally" until after procedures, and today was a spinal tap), and then see if he would need the dreaded "clot-buster." Knowing that the clot-buster can cause, among other things, massive internal bleeding, I prayed silently all during the spinal tap (which went fine), as well as the other chemo administrations, that the port would function as it should afterwards. And, praise God,it did, saving Jeremiah the horrors that might have ensured from the clot-buster! Thank you, Lord!

Though last night and the wee hours of this mornign found me hanging out on the phone with the Children's oncologist on call, due to Jeremiah's bout of vomiting in bed (yuck!) to see if we should even bring him in today, today brought new mercies. He has been a bit nauseaus, but he ate dinner fine. Steroids start tonight, which always upset his stomach - so between the 6 MP, the dexamethazone (steroid), and the virus, he will probably be nauseaus the rest of the week, at least.

Counts were good:
ANC - 2000
Platelets - 259,000
Hemoglobin - 12.9

I'll take those!

Evan spent most of the day on the couch while we were gone, his older sisters filling in for me and dosing him with his homeopathic remedies every hour on the hour. By the time we came home, he looked remarkably better, and even got up to go outside and try out his new paintball gun he got for a birthday present a few days ago for the first time.
Just a few shots from the driveway, but it was the first time he had been up and out (except for getting dragged out to be screened yesterday) in 6 or 7 days. He even came in and sat at the dinner table with us tonight, though he didn't eat too much. It's a start, and I can definitely see a major improvement just since yesterday. Every time we have a major health crisis and go to get screened and fixed up with specific homeopathics, I thank the Lord for putting us in touch with the woman we go to. I KNOW the Lord has used her in His plan to save our lives many, many times.

We had some interesting happenings here last night. As I've said before, Evan and Luke both got paintball guns for their birthdays. Keith got one for Valentine's day from some silly woman (OK, it was ME!!! I knew he'd want to play with the boys!), and Kiley got one for Valentine's Day from Travis, who is a major paintball fan (he did get her flowers and candy, too!) Well, Travis took all of the CO2 tanks to get filled for us, and gave them to Kiley last night at Bible college to bring home to us last night. As the first one was being loaded into the first gun, it exploded! A few minutes later, a second one exploded in the living room - and then, one of the big ones exploded in the master bedroom! Needless to say, after that, the other tanks were taken outside! It seems the guy who filled the tanks was new, and overfilled all of them. It sounded like a war zone here last night, and even though we still had a few who were "out" on the couch, they all bolted up in fright when things started exploding! Poor Luke exclaimed, "I kind of wish I had never asked for a paintball gun for my birthday - now I"m afraid to use it!"

But, tonight, they took them out and tried them out. I think that fear is gone!

Please continue to pray for good health for all. Most of us still have a good bit of recovery to go.
But, we can now see the light at the end of the tunnel of sickness.

Thanks for your continued prayers!
______________________________________________

Monday, February 18, 2008 4:20 PM CST

Well, we are back from the health screenings. Jeremiah, Evan, and I were screened. While on the cancer outlook, things look great, on the virus front, as we suspected, things do not.

Evan, as I could tell from the fact that he has basically not even moved off the couch or opened his eyes in the past 5 days or so, is definitely dealing with the worst of the lot. He has (and this is just a VERY partial list):
Norwalk Virus
Tsonga Virus
FSME
Grippe
Influenza
and about 30-35 other ailments on top of that. Even his adrenal glands are affected and failing, and his T-cells are also affected. In other words, he has "it" bad!
He got a treatment with "the machine" while we were there, as well as having to take several different new specific supplements just for "what ails him." On the 4-hour drive home, I had to give him some nasty-tasting stuff every 15 minutes, which he will now take (just!) 1 time per hour for the next 2 days, then 1 time every 2 hours for the following day, and then, finally, some sleep for Mom, as he will only need to take it 3 times per day.

Since we've been home (about 15 minutes now), he's been back on the couch, with a washcloth over his hurting eyes (a sympom of one of those viruses - Norwalk, I think)

Jeremiah and I have pretty much the same thing, though our adrenal glands are t-cells are not affected, which is why we feel so much better than Evan does (though not nearly back to normal!)

Since the FSME is mostly situated in the spinal column and brain, which also contains most of the other viruses (they are mainly in the small and large intestine area, but are also in the aforementioned locations), I am NOT looking forward to Jeremiah getting a spinal tap with intrathecal (shot into the spinal fluid) methotrexate on top of all that at the hospital tomorrow, but that's what he'll be getting anyway. I'm sure we'll have a "fuzzy" week, brain-wise. So much for all the headway we've been making with his phonics and math.

Please pray for Jeremiah's visit tomorrow - for good counts, for his ANC to be acceptable, for the spinal tap and port access to go smoothly and that the Lord would guide the hands of whoever is administering those, as well as for a quick and non-toxic recovery. This will be his next-to-LAST (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
spinal w/methotrexate, and to say I am thrilled is an understatement!

Pray for Evan also, for a speedy recovery, and that one of his sisters will remember to administer the once-per-hour remedy that he has to take all day tomorrow, as I will be with Jeremiah and Keith at the hospital from about 6 AM to 6 PM or later. And pray for me, as I MUST be there for my boy tomorrow, as Dad cannot bear to stay in the room for a spinal tap, though I am not feeling up to par either. Today was a long day (we left at 6 AM and got back around 5 PM), and I am really not up to doing it again tomorrow - but I have no choice.

Thanks for dropping by to check on us - please sign the guestbook and let us know you stopped to visit.

Saturday, February 16, 2008 10:16 AM CST

HAPPY 10TH BIRTHDAY, LUKE!!!

It's hard to believe that Luke was only Jeremiah's current age (6 1/2) when this whole cancer thing started. He's had a rough childhood, watching his little brother suffer and seesaw back and forth between life and death for three years.
It's been rough on him at times, and we've seen the stress manifested in different ways, as only a little boy can express it. But, overall, he's done well.
Happy birthday, buddy! We LOVE you!!!

