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March 16 - 8:20 pm
Spencer says thank you to
everyone for your prayers and especially the emails. It is good to hear from
people at home. We have had a pretty good night although Spence is suffering
a bit of back pain from the procedures. His attitude is great and he has
found a silver lining. We even see a grin every now and then. The shock and
utter disbelief is somewhat subsiding now that we know what we are going
after. We know it won't be easy and there are going to bumps in the road but
everything is possible to those that believe. Spencer will be going into
surgery tomorrow morning to have a central line put in. We will update
tomorrow!
March 16 - 5:35 pm
We now specifically know what
Spencer is battling. AML Leukemia must fought a bit more aggressively than
ALL Leukemia. Although that is the case, the treatment is considerably
shorter, probably 6 months. We speak the healing blood of Jesus to our son
and again continue to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers.
March 16 - 5:00 pm
Still waiting to hear about
the final diagnosis. Spencer got to meet Clair, the teen specialist. She
really made Spencer feel at ease and got the PlayStation 2 setup and brought
a couple of movies for us to watch. Spencer will be undergoing surgery to
put in a central line tomorrow morning so that we can started with therapy.
Thank you Mike for sharing the verse "Jesus is the same yesterday, today and
tomorrow".
March 16 - 2:00 pm
We just received word from the doctors that they have confirmed that
Spencer does indeed have leukemia. We won't know until this afternoon what
type and the plan of action. Resting and continuing to watch BB.
March 16 - 12:00 pm
Back in the room after the
procedures, Spencer is doing well and eating lunch. We should find out the
diagnosis this afternoon and the plan of attack. We're watching the NCAA
Tournament and just hanging out. Again thank you to all of the friends and
family for your continued support and prayers!
March 16 - 9:30 am
Change of plans. Spencer is heading for his spinal tap and bone marrow
procedures here in the next 15 minutes.
March 16 - 8:30 am
Spencer is scheduled for an
EKG at 10:30 am and the spinal tap and drawing of bone marrow at noon. Thank
you for all of the words of encouragement and prayers!!
March 16 - 6:30 am
Jenny, our nurse updated us
on how things are going. As of now, Spencer will not need any transfusions
prior to his procedure. She also said we will have a definitive answer as to
what the diagnosis is by 2:00 pm. I love the attitude in this hospital, very
positive. "Once we know exactly what is wrong, then we will know exactly
what to do."
March 16 - 5:30 am
As I sit here typing, Spencer
and Cathy are getting a bit of rest. During the night Spencer was a little
chatter box, so I am sure the rest is well needed. Cathy and I stayed at the
hospital during the night. Adjacent to Spencer's room is a parents' room
where I got a few hours of sleep. The thing that keeps running through my
mind this morning is Amy Grant's song "God is in Control". We know that our
God is a God of miracles and healing!
March 15
As Cathy and Ron, Cathy's
brother were driving to the airport from St. Joe, they saw a vehicle with a
Memphis Tiger sticker on the back window. Not something you see everyday in
Missouri but it just serves as God's way of telling us we are going to the
right place. After a bit of a bumpy plane ride, we arrived in Memphis at
6:30 pm. Picked up a burger at Backyard Burgers in the airport. As Spence
put it, "Pretty good burger, not bad for airport food". After a 15 minute
shuttle ride, we arrived at St. Jude's Hospital. There is no doubt that this
is the place where Spencer is supposed to be. As we were filling out the
paperwork, we met a wonderful young lady that had been diagnosed 4 weeks ago
and she gave Cathy a hug and reassured us that Spencer was going to be
completely OK. The look and sparkle in her eye was something I will never
forget.
After getting to the room,
2015 NE, we met with the first doctor. Ironically, she knew exactly where
Maryville was since she is originally from Omaha. Blood was drawn and sent
for labwork. Of course with the tourney kicking off tomorrow, we spent part
of the evening filling out the NCAA Bracket. Spencer is taking a little heat
for not picking the Tigers of Memphis to advance into the Elite 8. We then
met with Dr. Weis, an oncologist that explained what was going on and the
procedures Spence would be going through tomorrow morning. They had looked
at the bloodwork and cells do look suspicious but nothing has been
confirmed. One bright report was that his numbers were good enough that he
did have to receive a blood transfusion. We will know more in the morning
after the specialist looks at the blood cells and Spencer goes under for a
couple of procedures to look at bone marrow and spinal fluid. One thing
about St. Jude's, things move rapidly. Once it is pinned down as to what is
wrong, treatment will start immediately.
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