Thank you so much for your prayers and support. It means so very much to us. We are constantly being encouraged by how many people are praying for us. Thank you.
Right now our family is home sweet home. And we love it. Warm, cozy house. Ahhhh, the life. We are getting geared up to make the trip to OKC for the stem cell transplant. The Oncologists don't really want to do the transplant because Coltrane still has the drain in (he is still receiving TPN for his nutrition). However, both sets of our Oncology teams in Tulsa and OKC believe the rewards outweigh the risks. The risk being that the drain opening is yet one more area that could bring in an infection. So we will be heading to OKC for as little as 21 days to six weeks or more of treatment. We have a little blessing in disguise. The doc in OKC said a lot of times the patients will have to stay a very long time during the transplant because they won't eat (no appetite, feeling horrible, mouth sores, etc.). Due to Coltrane either being on TPN or being able to use his G-tube, we won't have to worry about that! Yay for that! The transplant will start on December 16th.
We are both excited to get this over with, and anxious. We are so happy that so many continue to pray for us. That is really the most anyone could ever do for us. We are unsure of how things are actually going to go when we get there, but we are trusting in the Lord our God for His supreme guidance and peace. We are sad to see our little son going to have to go through all of this, but it's only temporary. And so is this life. It's full of terrible things that can be so daunting. Life can be overwhelming. And we are certainly overwhelmed. We are pretty wiped, frankly. But we can rest knowing that God supplies the strength we need each day. We can trust Him and His plan for us. I really latched on to what Pat said months and months ago in his sermon about trials and suffering. He said to not focus on the "Why", but the "How". "How" can God use us in this situation. Each day we can ask this question. And yes, it is a choice to ask it. A lot of times I find myself flying by the seat of my pants and I'm not focused on that question. Even if things are "normal" (what's that anyway?), we should be asking the "How". It definitely becomes more clear as to how important it is to seek God's will and how we can serve Him every day in every situation, not just the "hard" ones.
We are so thankful to all of you for your smiles, your attitudes, your gentleness, your kindness, your faithfulness, and your generosity. We love you so much dear brothers and sisters.
Please pray for:
Our faith to grow and grow
For us to not be discouraged
For us to be servants
For Coltrane to be healed
For Jackson to deal with all of this in a healthy manner
For our marriage
For our parenting
For all the preliminary tests to go well before the stem cell transplant
Little or NO side effects from the high dose of chemo
For bone marrow to begin producing cells quickly and efficiently
For Coltrane's drain output to keep decreasing and that it will be able to be removed soon
For no complications or infections during the whole time.
In Christ's perfect love,
Justin,
Sonja,
Jack,
and Coltrane the Courageous.
P.S. Thank you to Justin and Sonja for always opening up their hearts and sharing this journey with us. I just want to remind everyone that we are collecting gift cards to send with the Smith family for their 4-6 week stay. If you are interested in donating a gift card, please e-mail me at hogwildamber@gmail.com.
Thanks for your continuous support and prayers,
Amber Sisemore
This is a picture of Coltrane worshiping during the worship service a few Sundays ago.
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