When Daddy's away it gets loud...

AHHHHH!!!!

Round 6, Week 2

Sorry it's been so long since my last update.  I've just been procrastinating.  I'm really good at procrastination.  Seriously, I could win awards.
Anyway, Forester has been doing really well the last week or so.  He's had only 2 vomiting episodes and for the most part has felt pretty normal.  He received a blood transfusion and his very last Vincristine dose on Friday. Woo-hoo!  And, guess what? (What?) We  have another reason to be thankful!  We were told a while back when Forester's legs were getting so bad and thought we would have to stop the Vincristine, that we shouldn't be too concerned because no one ever gets all of the doses of Vincristine.  The side effects are just too taxing and at some point everyone has to skip doses or back off of it altogether.  Well, Forester got all the doses of Vincristine!  And, not only that, he still has reflexes in his legs, he's walking more normally than before and even doing some dancing on a regular basis!  Can I get a Woot in the name of Jesus?  God is rockin and working miracles all over the place. How can we not praise Him?  How can we not fall on our knees and be thankful? My God is so good!!

Forester had another long day today at the clinic.  He had to receive a blood transfusion again today and also a platelet transfusion.  His ANC count is really low at .030 (normal is 2,000-5,000).  Hopefully the GCSF Neupogen shots will do their job and his count will pop back up by his next appointment on Friday.  It's so strange that these things have become normal and in comparison to other months this one is going very smoothly. We are excited about the fact that once his counts pop back up that they shouldn't go back down again.  They're going to stay up!  His hair is going to start growing back! Yippee!  We really are approaching the finish line.

I want to thank you so much for your prayers.  I believe with my whole heart that your prayers are reason our family and Forester has stayed relatively germ free through all of this (and so many other answered prayers!). Seriously.  Think about it.  Think about the last 9 months and how much funk has been going around.  Think about how low Forester's counts have been and how susceptible he's been to picking up any illness.  God is at work! YOU are witnessing miracles! You are a part of it! PLEASE do not stop praying for us!  Sickness changes everything and we need to continue to pray protection over all of us from any illness. Thank you, thank you, thank you.  I wish I could hug each and every one of you right now.  God has blessed me through you. You have blessed our sweet Forester! I will be praying for you, thanking God for you tonight as I always do. 

Love,
Whitney

**sorry to those who got a double delivery of this post in their inbox.  I had to fix a typo! I always miss at least one...

Forester's 8th Birthday Slideshow

Forester's 8th Birthday Highlights

HOME!!

Forester is HOME!  He had a wonderful birthday in the hospital with lots of visitors and attention from the docs and nurses.  The rest of his stay was uneventful (which is great!).  He arrived back home about 11:30 am and you should have seen the smile on his face!  He has spent most of the day putting together one of his birthday bionicles - his favorite thing!  He is resting now and in a couple hours we will have a family celebration including some birthday presents he wanted to wait and open tonight.  We have much to CELEBRATE!! Praise the Lord!

We're so thankful the hospital stay is OVER but we still have the roughest part of the month ahead of us. Tomorrow we start the GCSF shots.  Forester's  blood counts are going to go down.  He will get one more dose of Vincristine on Friday and if trends continue, also a blood transfusion.  Please continue to pray for us!  Pray for me as Pete is now out of town on business until Friday.  Please pray for protection over all of us against any illness.  Thank you! 
I will upload pictures soon.

We love you,
Whitney for the Bradburn 5

Let's Rock and Roll

Forester's ANC jumped from .730 to 1300 in 2 DAYS! Miraculous! Am I surprised? No. Cause my God does stuff like that!  Am I excited?  YES! Let's get this last round over with! Prayers please for the smoothest treatment yet.

I'll keep you posted - tomorrow is the big birthday! 

 

**HUGE thank you to our family inside our church family, the St. Andrews Worship Team.  Pete and I were able to go downtown for a date last night thanks to them.  We had a great time and it was a much needed.  Thank you Grandma, for babysitting!

6th treatment is delayed

**Several of you told me the link the the Halloween slideshow didn't work.  So, I re-uploaded it and you can view it by clicking here.

Today we were all geared up to start the LAST in patient treatment for Forester.  When his blood counts came back this morning his ANC (absolute neutraphil count - white cells) was only .730.  Normal is around 5,000.  It has to be at least .750 in order to be admitted to start chemo.  So, no chemo today.  There isn't anything we can do at this point to increase his count so we just have to wait for it to go up on it's own.  The higher his blood count when he starts the better.  So, we'll just pray it really goes up! We return Friday morning to check his count again and hopefully it will be high enough for him to be admitted.  They only downside to this, besides all of us being ready for this to be over now, is Forester's 8th birthday is on Saturday.  We had really hoped he would be able to be home on his birthday and so did he.  But, as I reflect on this, maybe it will be more fun in the hospital...minus the chemo part.  Maybe he'll get lots of birthday wishes and special treatment from the nurses and doctors?  I think I will make giant posters to put on his hospital room door and do my best to be obnoxious and tell everyone, IT'S FORESTER'S BIRTHDAY!  ;-0   Hey, there is a positive side to every situation, right? Right.  Forester seems to be fine with this change in plans which is pretty miraculous!  Thank you, Lord. My little fighter rolls with the punches.

A few moments ago I was looking at some pictures from Forester's birthday last year.  Ugh. It made my heartache to look into that happy face.  He's been through so much since then. He's lost so much innocence, had to be so brave, had to endure so much pain and sickness and change.  It seems like yesterday and forever ago.  It seems like forever ago that he had hair! But yet, I believe with every fiber of my being that God has a greater purpose in all of this.  Forester's story is just beginning.  God is just in the beginning stages of doing miraculous things through the life of Forester James Bradburn.

"And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. ³Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us."  

Romans 5:2b-4 

(one year ago)

I'll keep you posted.

Love,

Whitney

Halloween Video Slideshow (revised & working link)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkJRP2VPmUQ

Micah's Birthday Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZ2krFIhjIc