Grateful

We have had a very busy and blessed month this June. We have so many BIG things to be grateful for in addition to all the little, everyday things.

James...
...continues to do well. His counts continue to be good, but not too good, and the side effects from his chemo seem to be relatively minimal. Developmentally, he is moving along in a number of ways. He LOVES to help and he seems to really like order (not that he is always orderly, but he seems to prefer things to be more orderly rather that more chaotic!). His two favorite things to help with are laundry and emptying the dishwasher. He is really good at putting away the serving forks and spoons and the forks and knives. He does get confused with the spoons. We think this is because there are two places for spoons--they are separated by teaspoons and soup spoons--and he doesn't yet have a concept of the difference between 'big' spoons and 'little' spoons. He also likes to help put laundry into the washer (it's a front loader--yes, we really like it) and to take it out and put it in a basket to go out to the clothesline.

A few days ago, I was working in the livingroom and needed something from the diningroom. I was on my knees on the floor, so I looked around to see who was close by that could bring me what I needed with less effort than would be required to get up and get it myself (in other words, I was being lazy). James was the only child nearby and I was so glad to see a positive teaching opportunity! (then I didn't feel so bad about being lazy). I told James what I needed and asked him if he could get it for me. He said, "Mm," with a quick nod and swaggered off with purpose. He went straight for the item in need, picked up and swaggered back, delivering it with a definite pride and sense of purpose! I was tickled. He never ceases to amaze and he is such a delight to watch. I love to see him discover things that I wondered if he would ever do or notice.

The Homestead

During the past month, my dad offered to contribute enough to allow us to purchase the siding for the outside of our house (it has been wrapped in various brands of 'Tyvek-type' paper). It wasn't long before the siding was delivered and a local friend/builder sent his crew over to get the first side of the house finished (our friend and my dad have both been concerned about this 'weather' side of the house not being finished). Vern and Owen worked along with David's crew and learned a great deal. They have been able to finish the front porch (it looks GREAT!) They plan to keep working their way around the house doing all they can to get all the siding up. Having siding makes a very pleasant difference in the way the house looks. We are very grateful!

Not long after the siding got started, it was time to slaughter chickens. It's not the prettiest homesteading event of the year, but it is worth it! We really like knowing where and how our food was grown and processed.

Friends came to help and to learn and we were so very grateful they did. We got an early start to the morning and about 2-1/2 hours into the day, Vern sliced his finger sharpening his already-quite-sharp filet knife. It was a pretty deep cut. I had the worst time looking at it. With all we have been through with James, I thought perhaps I could handle it, but, alas, I have not arrived. Once I finally scraped myself up off the bed (thankfully, I didn't hit the floor, though it was close), we decided that we could leave Phillip in charge, with all the children helping and I would take Vern to the Urgent Care clinic. We tried to get into a doctor's office, but no one had space and we considered the ER as well.

The rest of the helpers and learners arrived while we were gone and everyone dove in to help. Vern was out of commission for the rest of the day (with four stitches, and instructions not to get his finger--left index) wet. We had planned to do a record 150 chickens and there was no way we could have made it without all the help! It was a longer day than we had hoped, but ended up being an immersion experience. We are very grateful to have friends who stick by us in a crisis!

My aunt lives just down the road from my mom, about 3 hours north of here. She and her husband have lived the rural life for some 40 years or so and there place is an inspiration. My aunt and my mom are both great with landscaping and if that talent is passed along genetically, you would never know it by looking at the yards we have had over the years. My aunt realized that she very much needed to divide some of her many plants this year and she was planning to toss the divisions into the woods, until she thought of me! (Hallelujah!) She mentioned her intentions of dividing plants to my mom and wondered if I could use them. My mom offered to provide all the 'filler' to complete the project and she provided lattice to provide the 'backdrop' under the front porch, some of the more 'evergreen' shrubs, soaker hose to make watering MUCH easier, some supplemental dirt and pine straw for mulch.

