Josiah was admitted back into the hospital yesterday.  He started really not feeling well yesterday late morning and when I took him in to see the doctor he had a fever and his blood counts were at a zero.  He was taken right over to Mercy hospital here in Des Moines and they are pumping him with antibiotics and fluids.  At this point he can not fight off anything on his own and his visitors are very resticted…I’m not even bringing the kids to see him.  He is not allowed to have any fresh fruits or vegatables because he can’t even fight off any bacteria that might be on them…that’s how weak his body is right now.  He is feeling more comfortable, thank God, but will probably be in the hospital for a few days.  Please pray that not only would his body heal but that his spirits would remain high.  He really dislikes being in the hospital.

Weekends in the hospital are pretty quiet.  The good part about that is you don’t have to wait for bathrooms or elevators.  But it just feels kind of big and empty.  Not a new feeling for us, just reality.

Josiah is very anxious to be home.  Some of the meds he is on makes him anxious, fidgety, a little emotional, and very unclear thinking.  In rare moments he can carry on a conversation, but mostly he listens.  He has a very hard time focusing and making even simple decisions.  He can rarely even focus enough to watch TV and he can’t read but I’ve been reading a lot of scripture to him and also your comments and that seems to calm him down.  He does not like to be alone and often needs someone to hold his hand or rub his feet.  The three things he was told to do are eat, drink tons of water, and walk.  He doesn’t feel like doing any of these things but he forces himself to do them and I’m so proud of him for doing that.  I am only writing all of this so you can understand a little more of what he’s going through and know more specifically what to pray for.  Prayer requests would be that he would be able to sleep peacefully tonight, that our transition home would be smooth, that the little dry cough that he has developed would not turn into anything serious, and that this chemo would be kicking his cancer’s tushy!  He is not wanting visitors at this time and I am honoring his request.  That may change in the future, and if it does be aware that all visitors must be healthy and that means not even a sniffle 🙂  I don’t want to be rude but him getting sick would only set back his healing and that’s the last thing we want.

I’m not sure I will have the time to update every day when we get home, but I will try.  He will probably get more tired as the week goes on with his blood counts probably hitting a low around next Thurs.  The Lord is blessing us every day with strength and peace.  He is our Burden Bearer.

PS  Oh, and for all of you cancer buffs out there, here is the list of chemo’s he has been taking this week:  Ifosfamide, Carboplatin, and Etoposide…plus the many drugs to combat the effects of these drugs 🙂