Biggest Need

MONEY

It's not glamorous. It's not pretty. It's not fun. It's not creative. It's not ingenious. It's not smart. It's not comical.

It is endearing. It is powerful. It is helpful. It is necessary. It is provision. It is humbling. It is impactful. It is peace-providing.

You have two ways you can give: YouCaring & PayPal

Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Halloween


Halloween... my least favorite day of festivities. Costumes are all well and good... but you know my family and candy- IT'S A BIG FAT NO-NO. So, a day that revolves around asking strangers for candy really brings out the Grinch in me.

However, Beads of Courage is doing a random drawing for 50 winners of a specialty candy corn bead. So, I enetered. I had Dempsey get dressed in my favorite costume of his (the Flash) and show off his Beads of Courage.

He is wearing the only strand of beads we strung. With the large amount of beads he's receiving, the stringing of the beads quickly got away from us. My plan was to string them in the order he earned them... but when he was having MULTIPLE things happen each day it became too daunting for my in-shock brain. So, I've decided to just stick them all in a large jar for the time being. Pinterest has adorable ideas that other Beads of Courage recipients done to display their beads.

I've talked about BOC before. They are one of our favorite organizations within the cancer world.

We hope you enjoyed your Halloween. Remember, you do not have to eat the candy you now have. ;-) We are planning to let the boys pick 2 pieces each and then buy the rest of the candy from them. Our trash will be full of sugar instead of our bodies.

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Every. Single. Day. Twice. || Supplements

Every. Single. Day. Twice.

Each morning begins with a NeoLife Shake. We do various combinations of shake and add-ins.

4 Magic Bullet cups get heavy whipping cream (brain food) and almond milk added. Sometimes cold brew coffee makes an appearance, too.

Then come the powder scoops. 2 per cup.

Team Dempsey's cup gets a grip of supplements added. Each capsule gingerly punctured and the contents squeezed into the protein powder below. 11 capsules in all.

Top it off with add-ins, ice & water and blend. Dempsey's always has an orange hue because of the carotenoids. :-)

The capsule part gets repeated in the evening when we make his smoothie.

We make a batch (set/ 7) of smoothies and freeze them. Those smoothies contain the Aloe Vera Plus, Flavonoid Complex, and Criciferous Plus items. In the morning we pull out a mason jar of smoothie from the freezer and put it in the fridge to thaw. At night, it comes out of the fridge and into a Magic Bullet cup. Supplements get added and the boy eagerly drinks it down.

We are so blessed!!! Can you see why Dempsey is thriving like he is? God is good. We are deeply thankful for the company NeoLife is and the products they produce through years of research, care, and forward-thinking.

Every. Single. Night. || Essential Oils

Every. Single. Night.

It starts with either a detox bath (w/ baking soda, epsom salt, Rosemary & Juniper Berry oils) or a shower.

Once dried off, it's time for oils- doTERRA's essential oils.

I start with some of Bend Soap Company's Unscented lotion in the palm of my hand. I add 3 drops of frankincense and 3 drops of Hawaiian sandalwood.
I rub my hands together and wipe it the whole length of Team Dempsey's legs and arms. Then I massage it in. Y'all, his muscles are the envy of Greek gods.

Then, I take the roller bottle with the Digestive Blend, the Detoxification Blend, and fractionated coconut oil, and roll it around his naval and out over his liver. Take my hand and gently massage it all in.

Next, he turns around. At this point I may or may not pinch his butt buns. ;-) At the base of his neck, I let 3 drops of the Grounding Blend fall and then I massage that in down along his spine. I do the same thing with frankincense.

He finished putting his jammies on and then lays down on the floor so I can oil his feet with two more roller bottles.

First bottle contains frankincense, Hawaiian sandalwood, and myrrh. I roll it in my palm and add 3 drops of the Cellular Complex. Rub my hands together and massage both his little feet, making sure to cover the whole sole.

Second bottle contains frankincense, lemon, melaleuca, Protective Blend, melissa, and coconut oil. *I add oregano if he's been around sick people. I massage his feet again, making sure to cover the entire sole.

Lastly, socks go on.

Every. Single. Night.

Monday, October 16, 2017

A Different Language

"This is talking to someone we can't see."

Like a prayer?

"Yeah. In a different language."

What language?

"Indian."

What made you think of "Indian"?

"I don't know... it just popped in my head."

Sunday, October 8, 2017

553 Days and Counting

Some fun facts...

Six hundred sixty-six days left of treatment (08/05/2019)

Our Plan of Action: Use organic non-GMO whole food nutrition and other complementary methods to protect Dempsey from the side effects of the drugs. Since we can’t protect him from the drugs (we are legally mandated to poison our child), protecting his body from the side effects was the path we chose. It is working! The proof is below.


Dempsey weighed 40 pounds in May of 2016
     He now weighs 48.9 pounds (lean muscle)

Dempsey was 42 inches tall in May of 2016
     Now he is 45.5 inches tall!