Then they dug up everything, loaded up my aunt's SUV (to the point that my uncle teased that it looked like the lead car in a funeral procession) and drove down to our place. They arrived Wed afternoon, emptied the car and arranged the plants. Early Thursday morning we set to work in the shade and for nearly three and a half hours we dug, planted, watered and mulched. We were all pretty excited to see the transformation and are glad to have some green life in front of the house. Now I have to take really good care of it all (green thumb that I am not). If I pass this test, they said they would bring more cuttings, divisions and volunteers in the Fall!) I am hopeful that they have made it easy enough for me to be successful!

Lord willing, I have the beginnings of a heritage here that I can pass along to my children when they begin their homes. I am grateful for the heritage of beauty I have and for a very thoughtful and generous mom and aunt.

Love, Stephanie

Another one bites the dust

I have never been great with cameras. I do like pictures, but it seems to me that whenever I really want pictures, the camera (whichever one we happen to have at the time) doesn't want to play. I remember three birthdays in row for Katie that the camera broke just before or during her day.

Two Christmases ago, we received a wonderful digital camera from dear friends. I loved that camera. It worked so well. Until the fateful day I bumped it with my elbow and it ended up in Hannah's cup of gatorade. Sigh.

After a time, we replaced that camera with a cheaper model. The camera had an incredible delay which meant if anything was going on, we usually missed the shot we were trying for. But we did get some good photos and it was fine for more panoramic, minimal action shots.

The children loved to use it.

Hmmm.

Well, one of the children (who shall remain unnamed), took the camera to get pictures of something cute the kittens were doing outside. And dropped the camera. Now it takes Amish-style photos. You can see there is a face in the picture, sort of, but there are no features.

I find I am savoring moments of watching the children more again, since I can't jump up (or send one of the children) to get the camera so I can take a picture.

I think that is a good thing.

Love, Stephanie

Pray for our little cancer friends

We have a couple of little cancer friends who are in particular need of prayer right now:

Hannah Cate has Down syndrome and is being treated for bi-lineage leukemia (AML/ALL). She is undergoing a particularly difficult part of treatment for the next 3 to 4 weeks and is in the hospital with very low counts and terrible mouth sores that are preventing her from eating and drinking. She REALLY wants to go home (she is also one of six homeschooled children), but can't until her counts get better and she can eat and drink on her own.

Ricky James III is a little boy whose family we fished with at Camp Sunshine back in March. He was initially diagnosed with Rhabdosarcoma last April 1st. When we met him, he had recently completed treatment and this past week they learned that the cancer has come back. He started his new treatment yesterday. His third birthday is tomorrow.

Thanks praying friends. You bless our socks off! Have a wonderful, restful Lord's day... and Happy June!

Love, Stephanie and the crew

Counts and chemo at home

Yesterday was Vern's last day of teacher post-planning at work and this morning he was up and at our lengthy summer to-do list. He had Owen in tow most of the time and the little girls some of the time. Katie ran the house and Hannah and I bugged out with James. His g-tube looked so good this morning (still healing, definitely better even than yesterday morning, PTL, and certainly not as bad as it was earlier in the week, again PTL!) that we decided to take him to Macon for counts. This is a FIRST! The first chemo the week following steroids that we are HOME.

Okay, maybe that's a little over the top... but only a very little ;*)...

James' counts are WBC- 6.34; Hgb- 9.7; platelets 299K; ANC- 4,000+. So chemo goes as scheduled.

On the way to Macon this morning, Hannah and I were talking about the impressive turn around in James' g-tube site and we both think that several things factor in... 1st all the prayer and with that the mercy and wisdom for the rest of the factors ;*); James has been eating more and drinking some and we have been able to keep him hydrated using his g-tube at a higher feeding rate because the vincristine isn't slowing down his intestines like it has in the past. This means that we are able to give James long breaks without using the g-tube (less pressure on the site) and helps with healing. Finally, we do think that the prednisone MAY have helped, but if the other things hadn't happened the way they did, we would have likely been in the same situation as in the past with eroding (based on what we saw earlier in the week).

We have enjoyed a slew of old movies from our old-movie collecting neighbors so that James could spend a lot of time resting on the couch.

