Prayers

I would like to ask all of you to pray for a little Korral friend we know.  His name is Draigen.  He is around 18 months old.  Not sure what kind of cancer he has but he was given 4-6 weeks to live.  They got to go to Disney World last weekend.  It had to be cut short due to the time frame he was given.  His counts are going up though.  His grandma is still asking for a miracle.  Please pray for him and his family.

Coltrane had a great morning.  We toured him around the hospital in a red wagon.  We watched the flying butterflies on the ceiling, the color changing waterfall, and saw two very unique and relaxing spaces in the hospital.  

The MAB hit him after about 2 hours into it.  He was crazy and was in a lot of pain.  He is calmer now as we upped the dosage of pain meds.  Usually the first day is the worst.  We are praying that we found the right doses of meds and the rest of the week will be smooth sailing.

It's Coltrane's second day and he's been very good today.  A little cranky here and there but we think his pain meds are right on the money.  He rested up a lot.  

This has been such an emotional and spiritual roller coaster for us.  We just heard of yet another death in our unit, which makes seven kids we've known whom have died on our floor.  It's horrible to think about.  You feel so bad for the families and there are just no words.  I can't imagine.  It's so rough to watch these parents and grandparents go through such tragedy, especially involving a young child.  It's just sickening.  And it makes us ill to think it could happen to us too.  

On the other hand, I have these moments where I think to myself "Man, if Coltrane ever died, it would be alright."  Please don't take this the wrong way.  It would crush us completely.  But the fact that I know God and his heart and loves us and that my little son would beat me to where God lives, that's incredible!  I have trust in God, not in the world.  Yes, it would be terrible, but I am not in control.  And that He has a plan that surpasses everyone's knowledge no matter how hard we try to get what we think is best.  Weep for those who are born and rejoice when those who die.  A hard pill to swallow, but it's reality. And more so in dealing with innocent children.

I like to remember King David and what he went through with his first born son with Bathsheba.  I prayed and prayed for God to spare his son.  God didn't spare him.  As soon as David's child was dead, he began rejoicing to the Lord, while his counselors were baffled.  What an inspiration.  And God has used what happened to him as a great example to so many I'm sure, including us.

Please continue to pray for us and for:

Coltrane's fever to go away and not come back

Us to get great rest

Attacks on us to cease

Please pray for:

Coltrane to not be in so much pain

For him to sleep well

For his cough and tummy ache to be cured

For us to relax and trust our Father

For us to remember that this is about God's plan, not what we might try to plan

Thank you so much!  We love you all!

Love,

Justin

Sonja

Jackson

and Coltrane the Strongbow

Praise and Prayer

Hello everyone!

We apologize for not keeping you up to date, as we have been so very busy......at home!!!!  Yay!  

First off, we want to praise God for helping us financially.  We were getting pretty stressed as we've seen our bank account going lower and lower each month.  And thinking of another year where Sonja isn't able to go to work was overwhelming us.  We received information that someone had left a donation at our church's office.  We were very surprised and in complete awe of the generosity and care that people are continuing to show us, even after a year of treatment.  Thank you so much.  I really want to know who it was, but I'm so glad I don't.  They will benefit greatly in Heaven, which is so much better than here on Earth.  We could not even thank them anyway, due to the language barrier of our mouths and our Spirits.  It goes to show that God WILL provide.  We must trust Him all the time.

During the last couple of weeks, my brother Christopher and his family were able to come here from Seattle to hang out with us and have so much fun together.  My brother and I are extremely close and it was much needed to see our dear sister-in-law and our sweet nephew and adorable nieces.  Chris and I wrestled in the pool for about half an hour.  We are still currently, evenly matched.  Although if you ask me, I dunked him one more time than he did.   Hee hee.  

Tonight, we are headed to OKC for another (last in-patient) hospital stay for one week.  He will be receiving MAB (antibodies).  We expect pain from this and possible fever.  At the end of this week we are excited to report that he will get his Broviac (central lines) out on Friday!  This will mean normal baths, and swimming for him during the last few weeks of summer.  Also no more weekly visits from our home health care nurse (she was nice, but it always was terrible watching Coltrane scream his head off while she changed his dressing).  This is another tangible sign that we are headed toward the end of treatment.  There are only two more months of treatment at home after this week.

Please pray for:

Coltrane to be completely cured for life

Him to not have any fever or pain

For the doctors to find time to read about the new treatment that is available now

Guidance from the Spirit about further treatment of Coltrane

Me to be able to multi-task school, work, family, and hospital stuff

Coltrane's Broviac surgery to go extremely well.

For all the little children in our unit and hospital who need so much care and attention

Love,

Justin,

Sonja,

Jackson,

and Coltrane the giddy (as of right now)