I just wanted to pop into your inbox and give you an update on our Dempsey boy.
HE IS DOING GREAT!
We praise God every day, every moment really, for the smooth journey Dempsey is having through leukemia treatment. We know the Lord has shown us immense favor and we believe it is because of your prayers and our willingness to be obedient to Him even in the darkest moments. I am personally amazed at the miracles we are experiencing along this journey, all the positively answered prayers, all the generous support we've received.
Dempsey is still without any real negative side effect of treatment- that is a MIRACLE if ever there was one! There is no logical reason for him to not have had a negative side effect when his little body is being bombarded with toxic substances. Yet, the Lord is faithful to answer your prayers and answer them he did!
Dempsey started to develop a tic- manifested in hard blinking. This is a common thing for leukemia patients because of the many lumbar punctures they receive (needle in their spine to inject chemo into their cerebral spinal fluid). Our little boy has had no less than NINE of these procedures, so it's no wonder he developed this tic. What did we do about it? Knowing that omega 3s are neuro-protective we added a third Salmon Oil Plus capsule to his daily supplement regimen. It's been about a month of doing that and the tic has lessened immensely. So, we will continue with three Salmon Oil Plus capsules in his regimen because that seems to be the amount of oil his little body needs right now in order to help it address the toxic drug-induced tic. We praise God for the provision of the supplements to help our boy... there is no way he could consume enough raw material to cover the need of those nutrients.
Dempsey also developed a mouth sore. This is something the nurses/ docs told us we would be coming back to the hospital for because it would indicate a case of mucositis. We assessed the situation and found no other symptoms beyond the single sore in his mouth. So, we moved forward with a natural remedy using a mouthful of water and 1 drop each melaleuca and lavender essential oils. Dempsey would swish for 30 seconds and then spit. This was done 2x a day for 14 days. By day 8 or 9 the sore was gone but we continued until day 14 just to be sure and to give his little body the added support. No other sores to date. Still no symptoms of a greater problem. No drugs required!
Dempsey hit a milestone a few days ago- riding his bike with no training wheels!!! This has been just the most awesomest thing. Granted, he's still decked out with not only his helmet but also elbow pads, knee pads, and gloves. It's quite the ensemble. We give praise to God for all the normal things Dempsey gets to do. This is not the reality for so many cancer kiddos.
Dempsey is in the phase of treatment called Maintenance. It is the longest phase and also the phase with the least amount of change. The cycle is full of repeated "cycles". Each cycle is 3 months in length. Month 1 & 2: daily mercaptopurine pill, extra methotrexate pills on Tuesdays, lumbar puncture w/ injected methotrexate, 5 days of steroids; Month 3: daily mercaptopurine pill, extra methotrexate pills on Tuesdays, no lumbar puncture, 5 days of steroids, vincristine infusion. It is astonishing to think that this is touted as the "easiest" phase. True, you find a rhythm and there are no more big procedures or any introductions of new medications. But this is a wickedly long phase (for boys especially). To date, Dempsey still has 781 days of treatment. INSANE! Fortunately, his numbers/ counts/ labs are all great and he is thriving. Praise God!
We have managed an overnight trip to Santa Barbara where we went to the zoo and the beach. Lovely. We have ridden bikes (with training wheels then) along the beach in Huntington Beach from Magnolia down to where the Santa Ana River meets the Pacific Ocean. It's an easy ride that results in time in the ocean- always a great day. We praise God for the opportunity to do that as a family and that Dempsey is always strong enough to make it happen. We visited great grandparents and a Travel Town Museum when Gram visited. We are currently dog sitting and have been out of the house so much- to a field, a playground, just walks around the neighborhood. We have had several playdates at a special playground and hope to have more. I think Dempsey might make it to VBS this summer... we're still discussing that. For sure he will attend Friday School with the co-op we have chosen for next year. We hope that he will be able to form his own friendships with kids his age instead of attaching to Sawyer's friends.
We also have Movie Nights every Saturday, complete with popcorn, and Burger Days every Sunday. We frequent a local cafe called Talia's where Dempsey gets either a hot chocolate (kids temp) or gelato. Precious times like these are what keep us sane and feeling "normal".
A bit about Sawyer: he turned 10 last month- double digits! He finished 4th grade. He decided he's not ready to go to summer camp because it requires him being gone for 5 nights and that is just too long for him. We are hoping to make Legoland happen for him since that 9th birthday plan got shafted because of Dempsey's diagnosis.
A tad about Jake: nothing has changed. Well, maybe a little has changed. See, we have a dog in our house right now, albeit temporary, but still... and he willingly drank some coffee yesterday. Hahaha
A skosh about Coral: not much has changed. Working through the CAHP program to earn the designation Complementary and Alternative Health Practiioner. It deals with more of the homeopathic and alternative therapy modalities. Working to create an organization/ foundation/ group/ ministry/ whatever to focus on providing a central place for leukemic families to find information and resources to walk a smoother treatment journey as they use holistic methods in partnership with modern medicine. Dempsey is the model behind that, obviously.
Well, there you have it. Hope you enjoyed catching up. Blessings upon you and prayers for you. We still need you!
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