As I type, know that things are going slightly better today. Evan is still "out of it" in fever and body aches on the couch, as he always seems to get things worst, and they always linger longer in his body. The rest of us are doing a good bit better - THANK YOU for all your prayers on our behalf! Jeremiah did get it, and he did get a fever, but thank the Lord, it did not go above the "magic number" that would require a trip to the hospital.

I have the famous (Aunt Carla's recipe from cousin Addy's birthday party several years ago when she made the "lady bug cake") CHOCOLATE birthday cake in the oven, and am waiting to make the frosting, so I can decorate it. I am also baking home-made cinnamon bread (yes, the same recipe that I broke off my tooth on a week or so ago!), as well as a cake for dessert tomorrow after church. So, things must be improving, as I'm well enough to stand up and BAKE!

Future son-in-law, Jake's older sister, Randi Beth, is in the hospital giving birth to her first child - we have been waiting since last night, when she went in, to hear that little Mason has arrived, but when I spoke to Jake a few minutes ago, she was still in labor. At least her mom and dad made it there from PA to GA during the night, and will be there for the delivery. I'm SURE that's why Randi Beth saw no hurry to deliver, and was holding on! ;o)

Seriously, please keep her in your prayers - that all would go smoothly, and that all would be well with mother and child. Please keep praying also for Evan to make a speedy recovery, and for Kiley and Keith to continued to be spared, as they still have not gotten what the rest of us had. Pray also for Kiley to have safe travel back from Lancaster, PA, where she went on a church group trip. She called this morning to wish Luke a happy birthday, and told me that when she was checking into the hotel last night, a lady came up to her and said, "Aren't you from Queen Homeschool Supplies?" She had seen Kiley working at our booth at a convention in Maryland last year. Funny!

Please remember also to pray for upcoming medical visits - Jeremiah and I are both going to get screened on Monday, to make sure both of our cancer remains GONE, and Jeremiah goes to the hospital on Tuesday for a spinal tap and spinal administration of methotrexate, as well as vincristine. He will also begin another round of steroids on that day. Please pray for good counts and NO BLASTS!!! One concern is that, while he was sick, he threw up his 6MP, which may affect his ANC count, and make it higher than the doctors want it to be. Pray that if it does, they will understand WHY it is higher, and not increase his chemo to lower it. He is already on double-dose chemo for his size.

Thanks for stopping by to check on our little one.

Please continue to pray for all the other kids out there fighting:
Emily
Jackie
Hunter
Ethan
Luke
MIckey
Dylan
Jay
Sam
Sophia

Thursday, February 14, 2008 10:25 PM CST

Please keep praying fervently. All but Keith and Kiley have "the sickness" now, so I guess they are next. All three of the boys, including Jeremiah, have been vomiting and experiencing body aches all day (Luke for 3 days now.)

Casey, Haley, and I did not have the vomiting, just sharp stomach pains, body aches, extreme fatigue, and nausea - and a fever.

So far, Jeremiah has no fever. But, if he gets one, you know where we are off to - the Children's E.R., 2 1/2 hours away, for cultures!

PLEASE pray he does NOT get a fever, and that this passes soon.

I know I sound impatient. It's because I am.

;o)

Really, it's hard enough with one sick. But with six of us sick, and two more to go, and one of the sick a child with cancer who has to take a 2 1/2 hour middle-of-the-night drive to the ER for cultures and probable hospital admission for every fever, my patience is wearing thin. Especially when I am among the sick - though still having to play the "supermom" role of taking care of everyone else who is sick.

Please PRAY!!!

Tuesday, February 12, 2008 7:26 PM

This will be a brief update, as I have been in bed since about 10 AM with body aches and a stomach ache. I tried to update this morning, but the whole thing was lost - blah!

Last night, while brushing his teeth before bed, Jeremiah's tooth came out! He came running out of the bathroom, announcing to everybody, "My tooth is out! My tooth is out! I was brushing it, and suddenly, it was OUT! It was AMAZING!!!"

Needless to say, he was a bit excited. :o)

I was ready for him - I had bought a new Curious George book for him while I was in town the other day refilling his methotrexate. You see, each time one of our kids loses a tooth, they are allowed to go to our warehouse and choose any book they like. The problem is, by the time Jeremiah's first tooth fell out, being child #6, we already own a copy of every book in our warehouse!

Thankfully, after searching in three stores, I was finally able to find ONE decent kids' book that we did not already own - "Curious George and the Firemen." Don't know what I"ll do when the next tooth falls out!

Thanks for praying for Keith and Evan's safety. They are back home from their missions trip to SC. There was a mix-up, and it wasn't discovered until AFTER they had made the 18-hour round trip drive to help build a house for a missionary who was injured. They were suppoed to do the drywall, but when they got there, they found the other volunteers were behind schedule, and they will not be ready for the drywall to go up for another few weeks.

Please keep our family in your prayers. First, for Jeremiah's hospital visit next Tuesday, complete wih spinal tap and intrathecal methotrexate, vicristine, and starting another round of steroids that day. Pray that there ar NO BLASTS in his blood or spinal fluid, and that he tolerates the chemo and the anesthesia well this time around. This will be his NEXT TO THE LAST spinal tap!!!!! Yippee!!!!

Pray also for a speedy recovery for Luke, Haley, Casey, and me, as we all feel like we have been hit by a tractor-trailer truck. I got up this morning, read my Bible, got dressed, made the bed, and then went back in and laid down on it. Luke came in and laid beside me, and the two of us have been there until about ten minutes ago. Casey has been on the loveseat, and Haley, bless her heart (I was so 'out of sorts,' I did not even realize she was sick also) made chicken enchiladas for the few healthy ones, and went to bed. Please pray for a speedy recovery, and also that the others do NOT get it - especially Jeremiah.

Pray also for our good friend, Jim McDonald. Jim and his wife, Christy, have had their share of problems lately, as I've asked for prayer for their family in the past. They are the ones whose young daughter was widowed when her husband was killed in an accident right after their second baby was born. Another daughter has also been suffering with major health problems. Despite all this, Jim and Christy have continued to send $100 each and every month towards Jeremiah's $3,000.00 per month out of pocket medical expenses, and, even more importantly, to send notes telling that they are praying for him, and for me when I was diagnosed with cancer last September. Need I say these folks are precious to us?

