January 7, 2011 in Uncategorized with 22 Comments

Gray is finishing his fifth round of chemo today. He has been in the hospital since Tuesday. This chemo treatment cannot be described in words…and not in a good way. Gray has been extremely sick throughout the treatment. The nurses have had to give him medicine to help with his nausea, which in turn makes Gray extremely tired. The entire week has made Gray irritable and, let’s just face it, downright cranky! We can’t blame him but that doesn’t change the fact that we not only have to care for our son who has cancer but add to that caring for a son who growls at you, hits you and screams every time a nurse enters the room. Sigh. BIG sigh. Needless to say, we are ready for this round of chemo to be over! During our hospital stay this week we have gotten a better sense of what our next few months will hold. After this round of chemo it is likely that Gray will be scheduled for surgery to remove as much of his tumor as possible. Please pray that not only will they be able to get ALL of the tumor but that they will also be able to remove the parts of the tumor that have attached to Gray’s aorta. As of now, the doctors are telling us that this portion of the tumor cannot be removed but we have full faith that God will work a miracle. We want our baby boy to be tumor free! After his surgery, Gray will go through another round of chemo followed by a bone marrow transplant. The transplant takes 30 days and he has to be admitted to the hospital for the entire procedure. Please remember us in prayer as we approach this transplant. Enduring one week in the hospital is enough to make our entire family, and especially, Gray tired, cranky and short tempered. Cancer is isolating enough as it is but a month in the hospital??? At this point, we can’t even begin to imagine it. We don’t even WANT to imagine it. We also received news that the trial Gray is in may mean he has to endure two bone marrow transplants, which would require two months in the hospital and not just one. That’s a bridge we’ll just have to cross if and when it comes. We thank you so much for your continued prayers, especially during the recent holiday season. We know that we were remembered even while you were with your families and celebrating with your friends! We could feel your constant thoughts! We are anxious, right now, to get home and to get Gray well. We hope and pray that he recovers quickly. We want to see him smile again! We are also anxious for Gray’s upcoming surgery. While we are a bit nervous, as you can imagine, we are also eager to get this tumor out of our little man and know that he his that much closer to being cancer free and completely well! We are still believing in a miracle…even on the hard days.

“Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God, he is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.”  Psalm 62: 5-8