Keep praying!

Forester has had a rough day today re: nausea and vomiting. He tried to eat strawberries twice and vomited both times. This evening, when he walked into the house and smelled pork chops cooking, he immediately vomited. :o( At about 8:30pm, he requested mac & cheese. Please pray that this stays down! He has literally eaten nothing today. How impossibly difficult it is to watch your child go through something like this. Ugh. :o(

April

Cancer sucks, but God is cool!

For you non-Facebook folks, below are two of Whitney's status updates from the last 24 hours:

11:32pm Thursday - I think it's horribly painful to have a child with cancer. Ugh. It sucks.

2:27pm Friday - I just got back from a power walk with Slade. It's a beautiful day. I listened to Bill Johnson while walking, and I was encouraged as he talked of Jehovah "Sneaky" and all the cool little things God does for us.

As of this minute, Forester has eaten fairly well today and has not gotten sick. Praise the Lord for that! Please continue to pray for a strong appetite and a settled tummy for him. As a side effect of the chemo, food overall does not sound appealing to him, and if something does taste good today, it most likely will be disgusting tomorrow. Whitney said she can so relate because of her 1st trimester pregnancy experiences. Please pray that he has an appetite for something even if it's just one thing. Whether or not Forester is hungry, and whether or not Forester is nauseous, he needs to eat. He needs calories! This is a constant pressure for all of them, and the nausea & vomiting makes the whole situation more stressful. It would appear that more days of chemo = more nausea & vomiting. Please pray against this compounding effect! Although the doctors considered putting Forester on an appetite stimulant yesterday, they have not yet done so, as he is maintaining his current weight.

There continue to be some communication issues regarding Forester's medications and when, why and how often to give them. For example, Forester was prescribed Zofran every 8 hours for nausea, but his nausea returns well before the 8 hour mark. After they asked about it, Pete & Whitney discovered they could actually give him the Zofran every 6 hours. Great, BUT why had no one offered this information to them?!? (I could go on...) Please continue to pray for clear communication between all of those involved in Forester's care and the Bradburns! As you can imagine, this is quite frustrating!

Forester's blood counts were low again this morning. He had a shot of Neupogen today (to increase his white blood cell count) and will have shots tomorrow & Sunday too. Also, he will receive a blood transfusion on Monday to boost his red blood cell & platelet counts. Because the transfusion will take about 2 hours, Forester and the Bradburns will have an extra long Monday. (Mondays are longer anyway because those are the days Forester receives 2 chemo drugs.) Please pray for extra peace and grace for Monday and that Forester has no adverse reactions from the transfusion!

Finally, please pray for wisdom and discernment for Pete & Whitney in determining how much to let Forester do. He is a 7 year old boy after all, and when he feels well enough, he wants to play. Even though he has more energy and a greater desire to play some days, he can overdo it. Germs are a constant consideration too. How hard this must be for all of them. :o( Yes, cancer sucks!

Praise God, though, for His love and constant care and grace and peace, etc, etc, etc. He is cool and very, very good! :o)

Good night,
April

Nausea & vomiting :o(

Although the last couple of days have been pretty routine and Forester's white blood cell count has increased (praise God!), the chemo and radiation have begun to cause nausea and vomiting. Forester cannot keep anything down tonight, and he's crying because he's hungry. Whitney gave him some anti-nausea medicine to help him, and he vomited it back up too. :o(

Please pray for a settled tummy for Forester and a peaceful and vomit-free tonight and tomorrow.

Thank you!
April

Bracelets

Ok, I wasn't really thinking when I quickly posted the picture of the bracelet and asked if you wanted one. I have no idea how to get one to you unless you live here in Chucktown. BUT, I am so excited that you do want one (or some!) and we're going to order more and figure this out.

Right now the tentative plan is to have the bracelets listed on ebay. We will have that ebay link posted on the website and you may go there and order. My sister, Katie, had this great idea and will take care of the listing and the shipping and get it to you. THANKS KATE! More details to come....

YAY for spreading the word and PRAYING! And these groovy bracelets GLOW IN THE DARK!! Forester took a handful with him to the hospital today. :o)

PrayStrong!

Guess What?? My sweet friend Michele dropped off a little something on my porch today(sneaky girl) and it was a bag filled with these!!! Forester was so excited!! Want one?

Thank you Michele!!

Who is April?

When I have seen you guys in person over the last month or so I usually get two questions. The first one is, "How is Forester doing?" The second is, "Who is April? She's rocks!". April is my best friend! We met in 7th grade at Claire Lollis's birthday slumber party. That birthday party was amazing for two reasons. One, I met April. Two, I had my first salt and vinegar potato chip. It was love at first bite. But I digress...

April and I have known each other for 20 years (WHOA!) and she rocks the casbah. We have been through a lot together...oh the stories! Sadly (for me), she lives in Acworth(Atlanta)and not here in Charleston. Of course she wishes she could be here for every moment but she has 3 little ones of her own, 5 and under, and a husband who is a pilot for Jet Blue. She wanted to do anything to help so I asked if she would be willing to get info out there whenever I needed it. SHE HAS BEEN AMAZING!!! I know it's taken a lot of time and effort to keep this blog going and also keeping all of you in the loop via email, etc. Do you know that the blog has had 20,000 hits? Unbelievable. So thank you my sweet Ape for keeping everyone informed and everyone praying. Taking care of your kids and doing this too is no easy task. I LOVE YOU SOOOO MUCH!!

High school

Week 2, Day 1

I took Slade to the doctor this morning and she looks completely fine. Either God healed her little ears or we're starting a new phase. Either way, I am thankful she is healthy! Thank you for praying.

Pete and his mom (Grandma) are at MUSC with Forester today. So far things are going just fine. Forester's white blood cell count is under 1000 so he will have to receive an additional treatment today after radiation therapy. This is something we have been told to expect to happen.

My mom (Muzzy) just arrived to watch the other kiddos so I can hit the gym. I'll be back later today to answer a very important question that many of you have asked...

LOVE AND THANKS TO ALL!