Jim is now dealing with some health issues of his own, and is making the rounds to different specialists to find out what is wrong. Please pray that the Lord will lead him to the doctor who will be able to help, and for the entire family.

And, remember to pray for all the other little ones fighting leukemia:
Sofia
Emily
Joshua
Jackie
Mickey
Dylan

And don't leave without signing the guestbook!
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Friday, February 8, 2008 8:16 PM CST

It's so nice to be able to add something NORMAL this evening...

Jeremiah has his first LOOSE TOOTH!!!

Just the other day, I was wondering if something was wrong (haha - you cancer moms know what I mean - I'm ALWAYS wondering if something is wrong!), because he is six years and four months old, and he has not had a loose tooth yet. Of course, our nephew, Adam, is months younger than Jeremiah, and has already had teeth fall out. So, then I start to think...what if all that toxic chemo did something to his secondary teeth, and they are messed up? Or, what if whatever it was that caused his genes to develop cancer in the first place were messed up enough to not even let him have any secondary teeth under those little baby teeth? Oh, the thoughts that run through a mom's head when her baby has been loaded with poisons on purpose for three years!

But, I'm happy to say, he must have some "big" teeth in that little mouth somewhere, because SOMETHING is pushing those baby teeth up and out!

Today, I went to refill Jeremiah's methotrexate.
Since I have no choice in the matter of whether or not to administer this stuff, I usually do not look at all the warnings and side effects that accompany each refill. But today, I did. There it is again - the list I have been trying to hide from each time I refill it. "Extremely toxic, may cause death, may cause fatal reactions, liver toxicity, etc. etc. etc." Now I remember why I stopped reading those papers! Anyway, I was glad as I was refilling it, thinking that I will probably not have to ask again at the hospital for a refill. The current prescription will last for 3 more refills. That should do it - Jeremiah should be DONE with chemo treatment by the time I get it filled the last time! Woohoo! That revelation made my day - even after my day started at 8:10 AM (I was ten minutes late because I got stuck behind a schoolbus - being a homeschooling mom, I forgot those things run early every morning!) in the dentist chair getting shot with novacaine. After the first 3 shots failed to fully numb my tooth, the dentist gave me a few more. I felt as though I had had about ten cups of coffee - it made me so jumpy! Soon, I was in "numby-land" while the dentist sanded half of my tooth away to install a temporary crown on top of a tooth from which a large filling had broken off. Next came the temporary crown, and the admonishment that I was not to eat anything crunchy, chewy, etc. for the next 4 weeks, until I get my permanent crown installed.

So, after shelling out $300 of the $400 I had brought with me to stop at the grocery store on the way home to pay for my new tooth, I make a quick stop at Rite Aid to refill the methotrexate, and then headed to Giant Eagle for a few things from my list, since my tooth had taken all of the grocery money.

By the time I got home, I was quite hungry, and looked for something soft to eat. As I bit into a slice of homemade cinnamon bread (on the OTHER side of my mouth, and very carefully), I noticed something "crunchy" in my mouth. I knew I had not put nuts in the cinnamon bread, and swallowed it, assuming it was a lump of sucanat or something. It wasn't. My $300 tooth was now in my stomach.

I tried calling the dentist, but they are closed until Monday.

That was the start of my day!

Well, the good news is, there is still some numbness in my jaw from all those shots - so it doesn't hurt too badly. Maybe it will last until next week.
The dentist said to me as I was paying at the counter after the procedure, "I can't believe it took so much novacaine. I might as well just cancel all the rest of my appointments for the rest of the day - I don't have any anesthesia left!" I think he was kidding. But then, he did tell me my face would probably be numb until at least 8 PM - and he WAS right there...

Anyway, all's well that ends well. Jeremiah is doing well. He and his brothers are now obsessed with Star Wars, and he is now "Yoda," or so he tells us.

The new books are coming along nicely. Haley finished today writing her study guide to go along with the book, "All of a Kind Family," as part of our "History Through Living Books" series. It came out very nicely, and is at the printer as we speak. All of the other books are wrapping up nicely, and it's been good to see the fruit of our labors. We've published probably 30 or 40 books over this fall and winter period - whew! No wonder we're ready to have them all done! Our webmaster is getting the new stuff on our website, and it is starting to sell. Yippee! Maybe we'll be able to pay for all those new catalogs we've ordered yet! :o)

Please continue to pray for safety for Keith and Evan as they travel to South Carolina to build a house for a missionary who was injured and had to come off the field. They will be working for several days with Claim Ministries. Pray for safety traveling, working, and riding bicycles on the roads down there, as they are planning on taking their bikes.

Pray also for continued good health. Jeremiah's next clinic appointment for chemo, complete with spinal tap, is on Feb. 19th. It will be his NEXT TO THE LAST SPINAL TAP with methotrexate (there's that drug again - this time squirted into his spinal fluid, like it has been every third spinal tap - every 3 months, that is.) As anxious as I am to be DONE with all of this - and to have Jeremiah off of treatment, I know the realities of what we are fighting. It will be a bit scary to be totally off treatment also. Especially when I see so many other little ones who have finished treatment and then relapsed. Please continue to pray fervently for Jeremiah to remain cancer-free.

Also, please pray for the following young ones who have relapsed:
Emily Lester
Sofia Castro
Jackie

Thanks for your continued prayers. Please leave a note to say "hello" in the guestbook. We always like to see who dropped by, and appreciate your continued encouragement and letting us know you are praying!

Monday, February 4, 2008 10:39 AM CST

Things have been going well here lately.
Jeremiah is doing very well. He was scheduled to go to clinic next Tuesday (Feb. 12) for chemo and a spinal tap, but we had to reschedule for the following Tuesday, Feb. 19th. At this point in the game, everyone is fine with waiting another week.

