And The Treatment Begins

Today they will begin treating Josh for AML. Thanks to the great treatment and diagnosis that we received from BSA and Dr Turner in Dalhart, they are able to begin treatment today. The pathologist was able to look at the slides from BSA and confirm the diagnosis. They are still waiting on some results to determine the sub-type and to check if there are any genetic abnormalities. Sometimes AML damages the genes.

Josh will have an LP (lumbar puncture) this morning. They are checking for Leukemia cells in the nervous system. This test will help determine how advanced his AML is. During the procedure he will also receive his first round of chemo (cytarabine) in his spine.

The staff here has been wonderful. They take the time to answer Josh's questions and use language that even dad can understand. We will have a team meeting later today with the doctors that will live us more information about what the next few weeks will look like.

Ilene and Sarah stayed with some friends near Dallas and will be driving down to Houston this morning.

We are blessed to the point of being overwhelmed by the outpouring of support from our friends and family. You have shown us Christ's love in tangible ways and it is an encouragement to us and a testimony to those around us of how God cares for His children.

This morning as aI sit waiting for them to come and take Josh to get his LP, I read a devotions for today. The title was "Joy in Tribulation". In Ephesians 5:20 we are encouraged to give thanks "always and for all things". It is easy to say, when I was little the pray we said around the table was " giving thanks always for all things, in the name of the Father, Amen". As kids we loved that prayer because it was short and we could get right to eating, but really, we just thought it meant that we still had to eat our broccoli and be thankful for it.

Sitting here and trying to thank God for allowing Josh to have cancer is much different than eating broccoli. How do I thank Him for the pain that we are going through? How do I thank Him for turning our lives upside down? How do I thank Him as we begin a journey "through the valley of the shadow of death"?

I don't know the full answer to that, only that I have seen God work in amazing way this week. I have watched as His people have sacrificed and served and prayed. We have been the recipients of an outpouring of love and encouragement. We have seen how others watch in wonder as God opens doors that only He could open.

As I sit here in a hospital room 700 miles from home, watching kids walk the halls with amputated limbs and bald heads, most of them much sicker than Josh, I am able to thank Him because I know that He knows what tomorrow holds.

And I can thank Him for you, you are making a difference in our lives by reading and praying. Thank you for allowing God to use you, and for being willing to walk with us through this challenging season of life.

Please tell someone today about what God is doing in our lives, and share how He is changing your life.