We continue to be so grateful for your prayers and concern for us and for James. The Lord bless y'all real good!

Love, Stephanie

Oh, me, of little faith

Well, we are still home, PTL!

Monday night, it was clear that James' g-tube site was eroding. Hannah, Vern and I figured it was 'just a matter of time' again. And it still may be... but Vern said on Tuesday morning that he wanted us to get James seen soon. Tuesday preferably, Wednesday at the latest. I tried to get things worked out for yesterday and by the end of the day, his g-tube site didn't look any worse to me than it had in the morning.

This morning, PTL, it actually looked better in most regards. So we will see how it looks by the end of the day (we do check it during the day, so far no change from this morning.)

In addition to the good news that we are still home, James has had two very good eating days in a row. Unusual for him, but perhaps attributable to being on steroids. No matter how he gets to eating more of what he needs, at least he is practicing, and that is a very helpful thing. Yesterday, he drank about 8 ounces all by himself, today he isn't drinking so much. He is liking cheese melted on Wasa type crackers, egg yolks (poached to pudding like consistency and well-salted, thank-you-very-much!)

Of course, you can see my lack of faith in the packed and ready to go suitcases sitting in the kitchen. God is so good to us. All the time.

Gratefully,

Stephanie

James, walking with hair

These were taken earlier this week before chemo... Doesn't he look great with hair? :*)...

He is such a BOY!

Love, Stephanie

Grateful for your prayers

It seems like forever since I have journaled here, though I have thought about it a lot. Not long ago I was telling my mom that I was just at a point where I could do it or I could write about it. And the obvious choice was doing. So we have been doing a good deal and the Lord has been mercifully blessing.

Thursday Hannah and I took James to Atlanta for his spinal tap with IV methotrexate and vincristine. We are so grateful to all who prayed for us... I know you are still praying and we are very grateful for that too! Several folks let us know they were praying much even though they couldn't sign up for a time slot. The time is not so important as the praying and the goal is just to pray extra and especially fervently to show the Lord we are serious about our desire to see James well. A sacrifice of praise and other things, as it were.

Our drive to Atlanta was pretty uneventful (although we were a little late--they factor that into their schedule and it didn't hold anyone up). There was plenty of parking (a miracle from our view ;*)). And James didn't seem to have any trouble being hungry although he had been NPO (nothing by mouth--no food or drink) since 4 in the morning.

He had some oral versed (a sedative) and his spinal tap was uneventful. We had some trouble getting a good vein for the vincristine--such are the perils of being NPO before a procedure--but finally one of the nurses got a good vein and by then, James was done being horizontal following the spinal tap. This was the first time he didn't fall asleep! James'counts had actually improved since last week--ANC nearly 2200; Hgb 11.9 (maybe due to mild dehydration).

He did vomit some at the clinic and more on the way home. Thankfully it wasn't a lot and it was only twice, but it surprised all of us--probably James mostly. It was a little disconcerting, but nothing a little I-C-E-C-R-E-A-M couldn't settle. He did finally get a good nap on the way home and once we arrived home, he was still a little loopy and seemed to lack some muscle control.

This morning, however, he was raring to go and hasn't missed much all day today. To me, he still seems just a little off in the muscle control department. But I think it is a mom-thing and not something readily apparent to folks who don't study his motor control!

Stacy, our nurse practitioner, reminded me to take special note of James' mobility during the next while. This is the first vincristine James has had being so active and walking. Vincristine affects the nerve cells and it can often look like it is affecting muscles. She just said to keep an eye on him for his safety and to let them know how it seems to affect him.

James has had three doses of his new steroids (prednisone) and so far is doing just fine. We are keeping a close eye on his g-tube and hoping we won't be making a trip to Atlanta before our next scheduled office visit on June 12th.

In other little news around here: The Mothers' Day storm knocked out our power and we enjoyed a very quiet day at home. Some of the tornadoes hit near here (within 20 miles) and so we had no church. One of the ladies from church had significant damage to her home and barn, but she, her daughter and all their critters are safe. The insurance adjuster comes tomorrow--pray he would deal justly.