Luke's 10th birthday is coming up on Feb. 16, and Evan's 13th birthday on Feb. 27 - so, we have actually been considering having a "boy party," since it is usually just Mimi and Pap, Aunt Carla & Uncle Tim and the cousins, and now that the cousins are all in hockey every single Saturday, they are unable to come.
We have never had a "boy party," and after spending the entirety of last Saturday with the boys we would be inviting, as we all took a church bus to Mt. Salem Revival Grounds to volunteer to clean out the dorms, showerhouses, and motels in preparation for the upcoming snow camp there, I am terrified to think of what my house might look like, should we host such a party!

The boys were very helpful that day - they ranged in age from 9 (Luke) to 15. We left the church at 8:30 AM, and arrived back home at 5:30 PM. Their entire day was spent in the muddy creek, digging out rocks and stones by HAND (no shovels, I mean BY HAND), and putting them into a truck to be dumped into the gulleys in the mud roads, so there would be some traction. Talk about a character-building experience! Needless to say, they came home COMPLETELY covered in mud from head to toe. Did I mention that Evan and Luke had both chosen to wear the brand new jackets they had gotten for Christmas gifts? As you can imagine, after cleaning all of the dorms and showerhouses and motels all day, my evening was spent doing laundry. All of their clothes, including their jackets, had to be washed TWICE to make them clean enough to wear again. Of course, the boys were still full of energy from all that cold water in the creek, I guess, because the entire bus ride home found them laughing, yelling, wrestling, and doing "boy stuff" (trying to HURT each other, basically!) the entire way home. Can you see why I am scared to death to host a "boy party???" :oD

The boys are thinking of what fun it might be to have ten boys or so over to shoot at each other with paintball guns (that's what Evan and Luke "MIGHT" be getting for their birthdays) or Airsoft guns, and ride dirtbikes all through the woods, then come running into the house and track mud everywhere, and of course wrestle each other all over the living room just to make sure that every boy goes home with the required bumps and bruises all over them.

I am thinking of the same thing - only not quite as enthusiastically!

On another note, my dad's PET scan came back clear - NO CANCER!!!
We are thrilled with those results, and are hoping they are a family trend.

Please continue to pray for NO CANCER, a clear spinal tap, good counts, and such for Jeremiah, as well as NO CANCER for me.

And pray for us as we gear up for the upcoming book convention season. The new catalog is at the printer. The final price was down to $9,683.00.
I am still wondering how that will be covered, but that was down from the first estimate of over $12,000.00. So, I have found that printers are a bit like flea market vendors - it sometimes pays to haggle. We had been going back and forth between two printers, telling them what the other had quoted, and then the next one would try to do them better. I was hoping eventually it would get down to about $100 (haha!), but hey, at least we saved $3,000!
So, we are excited to be able to send out all of those FREE catalogs (not!) from Queen Homeschool Supplies in a couple of weeks. We have so many new books that are not in the current catalog, and we really want to be able to sell some of them - it won't happen until people can SEE them!

Pray for us as we ready the last few books for publication - we have about ten more titles to go, including a couple that are still in the process of being written, and need to be finished, back from the printer, and in stock before the new catalog comes in. Not to put the pressure on us! In this, our slow season for business, we are sometimes more stressed out than during our hectic, busy season - as we have all of those publishing deadlines to meet!
But, it is a fun time too, to see each of our new books come in from the printer, and get to see them in real "book form," rather than just on a computer screen. It's that whole creative process, finalized at long last!

Please remember to pray for Keith and Evan, who will be taking a missions trip with BIMI, to build a house for a missionary who was hit with a run-away truck tire while walking down the road, and is now unable to go back to the field. Pray for safe travel, safety working, and safe bike riding. Since they are going to a warm weather zone, they will be taking their road bicycles along for some winter riding. Pray they will find some BACK ROADS to ride on!

And also, remember our little friends who are also fighting leukemia:
Emily Lester
Sofia Castro
Hunter
Ethan
Jay
Logan

Please stop the guestbook to say "hello" before you leave!

Wednesday, January 30, 2008 4:02 PM CST

Jeremiah is doing well right now.
There is a fundraiser in progress - a Christian concert.
It will be held on April 5th (Saturday) at 6:30 PM at the Waynesburg High School in Waynesburg, PA. I'm not sure yet what the tickets will cost. The main singer will be Jonathan White (jonathanwhitemusic.com)

That's all I know. This is being put together by the Greene County CMA, whom we appreciate very much.

My main reason for updating today is to ask for prayer for yet another child who has relapsed with leukemia. Emily Lester is 18 years old, and has been battling A.L.L. for 6 years now. She had survived her first relapse thanks to a bone marrow transplant from her sister, Catherine. But, just a few days ago, after being flown to St. Jude for a massive infection from a ruptured abcess, it was found that Emily has relapsed yet again. Emily had been doing well, and had just been accepted at Duke university, having her whole life to look forward to.
Needless to say, her family is devastated, as are the rest of us whose children are fighting the same battle. We know how easily it could be us facing this same thing.

Please pray for Emily, and stop by to encourage her in her guestbook at:
http://www.caringbridge.org/fl/emilylester

She is really struggling right now.

Thanks for praying for this young girl - and please continue to remember Jeremiah as well.

Friday, January 25, 2008 12:32 AM

Thanks for the prayers and the encouragement. I am feeling less discouraged today. This morning (OK, this would be Thursday morning I'm talking about, since it is 12:33 AM as I type this, but it is still Thursday to me!), as I read Proverbs 24, I was hit by this verse, "If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small." (Proverbs 24:10)

This prompted me to do a word study on "strength," which led me to Isaiah 12:2: "Behold, God is my salvation: I will trust and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH IS MY STRENGTH and my song: He also is become my salvation." (emphasis mine)

Afterwards, as I turned to finish reading the book of Ephesians, which I was due to finish today, I read this verse, which jumped out at me: "Finally, my brethren, BE STRONG IN THE LORD, and in the power of HIS might." (Ephesians 6:10)

God never ceases to amaze me with HIs Word. It is always JUST what I need, JUST when I need it.
Isn't He good, to take care of us this way???

