December 30, 2005

Kole has now completed two days of radiation and will receive his 3rd day today. The radiation part does not take long -- like 20 seconds. However, the setup does because they want to radiate the exact spots so everything is covered and hopefully stays away from vital parts. Because of the setup, he is put to sleep and it takes about one and half hours from start to finish. He is doing well with it. He continues to progress with his walking and his strength is growing. He is in speech therapy and physical therapy. Last night he took on a new look. He buzzed his head like his father's. They are now true buddies. He looked real handsome with his new haircut. Steve and Janni are doing well and are still putting their trust in the Good Lord. Jaelle is having a blast playing with the kids at the McDonald House plus all the attention that she receives from the Grandparents and parents. The Grandparents are planning to return to Ohio on Sunday. Steve and Janni are going to try it on their own for a week and see how things go. Their time at the hospital is much shorter than it was two weeks earlier when they had to spend all day there. They also have a car now and that sure helps. They are no longer waiting on the shuttle. McDonald House is only about 2 or 3 blocks from the hospital. There is still a long process ahead. Radiation will last till around Feb. 13th and then they will return home for about 4 weeks. Then they will return in March for 4 months of chemotherapy. Please keep praying and we thank you for all your support during these very trying times. The McDonald House address is 535 Alabama Ave., Memphis, TN 38105.

Phil

December 27, 2005

Kole had another visit to the hospital today. He had three appointments. One was with Dr. Gajjar the oncology radiologist, a neurologist, and a physical therapist. The neurologist checked Kole out with his motor movements and found as we expected that the right side is definitely weaker than the left side. However, he has movements in all his limbs. The neurologist stated that within a year it should all be back and probably only a specialist would ever know that there had been a problem. The physical therapy session was also good. He was able to stand with his eyes closed for 30 seconds and not lose his balance. I believe he could have gone even longer. He is gaining strength in all his arms, hands, legs, and feet. Now for the news that was not expected. The dark spot at the bottom of his back which is just above the crack on his bottom has now been determined to be a tumor and not blood. It is below his spinal cord for which we are very thankful. They will not do surgery but believe that radiation will take care of it. There is good news along with the bad. They will now not have to have quite as strong of radiation along his spinal column as they had previously thought was needed. I asked Janni how she was doing and she said that she is O'K with it and is just trusting the good Lord to care for Kole and to continue to give them the patience, trust, belief, strength, etc. in the whole process of treatment and healing.

We are getting lots of smiles, laughter and teasing from Kole. He teases Grandpa Keller about running out of gas on the way to the airport and Grandpa Sprunger about talking too much. We were thrilled yesterday when he was tickling his sister and just being a teasing big brother. Jaelle loved it too.

The stay here was very stressful last week for Janni and Steve and they have been very thankful for family support this past week. We have had a lot of fun and laughter during our times together. The Kellers and Sprungers are sharing a hotel room together and all is going well. It saves on expenses but even better is the quality time that we spend together.

Tomorrow, Kole has his first radiation session. We are so grateful for all the prayers, thoughts, cards, and gifts that have been given on behalf of Kole. We are grateful for how God is working in this hard and difficult time. On the Fri., Dec. 23rd reading in the Daily Bread, Joanne Yoder writes most Christians would prefer to see God perform mighty miracles rather than to have fellowship with Him and learn his ways. She uses Exodus 33:13 where Moses humbly prayed, "If I have found grace in your sight, show me now Your way. She continues to write that Moses wanted to know God and His plans for His people more than to see another mighty miracle. How we would like to see Kole instantly healed but we know that God has a plan. The wait has not been easy but with God all things are possible.

