Daily Chemo

Josiah had another lumbar puncture on Friday, and they are waiting for the results.  Nelly is now giving him daily chemo treatments at home, and he will continue his Friday lumbar punctures for a few more weeks.  He has lost his desire to eat, but other than that is happy and doing well. Please pray for James and his brother Ian who are currently in Mexico in the process of packing up their stuff to bring it back to Canada.  A few hours into their trip an axle broke on their trailer, and Ian's wallet was stolen from the vehicle.  Please pray for a quick repair to the trailer, no complications with replacing Ian's ID, and safe travels home.

Josiah started to run a fever yesterday so had to go back into the hospital.  He was allowed to go back home today, and was given a 24hr antibiotic that will help if it isn't a virus.  If it is a virus, it will have to run it's course.  They need to go back in tomorrow for a check up as they want to keep an eye on the fever. They would appreciate your prayers.

Recent Pic of Josiah - shaved head as his hair was falling out. He doesn't seem to mind the new look :)

Update from Nelly

Here's that latest picture of Josiah, all puffed out from the steroids :)

Today went well. We got to the hospital around 8:30am, and they took blood to see how Josiah was doing. Everything was up from last week except for his hemoglobin, but it wasn't down enough to cause alarm.  He wasn't allowed to eat after midnight last night so he was really hungry and kept asking for spaghetti.  This week a few times he had spaghetti for breakfast, lunch, and supper! He wakes up in the morning and the first thing he says is "want noodles". :). They sedated him around noon, in order to take a bone marrow sample, and do a lumbar puncture to take out some of the spinal fluid to check if there is any leukimia in the spine and brain fluid.  They injected some chemo into the spine to protect against any leukemia cells that might have gotten in when they did the puncture.  They are going to call us with the results of the tests next week and if they don't see any more leukaemia cells, Josiah will continue with the protocol. However if there is still a trace of leukaemia cells, they will have to change his protocol accordingly. He is off steroids for a while now, so his eating habits and mood swings should start going back to normal.  His legs are still so sore that he won't walk but they say that now that he is off the steroids and the chemo treatments are less strong, they should start to get better as well.  Thank everyone for their prayers and support!

Josiah's new chubby look :)

The appointments at the children's hospital yesterday went well. Josiah had another treatment of chemo.  All his blood counts were up so he didn't need another blood transfusion. Levi and Maquela (Josiah's brother and sister) were sick with a fever and vomiting yesterday and today. We are praying that  Joe doesn't get it as his immune system is very compromised right now. Josiah is on steroids and that is why he is gaining weight, craving salty food and having mood swings; but that should be over soon. We can still say God is in control. :)