Amazing!

Please keep up the prayers - we always appreciate them. And all of the kind, thoughtful, prayerful emails I have received (as well as guestbook entries) have been encouraging as well.

Thank you all for standing with us through every facet of this trial.
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Tuesday, January 22, 2008 10:38 AM CST

Just a plea for prayer to push away discouragement.
I am so SICK and TIRED of spending hours each day dosing meds, activating and dispensing homeopathics, dividing cups of pills, fighting to administer pill after pill, trying to coerce someone into taking nasty-tasting stuff, etc. Not to even mention taking LOTS of nasty-tasting stuff for my own treatment, including 3 times the amount of pills he takes. I have been doing this for 3 years now, and there is no end in sight. After Jeremiah finishes treatment, he will still need all of the supportive measures for who knows how long.
So, as I forced myself to crawl out of bed this morning in total discouragement to do it all once again, I am having a major pity party. And this after I just wrote out a nice, long note to a friend about dealing with adversity and not letting satan steal your JOY!

Really, though, it is tiresome. As a homeschooling mom of 4, running a publishing company in the most hectic part of the season - the time when we are trying to get the catalog and all of our new titles done without a whole lot of money coming in (just got a $12,000 estimate for printing the catalogs this morning, which doesn't help!), and trying to keep up with everything else, it has been quite discouraging lately. Being snowed in is just the icing on the cake, as the snow continues to pour down outside the windows.

Thanks for letting me blow off some much-needed steam. :o)

Know that I am not totally discouraged - I am still praising the Lord for how well Jeremiah is doing - and that is the catalyst that keeps me moving forward each day, continuing with the carrot juicing (which involves tearing apart the juicer, washing all of the parts, and putting it back together after each use), and all the pills and remedies and such. To know how it all has helped him makes it all worthwhile. It is just the flesh getting weak in dealing with all of it.

Did I mention that Jeremiah now has only 5 MONTHS of treatment left???!!! Yippee! So, there IS something to smile about after all!

I know that you will pray, and I thank you in advance. Please don't stop lifting us up just because we are 3 years into this. This is when the going gets tough, as we start to lose our momentum. Please pray for a good, strong kick of encouragement in the skirt for me to get over this hurdle, buck up, and take up this cross and move forward with new resolve.
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Monday, January 21, 2008 8:45 AM CST

Not a whole lot to report here. Jeremiah is doing well, though Haley and Keith spent yesterday in bed. Both had sore throats, and Haley was also throwing up. Keith at least made it to church yesterday morning, but as soon as we came home, he crashed onto the bed, rolled himself in all the blankets, and we saw neither hide nor hair of him until about 10 PM.

Today, Keith is up cutting firewood (it's SO cold here in PA...brrrrr!), and Haley was just in the kitchen eating a bowl of cereal. So, things are looking up! Please pray that the rest of us don't get whatever they had yesterday - especially Jeremiah.

Speaking of the little guy, since he still sleeps smack-dab in between Keith and me, I get front row seats to all of his late-night antics. He is tough to get to sleep, due to his chronically low taurine levels (but getting better, as taurine has been added to his custom amino acid formula, praise the Lord!), but once he's out, he's like lead. You can't wake him for anything.

Well, last night, he suddenly shot up into a sitting position. Usually this means he has to go to the bathroom; but he didn't say anything (When he has to go, I always have to go with him, as he doesn't like the dark house at night.) and eventually laid back down. This happened 4 or 5 times. It was so funny. He would sit up, his head back, mouth open, eyes shut, bobbing back and forth like a pendulum! Finally, I gave him a little shake and asked if he had to go. The hanging head gave a slight nod (I don't think he was even yet awake), and he slid over me, off the bed, and started on his way to the bathroom. Of course, as he got to the doorway, he turned and looked back at me and said, "Are you coming, Mom?" So, I left my toasty nest to follow him and take my usual place of waiting on the piano bench in the living room so I could chaperone him to the bathroom door and back to bed.

Thanks to those who prayed for my unspoken request last week. Here's what you were praying for:

Our future son-in-law, Travis (like our other future son-in-law, Jake), is a great guy. He just had his 20th birthday Saturday, but his mom had to work that day (he lives with his mom), and he was doomed to spend the day all alone. Travis is a very sweet young man, as you have heard before, and a very important member of our church. He is a teacher and leader for the youth, sometimes runs the sound booth, runs on the bus route, comes to soulwinning class, is in the choir, sings as a soloist, etc. etc. etc. I could go on and on. So, we wanted to host a surprise birthday party for him on his birthday, inviting the pastor and assistant pastor and their families, as well as some other church friends. But, we were having trouble working out all the details and keeping Travis surprised. He and Kiley are both part of the church's bus ministry, and both attend Saturday morning bus route visitation. Often, they will spend Saturday together at Travis' house, if his mom is off work, or over here - which Travis certainly wanted to do for his birthday! But, instead, Kiley had to try to dissuade him in coming over before six o'clock. He was not too thrilled about this, especially since he had given up playing basketball (Travis also plays basketball and chaperones the young boys on Saturday nights) to spend his birthday with Kiley.

Fortunately, he and Kiley are still courting, and don't go out without a chaperone. This was the key, in that she had to tell him that her parents were busy (we sure were! Hiding vehicles around our property so he would not see them when he drove up, making party food, decorating for his birthday, etc.), and that he could not come until six. Everyone else was coming at 5:30.

Well, it all went off as planned, and Travis was indeed surprised. I could not post the details before then, as he sometimes reads this site, and I did not want to give it away in advance. But, it went very well. Casey and Jake made the birthday cake, and it was very nice.

We much appreciate your continued checking on us, and remembering us. Thanks to Aunt Louise for the Superman stickerbook and Cars stickers - both were a huge hit - you should have seen Jeremiah's face light up - twice! - when he peeked inside the envelope!