While cleaning up from the storm, Vern picked up a whopper poison ivy rash. It is getting better, but something else is coming up behind it... some sort of dermatitis, so we need to get him looked at.

We have kittens--2 mamas, 8 babies. They're really cute and it looks like some will be great, active mousers. Anyone know someone who'd like one (or more). The first batch of 3 will be 8 weeks old June 2. Their momma has already litter box trained them and they can be indoor, outdoor or both.

Vern's last day of school with students was today. Two more days of post-planning next week, then summer break (except for a three-day class). He also finished his first online college course-- a good experience overall.

Our garden is doing well, although with warmer temps come more bugs and some disease, so we are spraying some. We are curious to see how our potatoes fare. We dug up under one plant to get new potatoes and there wasn't much. Maybe we will have all leaves. Some here have had great success with potatoes and others not. The Lord really blessed our cabbage, peas and lettuce. We have agreed we need to plant LOTS more peas and broccoli in fall. We have picked some summer squash and are watching the corn (which is about ankle high), beans, tomatoes, little watermelons, cukes, peppers and eggplants.

The chickens are over on friends' land--150+ meat birds. They have about four weeks til they cool off in the freezer and they are doing MUCH better than last year. The children and I enjoy going over to chore and seeing how quickly we can move, feed and water them. We've also enjoyed picking some wild blackberries when we can. We are looking into alternative feed options to baat rising feed and gas costs.

The weather promises to be warming up here--we've had some wonderfully late cool weather up til now. With the warming weather, we will, more than likely, be spending more quiet time inside staying cool and trying not to make the house too warm! Time to catch up on some academics and some blogging, Lord willing!

Thank you again for praying with us for James. God is good all the time!

Love, Stephanie

Five prayer requests

In February, when James last got vincristine and steroids. Momma posted five prayer requests for James. We decided to copy and post them here as they still apply. If you want to read that post, click here.



The focus for the prayer time includes (but is not limited to! :*) ) praying:



1. that the vincristine and steroids would attack their intended target (any remaining, but unseen leukemia cells).



2. that the Lord would protect James from any side effects from the vincristine. Especially any slowdown in the movement of the intestine.



3. that, in spite of the steroids in his system, his body would continue to heal and protect itself from breakdown and erosion.



4. that James' counts would remain stable, there would be not infection and no need for a hospital stay.



5. most importantly, that God's perfect will would be done and He would get the glory for it!



Thank you for praying for James.



Blessings, Hannah

Week 55 and a prayer push

James' course of chemotherapy is 110 weeks. This past Thursday, May 15th, marked week number 55 of treatment. He is now half-way through.

Last Thursday, James' nurse called to say that James is cleared for chemo. She also gave me his counts. WBC (white blood cells) were 3.24. Hemoglobin was 11.1. Platelets 735k. ANC (Absolute Neutraphil Count--his ability to fight infection) is 1.97.

We are very proud of James. James doesn't like it when the nurses at clinic hold his finger to poke it for blood, but he will hold out a finger for them and after the poke, he will intently watch the nurse 'milk' his finger. After the nurse gets the blood, she will put a band-aid on. It's isn't usually long before he takes the bandaid off, or he won't do anything with that hand.


This past couple weeks we have been working on James taking his 6-MP tablets (chemo that he gets every day) by mouth. He has done very well. Momma and I decided to try James on taking his methotrexate by mouth. I woke James up at 4a.m. to take 5 1/2 tablets, he wasn't thrilled till I asked him if he wanted ice cream. After the not-so-smart move on my part, James thought it was time to play. He did go back to sleep around 4:30a.m. and Daddy said later that if James is asleep, 'use the g-tube.' James took the two other doses of methotrexate and one of his two doses of his leucovorin by mouth. He has been doing a little better working on eating too.

After three trys on Saturday, I managed to set up a prayer sign up for James. Its at mysignup.com again, under jamesskelly.

If the link doesn't work, type in www.mysignup.com/jamesskelly. If that doesn't work, please leave a comment on the blog or let us know somehow. If anyone knows how to put up a picture on the sign up, please let me know. I've been trying to get a picture up of James, but the picture won't show up.