Phil

Tonight the Keller grandparents and the Sprunger grandparents head to "Bethlehem" (along with Jaelle). Luckily, they get to ride in a caravan and not on a donkey. Seriously, they are traveling through part of the night and into the morning. The Kellers plan to stop part way through the night and sleep in a hotel (they will be driving in Janni and Steve's van). I am not quite sure if my dad will give up driving "shot-gun" (He will be driving his van). Before they left it was quite the blessing for me to witness two sets of grandparents laughing and enjoying each other's fellowship. The bond between them and the solidarity is hard to express in words. You can imagine the emotion the four of them share for their grandchild. On top of that, the agony of seeing their own adult children, now parents, with a burden only God can bear. It is a blessing to me to be able to testify, to all who read this blog, that these grandparents united together to pray for Kole's healing and for a safe journey (just before they headed out for a drive underneath the stars). They will hopefully arrive in Memphis sometime early Christmas Eve morning. Both sets of grandparents are planning to stay at least a week.
Kole's first radiation treatment will be on the Tuesday following Christmas. Please pray that the radiation is effective in killing the cancer cells. Pray for God's protection over Kole's healthy cells. Pray for the doctor's skill in delivering the radiation. Pray that Kole will have little or no side effects.
This verse has been a comfort for me and I pray this verse over and over for Janni and Steve. It starts partly in Philippians 4:5 "...The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Jodi

Questions or Suggestions:

If you have any questions or suggestions, please state them on the comments section of this post. We will try to answer as many of them as we can. Thank You.

Today Kole has been through a number of tests. The findings of these tests are still in question. He has had another MRI which has shown some questionable spots on the spine which could be blood clots. There is another questionable spot on the brain which the doctor feels could be from Kole's surgery. Janni asks (this is her sister Jodi typing) that you pray that the results of these tests (a new MRI) will show no cancer at these locations. They will be testing his bone marrow/bone scan as a precaution. Pray for the results of those tests as well. The doctors are also concerned that Kole has too much fluid on his brain and may need to have a shunt which would call for another surgical procedure. The doctors are going to give it a little time. Pray that the fluid will resolve itself. Kole seems to be holding up pretty good. I have heard that St.Jude is where they are going to stay for Koles treatment. Also, keep Steve and Janni upheld (and the grandparents) as they need God's stength, to care for Kole, both in health and spirit. Jaelle was here today. She was her happy adorable self, dancing to praise music with her cousins as well as playing babies. She will be traveling with my parents (the Sprungers) to Memphis, Tennessee (probably Friday). Pray for safe travel. Steve's parents will be traveling there around the same time.
Pray that our faith will continue to grow despite doctors reports and the like. Pray that we can be a light set upon a hill so that we can bring hope to those around us of how good God truly is. We thank God for His provision so far and count on Him for the future.

Today, Sunday the 18th of December Kole and his mom and dad are flying out of Cleveland and into Memphis, Tennessee in order to visit St. Jude Children's Hospital (dedicated to treating children with cancer). Kole will be spending three days undergoing testing. This testing will tell them more about the treatment ahead for Kole. He will have another MRI, test Kole's Bone Marrow, and perform another spinal tap. A journey around Christmas brings me back to the Christmas story. The timing may seem inconvenient but we know from the Christmas story it was necessary to travel far from the comforts of home in order to fulfill God's promise of a savior being born in Bethlehem. We believe God is directing and protecting them as they follow the good Lord as he leads them.
After the three days they will make a final decision as to whether to continue treatment at St.Jude. If they stay in Memphis, Kole and family will not be scheduled to return home until after the middle of February (at the conclusion of his radiation). They will be home for around three weeks and will return to Memphis's St. Jude for Chemo scheduled to end around the middle of June. Pray for Kole's healing and the protection of every healthy cell in his body. Pray that God continues to uphold, comfort, and grant peace to Kole, Steve, Janni, and family. Janni has stated over and over that she feels surrounded by love, concern, and support not only from incredibly kind friends and family but also from caring folks they have never had the privilege of meeting. There is so much to be thankful for and we just thank you for being God's arms of compassion and provision.

Intelligent, delightful, fun, smiling, loving, handsome, and energetic... These are only a few of the adjectives that could be used to describe Kole. However, the most important adjective perhaps is loved. He is loved by you, his many friends and family, who have been a great support and encouragement. More importantly he is loved by God. We ask that as you read this blog you take some time to pray for Kole and more importantly that you learn more of the grace and love of God as you see it in the lives of Steve, Janni, Kole, and Jaelle.