Please continue to pray for all the little details of the many prayer needs we continue to have for health, as well as for business. Our first "Pictures in Cursive" writing program book is starting to sell, and the first of them are expected in from the printer today. The second book was sent to the printer (via email) last night, and is already up for sale on our website. And, the girls are working diligently on the volumes they are writing. There will be six volumes in this series, and we hope to have them all done by the time the new catalog comes back from the printer - in a couple of weeks. Of course, we have about ten other books that need to be finished by then also - some that are still being written, some that just need edited and illustrations scanned in - but it all takes time, and there's only us to do it all. In between homeschooling everybody! So, please pray for the time - as well as the finances - to get it all done.

Thanks again for stopping by - please continue to pray also for Sophia Castro, who has leukemia also, and is not doing well.
www.caringbridge.org/visit/sofiacastro. She is 3 years old, and only child, and has relapsed for the second time, this time her relapse is thought to be CAUSED by her donor's marrow. There is nothing else that can be done medically for Sophia - but we know a Physician greater than those here on earth Who can choose to heal her here on earth if it is His will. Please pray to that effect!

Don't forget to sign the guestbook while you are here! We are always blessed by the encouragement.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008 8:49 PM CST

There's an old song that I did a dance routine to back in my ballerina days. It's called, "Pass Me By." Well, that's what the chickenpox did at our house!
Last Sunday marked day 21 from exposure. We are so thankful that the Lord kept the chickenpox AWAY from both Jeremiah, as well as his little friend, Elijah, both of whom cannot afford to get the pox. Thank you all for praying so fervently for these two little boys - your prayers, like God promised, availed much!

Today's clinic appointment went well. Thanks to those who prayed.
Jeremiah's counts were, as Dr. Terzak said, "His slide looked like a perfect textbook photo of what healthy blood should look like." Sounds good to me!
His ANC was over 2,700, which was a little high, but they are not concerned unless it is over 2000 for 3 months in a row. And, like she said, he is already on almost twice as much chemo as other kids his size, and his ANC has been high for the last year, pretty much. So, she thinks he may just have one of those super-duper immune systems! Great news to me again, praise the Lord!

As Jeremiah was being weighed in and measured, blood pressure checked, etc., I heard Dr. Terzak out in the hallway talking to another doctor. She was telling the other doctor that this was the infamous "Jeremiah Queen," and that he had "about six months left in treatment." I couldn't help but correct her with, "Actually, he only has 5 months and 4 days left...not that I'm counting." We both agreed that time has flown by - and not necessarily in a bad way, as Jeremiah nears the end of treatment. After 3 years, it's hard to imagine the end being just "around the corner." Dr. Terzak even talked about what "after-treatment life" would be like. Jeremiah will still go in once per month for the first 3 months off treatment, and then he will have his port taken OUT!!! She even asked him if he would like to keep it in a jar, or have them dispose of it. Still undecided, we talked about this the rest of the day, and Jeremiah decided (though things may change by then) that he would like to bring it home and BURN IT!!! So, I guess that's what we will do.

After those first 3 months of monthly visits, the frequency will decrease, though I'm not sure how often he will need to go. We didn't get that far into the conversation, as Jeremiah was given by the nurse who does weigh-ins, instead of the usual sticker, a stretchy, slimy, gummy-type FOOT that he was whipping all around the room, sticking on the window, his dad's face, the nurse's glasses, etc., and the conversation was quickly switched (by Dad) to "Jeremiah, give me the foot - NOW!)

After the clinic visit, we left on a very slooowwww elevator, and while we waited in the lobby eating popcorn while Dad went to get the vehicle, Haley remembered that she had left the dvd she had brought from home up in the clinic playroom. Since it was one she had just gotten for Christmas, she and Luke hiked back to the 4th floor to retrieve it. When they were not back in about 15 minutes, I began to get concerned, and Jerremiah, Evan, and I began walking in the direction of the elevator to see if they had gotten stuck inside (this happens all the time at Children's Hospital - good hospital, bad elevators!) Suddenly, I spied through the crowd surrounding the elevators, Haley's searching face. Seems the elevator was having problems, and they had to get off 2 floors early, and take an alternate elevator. They had gotten lost, but eventually found their way back. Though we have been to Children's probably hundreds of times in the past 3 years, and have even called it "home" for short periods, it is still an easy place to get lost!

I had my phone call this morning to discuss the results of Jeremiah's latest plasma analysis. Almost all of his amino acids are looking very good, and the ones that aren't quite up to snuff will be increased in his custom amino acid formula in the next batch. I also got yet ANOTHER mandate to increase the fats in his diet - a bit hard, when he eats so little. He already takes 10 super-sized flax seed capsules each day, so I hate to increase those (since he takes so many other pills also.) Pray that he will not see the additional butter, olive oil, and cheese I try to sneak into his food!

Please pray also for an unspoken request that I have. I cannot share what it is right now, but will let you know soon. I'll just say that we are trying to get something done, but there is a glitch, and we need things to go smoothly. God knows what it is, so please pray if you will. I will share more next week.

Also, if you would pray that the Lord will meet our business financial needs. It's time to print our new catalog, as well as MANY new books. But the checkbook doesn't seem to want to cooperate! This is our slow time of year for business, but also the time for the biggest cash outlays. We go through this every year at this time (for 15 years now), so it is always expected, but always a source of stress also.

Thanks for checking in on us. We appreciate your faithfulness!

Friday, January 11, 2008 7:37 PM CST

As I was searching for a new photo to grace the top of the page with, I came across this photo of Jeremiah wearing his "Relay for Life Cancer Survivor" shirt. I had not seen it before, as one of the girls had taken it. But I couldn't resist putting it on his site. Of course, I had to add the superhero one also, so you could see those eyes. To me, this little montage captures the essence of Jeremiah - a survivor, and a superhero, all in one!

What a sweet little guy he is. Every time I go shopping, my shopping buddy is with me (usually at least a few shopping buddies, but sometimes, when it is just a quick run to the little general store for some noodles, as it was today, nobody else wants to be bothered, but Jeremiah ALWAYS wants to go everywhere I go!)
Today, we ran to get some noodles for the chicken noodle soup Haley and Luke were making for dinner. Jeremiah looked me in absolute shock as we were checking out, and kept mouthing something to me that I could not understand. When we got outside, he was more verbal.

