Celebrating Summer
I can’t believe June is over. Summer has been great so far. I love this season so much and it seems like it is just flying by. Yes, the kids are a lot. No, they are not super grateful. Yes, they are fighting often. But, we are together. At home. Doing the things we planned and hoped to do. Here’s the kids ready to get it started 👇
Left to right: Charlotte aka Small Bear aka Char Char aka Dough Baby (she’s the last one that’s still squishy with baby-ness); Henry aka Brother-man aka Sour Patch Kid (so sweet yet so sour); Jennings aka J aka J-man aka Jiggins (as Henry used to say); Caroline aka C aka Sissy aka Key-a-Line (as Char usually pronounces it).
Jennings is doing well. He has had zero cancer or transplant related visits since Memphis in May. We are looking to set a new record with this next streak. His next follow-up is not until mid-November back at St. Jude. He has, however, been to the regular pediatrician twice since that Memphis trip. Both times for an ear infection. That’s going to be his normal. Most childhood cancer survivors have chronic health struggles, plus he is still slightly immunocompromised with a low IgA level (a certain type of antibody). That leaves him more susceptible to common colds and allergies, which explains his constantly stuffy nose. He doesn’t know any different so it doesn’t bother him much, and even if he did know I think he would choose this given the alternative. We pray that he can grow into an old man and one-up all the other old men constantly complaining of their latest ailments.
Kicked summer off right (if you ask me) with a camping trip right out of the gate…even picked the kids up early on the last day. Clockwise from top left: the adults were outnumbered; Sliding Rock where the kids were probably a little too young; moms making the best of being dragged into the wilderness against their will; S’mores and headlamps keep them coming back.
At the last peds appointment, he was seeing a new doctor so L launched into his clinical history. From a run-of-the-mill trip to the pediatrician perspective, he is not a normal kid and we always want that to be understood. The young doctor stopped her and said, “I know. I’ve been through his medical records and know his history.” He paused, then said, “He’s a miracle.”
That was like a splash of cold water. It caught us off guard as it’s easy to lose sight of that in the day-to-day. But it was also refreshing to hear that be acknowledged out loud by a medical professional.
It was hard, too. Hard in the sense that he is not out of the woods. What happens tomorrow does not change his “miracle” status, but we are still about four months away from making it back to the point of relapse. That will certainly stir up some things in us as we get closer, but with his next check-up being five months away we are focusing on the today’s. Here’s what some of the recent ones have looked like:
Clockwise from top left: Father’s Day lunch at the pool; twin love at Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park with the Wibit in the lake in the background - so fun!; the kids outside of our cabin at Jellystone - this was our somewhat last minute, “Jennings got a great report at 2-years” trip to celebrate; Henry can fly; a quick getaway for Mom & Dad to HHI - thanks to Gigi & Slim for making it possible!
We hope you are enjoying your summer as well and wish you all a happy 4th! Please continue to lift up Jennings and we’ll be back for an update on the summer shenanigans in a month or so.
Because of Jesus, we can claim this promise that God made to the Israelites in exile in Babylon, still 70 years from restoration - “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:11-13
#allinforjennings