Dempsey has had NO LESS than 31 different medications...
10 chemotherapy drugs, 4 sedatives, 2+ antibiotics, 2 steroids, 2 diuretics, 2 laxatives, 2 anesthesia, 2 antacid, 1 of the following: narcotic, glucose-elevating agent, electrolyte replenishment, antiemetic, anticoagulant, antihistamine (most of these were in the first month of treatment while we were living at CHOC)

He still has SIX medications that are "mandatory" and he will have these through end of treatment (E.O.T.).

  • Mercaptopurine (daily), Methotrexate (weekly), Vincristine (monthly), Bactrim (minimal dose on weekends), Ranitidine (monthly with Prednisone), Prednisone (monthly).


Common side effects of leukemia treatment (has Dempsey had them- yes/no):
  • Hair loss- yes (it took much longer than "average" for him to lose it and it has grown back super fast all luscious and curly!)
  • Mouth sores- nope
  • Loss of appetite- nope (in fact, he eats everything we put in front of him)
  • Nausea and vomiting- nope
  • Diarrhea- nope
  • Increased risk of infections (due to low white blood cell counts)- no infections
  • Easy bruising or bleeding (due to low blood platelet counts)- no extra bruising
  • Fatigue (due to low red blood cell counts)- nope
  • Numbness, tingling, or weakness in hands or feet (from nerve damage)- nope
  • Constipation- nope
  • Fever- nope
  • Headaches- nope
  • Decreased muscle mass- nope
  • Trouble sleeping- nope
Lumbar Punctures- 12 (ish)

Bone marrow biopsies- 3

Pills- 100s

Infusions- dozens

Is currently playing soccer with Youth Kicks at WACC.

All his teeth are still tightly secure. Sawyer had lost teeth by this age.

These are the physcial stats. The character stats are immeasurable and just a valuable. Dempsey is a sweet younger brother, a Baby Blues enthusiast like Sawyer, loves deeply, enjoys learning, is generous and kind, is honest... and he is a gentleman in the best sense.

We are grateful for the successful journey Dempsey is having. We could not do this without God using YOU in our lives for such a time as this. Still, our hearts break whenever we hear word of a leukemia warrior who lost their battle despite what seemed like a successful journey for awhile. We don't know what is before us on our path... only that God is already there. We don't know that totality of how God is using Dempsey's story or how he will use it in the future. We are prayerful that it means we will keep him with us in this life and that we can always have him as a visible specimen of God's glory, hard work, and a family's fierce dedication to the cancer-stricken member.

This life is precious, friends. What are you doing in your home to cultivate security, love, trust, solid character, joy, morals, ethics, education, health, etc? Don't get lazy, friends! As long as you have breath the race is not finished.

Keep these stats in your mind: *provided by St. Baldricks

1. Childhood cancer is the number one disease killer of children in the U.S.
It’s the second leading cause of death (following accidents) in children ages 5-14.

2. Every two minutes a child is diagnosed with cancer.
That’s 300,000 kids around the world every year.

3. The average age of a child diagnosed with cancer is 6.
But you don’t have to be a child to be diagnosed with childhood cancer. Childhood cancer is diagnosed in all ages, from newborn infants to children and young adults.

4. 80% of children diagnosed with cancer are in developing countries.
Childhood cancer is a global problem.

5. The most common childhood cancer is acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).
In the 1950s, almost every kid with ALL died. But today, thanks to childhood cancer research, about 90% of children with ALL will survive. That still leaves 10% to be taken from this world.

6. In 80% of kids with cancer, the cancer has already spread to other areas of the body by the time it is diagnosed.
That’s why so many children with cancer need to begin treatment right away. Many adult cancers can be diagnosed early.

7. Much of what we know about treating adult cancers has been learned from childhood cancer research.
Some aspects of cancer treatment today, such as combination chemotherapy, can be traced to pediatric cancer research.

8. There are over a dozen types of childhood cancer and hundreds of different subtypes.
The more rare types, when added together, account for about 30% of cancers in children and adolescents. But because so few children are diagnosed with each type, it’s very difficult to do research on these cancers.

9. One in five children diagnosed with cancer in the U.S. will not survive.
For the ones who do, the battle is never over.

10. Because of the treatments they had as kids, by the time they’re in their 30s or 40s, more than 95% of childhood cancer survivors will have a chronic health problem and 80% will have severe or life- threatening conditions.
Children should not only survive, but thrive.


In the 553 days that Dempsey has been in treatment, approximately 387,100 children (20yrs and under) have been diagnosed with cancer, and roughly 138,250 children around the globe have died from cancer.

FUNDING
LESS THAN 4% OF FEDERAL FUNDING GOES TO CHILDHOOD CANCER RESEARCH.
Click HERE to read my friend's breakdown of the funding for ALL CHILDHOOD CANCER research. The facts are heart-breaking!