"Mom! You didn't give that lady a tract! Why didn't you give her a tract?"
(He knows I give gospel tracts - usually the one with his face on the front, that says, "Why Would a Good God Let a Little Boy Get Cancer?" to everyone I meet, and ALWAYS give them to the cashier. But today, I left the house quickly, and forgot that I had run out of tracts the last time we went shopping, and had neglected to restock. I won't make that mistake again!

Jeremiah is doing well - still no sign of chickenpox, though we have 2 more days until we are in the clear. Keep praying!
Pray also for Tuesday's hospital visit - that all would go smoothly, and that all results will be good news.

I want to leave tonight by sharing a neat story with you of something that happened to me today.

2 days ago, I went to the grocery store (with Jeremiah and Luke) and bought, among other things, 2 bags of potatoes. Yesterday for dinner, Casey and Evan used BOTH entire bags!!! I was disappointed, as the grocery store is over half an hour away in each direction, and I had planned for those potatoes to last for at least a week or so! And so, I wrote, "potatoes" at the top of my new grocery list.

This morning, I got a phone call from my pastor's wife, and here's what she said,
"Miss Sandi, I was just wondering if you all (cute little blend of Louisiana/West Virginia accent here) could use any POTATOES?"

My answer was a dumbfounded, "YES!"

Seems somebody had donated 15 bags (50 pounds each) of potatoes to the church for whoever wanted them. So, tomorrow, when I go down to drop Haley off for her discipleship class, there will be 100 pounds of potatoes waiting for me from my Jehovah Jireh. Isn't God good???!!!

Thanks to all who care enough to continue to check on us. Please don't forget to sign the guestbook and let us know you dropped by!

Wednesday, January 9, 2008 3:22 PM CST

Due to the responses in the guestbook from folks wondering how Jeremiah is doing, I guess it's time for an update!

Things have been busy around here, just it has been a good kind of busy. We have been readying many, many new books for publication - several new series, as well as fleshing out and beginning yet ANOTHER new series that I have been wanting to write for 3 years now. Finally took the plunge, and started that last night. I am already past deadline for our new catalog, but I know I have a bit of time left, as I am waiting for one of our illustrators to finish a drawing for the cover of one of the new books that has to be in the catalog. So I figured...hey, now's the time to write that 4-book series to round out my other language arts series. Why not?

Jeremiah is doing well. No chickenpox yet for either him or his little friend, Elijah. Keep up the prayers! This Sunday will be day 21, so we are still not in the clear.

After yet another late night of writing into the wee hours last night (the new series), I was awakened in the wee morning hours, while it was still dark, by Luke (age 9), who had such a terrible headache that he was in tears. As I went to the kitchen with him to give him some tylenol (a rare occurance in our house!), he grabbed a bowl from the cupboard, announcing that he thought he was going to throw up. Well, now I was in a quandry, as I noticed that we had only ONE dose of tylenol left, and if I gave it to him and he threw it up, there would be no relief for the headache. Luckily, he did not throw up, but as he sat there with his head lying on the kitchen table as I looked through my homeopathy books to see which remedy to give him for the type of headace (and nausea) he had, he soon fell asleep. After a few minutes, I narrowed the correct remedy down to Nux Vomica, and woke him to give him some. About that time, he tried to stand up to make it back to bed, when his legs started to shake uncontrollably. No fever...just a headache, nausea, and non-stop shaking legs. Weird. I carried him to my bedroom and laid him on his sleeping bag on the floor next to my side of the bed, where he promptly fell back asleep. This morning, he was feeling fine, and last night's events were just a distant memory that left me once again feeling tired from lack of sleep. I'm glad the Lord answered my late-night prayer for healing for Luke.

So, we appreciate your continued prayers. Next Tuesday is Jeremiah's clinic visit. "Just" a chemo (vincristine) day. And he will start steroids again.
Pray for clear samples, good counts, no blasts, and no side effects.

Thanks for the continued prayers - and thanks to the ladies from Pursley Baptist Church for your donation to Jeremiah's fund. Much appreciated during these sparse months.

Wednesday, January 2, 2008 5:03 PM

Thank you to those who prayed. We made it to the hospital today safely. The rest was a mixed bag, as once there, they could not easily access Jeremiah's little veins, and had a hard time getting blood. They would get the needle in fine, but then be fishing around inside his arm for the vein. Ouch!
After some major fishing with no success, the nurse finally pulled it out and started all over. Lots of silent tears from the little guy were falling onto the lap bar of the chair. I could see them falling, even though he was on my lap. But, he did not make a sound. Luke, who stood across from him watching the whole ordeal, was quite impressed by his little brother's bravery, as he had not witnessed Jeremiah getting poked for almost 3 years, and had forgotten what his little brother goes through on a regular basis.

On the way out the door, Jeremiah turned to me and said, "I don't like this place." (the hospital)

When we arrived back at home, there was a message from Children's with Jeremiah's counts, which were:
White Blood Cells: 6.7
ANC 4474
Hemoglobin 12.8
Platelets 378,000

Of course, my heart jumped when I heard how high his ANC count was, expecting it to be in the 1,200 to 1,800 range, where it is supposed to be. I called Children's to speak with someone, only to get a machine, as usual. But soon after, Whitney (nurse practitioner) called me back and reassured my fears that last week, his ANC was over 8,000 when we had him in the ER (see below.) So, even though it is still high, it is moving in the right direction.

I did tell her that he had been exposed to chickenpox 11 days ago, and we were just sitting here biding our time, waiting for him to break out. She said if he does, he needs to come in to Children's immediately for treatment. No regular kid-stuff like oatmeal baths and calamine lotion when there is immunosuppression involved. I'm not sure what they will do, but she said, "He will be TREATED here, so bring him in IMMEDIATELY if he breaks out."

