Unit at The University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) under the care of Blair Batson's Children's Oncology Team (Cancer Clinic). He will be in basic isolation/sequester from the public in some form or another until the first of November. We will give report dispatches, journal posts, podcasts and letters. We will communicate to the world as a family as well as from Andrew himself.
We will begin with a repost of the first CaringBridge Reports from June 2014:
June 3, 2014
24 Hours Down...A Lifetime to Go!
By: Robin McCall
Today has been a continuation of information and tests. We are still waiting for the full diagnosis. Andrew is in great spirits and has many visitors. He is enjoying his Whoopee Cushion with every new nurse or hospital staff. He acts just like his mother! Thank you for the prayers. We will keep this updated and posted!
Praise God from Whom All blessings Flow! Jesus is the Cornerstone of the body of Christ, Our salvation, and Our lives!
June 6, 2014
Where we are right now in the processBy: Robin McCall
Andrew had his 1st chemo meds on June 4th. That was considered day one. The first phase of treatment is called the induction phase and that will last 29 days. We will have at least 14 days in the hospital. They will evaluate him then to see if he can go home. When we do go home we will have to come back down to Jackson for outpatient treatments.
That is what is taking place right now. There are so many little details to all of this that no one wants to here. This is not fun, but we try to not be doom and gloom all the time. Andrew loves to laugh and joke around and he has been doing that with everyone. This is hard and even devastating, but I try to see some positives to each day. God is blessing us through the storm!! My baby boy, who is turning into my big man hero right before my eyes, is stronger than us all!
If you want to know how we are doing, I can say that we are not "keeping" as they say in Scotland but rather we are "being kept" by the maker of heaven and earth, The Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come!
This is Andrew's mom Robin. May God bless each and every one of you!!
Isaiah 41:10
June 9, 2014
Starting from the Beginning!!!
By: Robin McCall
How did we know he was sick? When and Why did we take him to the Dr.? These are some of the questions we have been asked so I thought I would start at the beginning and tell you the whole story.
Andrew was at the end of his baseball season and because of some rained out games and a tournament we played about 7 games in a little over a week. The last game we had in this time period he complained of being tired and having trouble breathing while playing. I just thought he was tired from playing all the games plus we had been to the pool. I thought his breathing was athletic induced. Then he started running fever, a high fever of 104.9 at one point. So on Friday May 23rd I took him to the Dr. and he tested positive for strep. They gave him meds and thought all would be fine. All that week while he was on antibiotics he continued to run fever off and on and was uncharacteristically tired. We played one more baseball game on May 30th and he was not feeling good at that game at all. We had about decided that he had mono from his symptoms. So on Monday June 2 I took him back to the Dr. They did blood work and a chest X-ray. We waited a long time. While we were waiting Andrew said to me that this is not normal. To which I relied no its not. The dr. came in with an envelope of his lab results and chest X-ray and asked me if I could take him to the ER at Blair E. Batson. I asked "right now"? He said yes they were waiting on us. I knew then that this was serious.
At the ER they reran all the blood test again and the chest X-ray again. We waited a while longer. Then we had one of the hemotology Dr.'s take us out away from Andrew and told us she was sorry but it looked like it was cancer. At that moment I could have melted into the floor. I just walked to the bathroom and had a cry. Perry and I decided to tell Andrew then. He is a smart 8 year old who was scared and needed to know what was going on. So Perry told our 8 year old son that he had cancer. He immediately Hugged his daddy and started crying. This broke my heart and I think I did melt into the floor. After this the Oncology Hematology Dr's came to talk to us and explained to us that it was Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. At the time we didn't know what type but now we know it is type Tcell ALL.
We were admitted that night, Monday, June 2nd. We found out Tuesday that he has a mass or collection of Leukemia cells in his chest. He is a high risk ALL patient. To spare you all the details this means we will have a long hard road of treatments. The induction phase will last 29 days, day one was June 4th. This was his first chemo treatment. He did very well with this first treatment. His second treatment was Saturday. He could have had a very bad allergic reaction to these meds but Praise God he did not. He will have chemo meds on days 8, 15, 22 and 29.
We are now on day 5 of 29 and it has been a week since the diagnosis. We are coping. Taking one day at a time. Andrew's numbers are coming down and the mass of cells is getting smaller. We will have a chest X-ray tomorrow to check the progress. Wednesday will be his next round of chemo. He will also be having a LP to put meds in his spine Wednesday or Thursday.
You are now up to day with where we are in our journey. I will try to update after treatments and/or when there is something that needs praying for or updated.
Now for the emotional part. This is the hardest thing we have been faced with, but we believe that God has been preparing our hearts for this for years. No we didn't know this would happen. In my life God is good, God is sovereign, God is my comforter. I know in my heart that no matter the outcome of this journey God is still good, God is still sovereign, God is still my all in all. God will get us through this journey. My prayer is that I will be a good and faithful servant and show God glorified through my life. I am sad but I have joy, I am anxious I trust in God's calming peace, I am scared I will give God my fears. It is Well With My Soul. This doesn't mean that there aren't bad days, crying, sinful attitudes. There are. We have Joyful Suffering!
Pray for Andrew, Pray for us, Pray for our girls, Pray for healing either miraculously or through the meds, Pray the mass will dissappear, Pray for the Doctors, nurses, and all attending to him. Pray for Andrew as he takes his meds, that the chemo will not cause bad side effects, that the LP won't scare him. He has had one already and he knows it hurts.
My son in the past week has become my warrior hero. He is brave and courageous. This only has come from the Lord. God has allowed Andrew peace, distractions, comfort, and love. He is no longer my little man; he is my brave warrior hero man!
We thank you all for your prayers, calls, messages, acts of love but most of all for your love for my son. We will praise Him IN the storm! We are being kept!! 1 Peter 1:3-8
In Christ's Loving Arms,
Robin
I hope this is helpful to those who are new to this story as well as a refresher for all those who have travelled with us from the beginning. We thank each and everyone of you for your constant support.
In Christ,
Perry McCall
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