Sounds like a matter of urgent prayer to me!
Please continue to pray that if the pox hits, it will be a mild case. Of course, she did add that this would be the ideal time for them TO hit, since his ANC is "through the roof," as she put it. The ANC, of course, is an immune system marker that kicks in whenever there is something the body is fighting off - whether it be a virus, bacteria, or something like cancer.

Thanks for checking in!
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Tuesday, January 1, 2008 11:48 PM CST

I figured I'd better update while it's still January 1st (though barely!), so that I could officially say, "Happy New Year!"

We have had a lovely holiday season, even though Jeremiah was in the hospital the day after Christmas. Last year was a rough holiday for various reasons, and I almost dreaded the approaching holidays this year with trepidation in my heart.

But the Lord was good, and did not let me down, as usual. I had prayed so fervently that this year, the Christmas and New Year's holidays would be a time of joy, refreshing, and renewal, rather than a repeat of the plagues of last year's trials. And they were.

We spent Christmas Eve, as always, at MImi and Pap's house, 2 hours away, along with the Morrison clan (my sister, Carla, brother-in-law, Tim, and their kids, Jake, Claire, and Adam) and our two future sons-in-law, Jake and Travis. The next day, Christmas day, we had our usual morning festivities, including pancakes with candles for Jesus' birthday celebration. Then, Casey and Kiley each left around noon to spend the day at Jake's and Travis' house with their families (guess I have to share my older kids now.) The rest of us had a relaxing, refreshing time sitting around the house, listening to Christmas CD's, playing guitars, checking out some new games, and even watching a Star Wars DVD that Evan got for Christmas (I have never seen them before, but I can assure you, now that I have, I don't think I was missing anything!!! But the boys liked it.) Later, I made a batch of chowder, which we all enjoyed. Then the older girls came home, and we spent the rest of the evening together.

Of course, later that evening, actually around 4 AM, I awoke to find that Jeremiah had a fever, and we therefore ended up in the hospital for several hours, conference-calling between Children's and our local hospital over how to care for Jeremiah. Children's was not happy with the local hospital's treatment, and even called me the next day to ask me how things ended up, as the doctor from the local hospital never called them back to tell them what was their final course of treatment. I guess they were wanting to avoid further confrontation. But, thankfully, even though the local hospital could not get his port to work for a culture, Jeremiah's fever broke that night, and his cough began to lessen a bit. So, it appears the fever was not caused by a line infection, but by whatever was ailing his bronchials. So, after a port access to no avail, a traumatic blood draw from the arm with no numbing cream, an x-ray and intramuscular shot of antibiotics that were given against our better judgement, we were on our way back home a few hours later, where Jeremiah proceeded to sleep the rest of the evening away.

As he improved, we were able to continue to enjoy our holiday season with an early New Year's get together at church Sunday night, where Jake joined us (Travis attends our church, while Jake attends Trinity Baptist, an hour away, so only gets to come with us occasionally.)

Last night, we hosted a lively New Year's party with friends from church, and had a fun evening of food, games, singing, and fellowship with many who are near and dear to us. There were many others who were invited and missed, because of another illness going around our church. Hopefully next year, they will be able to join us also.

After the guests left, I stayed up until 4:30 AM, making twiced baked potatoes to take to Mimi and Pap's house today, for a New Year's Day get-together with family (Jake and Travis in tow again), where we played Apples to Apples and Travis' new electronic Monopoly, ate some of Mimi's good cooking, including wiping out the remnants of her Christmas cookie hoard, and watched the cousins wrestle each other on the living room floor (Jeremiah and Adam included!)

Then, Jake and Casey, Travis and Kiley left to go to see the Christmas light display at Overly's, in Greensburg, where we used to go every year. We left for the long ride home about an hour later, and on the way, it began to SNOW! Always a mom, I wished that Kiley, who was driving her car with the two courting couples in it, had had time to get her new snow tires put on, knowing she had an almost 3 hour drive home from their destination. But, again, the Lord was good, and answered my prayers for safety. They dropped Jake off on their way home, and made it safely, though it took them an hour longer than expected due to the snow, home with Travis, who still had an hour to drive home from our house. Finally, Travis called to let us know he had made it home safely.

So now, like a mother bird, I am secure to go to bed, knowing that all of "my little birdies" are back in the nest safely.

A good week - truly. The Lord has been so faithful to deliver us from sickness, turmoil, and strife, and allow us to fully concentrate on the true meaning of this season - the birth of His Son, Jesus Christ, who came to earth as a little baby in a humble stable for the sole purpose of dying on the cross to redeem us from our sins, that we might live forever with Him in Heaven.

It's not about the gifts under the tree, or the lack thereof. It's about the Gift that God gave to us in His Son, and His provision for our souls for eternity. Unlike most gifts, His gift is FREE! To receive it, all we have to do is ask.

I pray that the Lord will use the truth of this season to reach hearts for His kindgom.

Please continue to pray for Jeremiah. He does still have a bit of the cough, but most importantly, today is day 10 as far as exposure to chickenpox. He was exposed 10 days ago. The incubation period is 10 to 21 days, so we will know within the next 11 days whether or not he is going to get them. Please pray that if he does, it will be a mild case. And please remember also to pray for little Elijah, our pastor's son, who also was exposed, and has health issues that make a case of chickenpox life-threatening to him.

Also pray for Jeremiah tomorrow (Wednesday), as I have to take him to the local hospital again to have his arm poked for blood counts. Pray that the doctors will get the results they are looking for as far as his ANC, especially. It was elevated again on last Wednesday's visit - most likely because he was sick at the time, but they want to be sure it's not a relapse. Of course, it goes without saying that we need you to pray for NO RELAPSE!!!

And, we invite you to praise the Lord with us that this month (actually the end of this month, but I've never been one to wait to give praise for a blessing!) marks the 5 month left point in treatment. Not that we are anxious for this phase of life to be over, or anything. ;o)

Please pray for clear roads to the hospital and back tomorrow also. Always a major concern out here in dirt-roadsville, where there is no road crew to take care of snow removal.

We wish you all a happy, blessed, healthy, prosperous new year!
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