James' g-tube is a little red and tender. Please pray that the g-tube site would heal up and not erode with the vincristine and steroids this time and that the chemo would do it's job without any side damage. Other things to pray for: that he would continue to eat more and more food to meet his calorie and nutrition needs and that he would like good food.

Thank you for praying for our family and James! It means so much to us!

Blessings, Hannah

(with a little editing from Momma.)

Counts

Yesterday was counts and chemo day. Momma, James and I left here around 8 a.m. to shop in Milledgeville and in Atlanta as well. We got to the clinic early and so we visited the third floor of the hospital to say 'Hi' to some of our favorite nurses who were working. They were pretty excited to see a taller James with a head full of hair toddling on the floor!

James' counts were good. WBC (white blood cells) 3.56. Hemoglobin was 12 and his platelets were 706k. James' ANC (Absolute Neutraphil Count--his ability to fight infection) was 2.28.

Momma talked to Dr.Keller about a protocol for the next time James gets vincristine and steroids. This time, we're going to try prednisone (James has gotten dexamethasone in the past.) to see what happens. Hopefully, the side effects from the prednisone won't be as bad as the dexamethasone. James will get vincristine and steroids on May 22nd. If I can get it to work, we will attempt to set up a sign-up to pray for James.

Dr. Mohammed, from GI, came over to see James and said his g-tube site looks "Excellent". He said to let them know if we have any trouble with this round of steroids.

We finished our shopping (at SAM's) and headed home, arriving around 10p.m--a long day, but a good one.

May 15th, we go to Macon for counts and James will get chemo at home.

Thank you all for praying, it does make a difference.

Blessings, Hannah

Since I last wrote...

.... a lot of things have happened around here! Here is a sample from the last almost-month!

We celebrated Owen's 12th birthday with a work day and all the food (a BIG part of our birthday celebrations) was cooked outside over the fire. For breakfast, we have French Toast, fried eggs, sausage and orange juice to drink. For dinner, we came inside (because of a wind storm), and enjoyed Low Country Boil and Berry Cobbler with Butter Pecan Ice Cream (which was NOT cooked over the fire!).

We burned our HUGE pile of brush, cut and stacked firewood, moved dirt (lost some to a downpour), and done general land improvement.

Our garden has been growing and flourishing and we have eaten lettuce, spinach and a few peas. The broccoli is getting bigger, the cabbage is looking like a small head and the potatoes are growing like weeds! We are looking forward to eating more of 'the fruit of our hands'!

We celebrated the incredible resurrection of the Lord who has walked with us, and at times, carried us through this past year. We are grateful for the abundant life He rose to give us!

We always enjoy making Resurrection Cookies the eve of Resurrection Day. They go into the oven overnight... kind of like Jesus went into the tomb after He was crucified... and they come out as sweet, hollow treats (a reminder of the empty tomb!) in the morning! Making them is a great object lesson devotional and has become a cherished tradition for our family.

After a sweet Resurrection morning service with our church family, we spent the day at home, enjoying a traditional "Easter Sunday" dinner, candy, egg coloring and a Resurrection egg hunt (we have trinkets, representing various events of the Passion Week, that we place in plastic eggs and hide in the yard (weather permitting...and it was a beautiful afternoon for this activity!) I did realize that it is time to find more plastic eggs! They don't last forever!

The flower arrangement on the table is all from things on our little homestead that are BLOOMING!

We went to Camp Sunshine Family Camp, a special camp held for children with cancer and their families, at Camp Twin Lakes in Rutledge, GA. We were thoroughly impressed with the camp facilities. Several organizations that assist families with children with special medical needs, and other limitations, came together to start this camp to meet needs that other facilities could not. The whole camp was first class and totally accessible. We had a cabin with plenty of room for our family (it had twelve beds, 2 toilet stalls, 2 showers (one of which was wheelchair accessible) and two sinks. it also had PLENTY of windows to look out, heat (which we didn't use) and air conditioning (which we did use) and places for all James' medical supplies.)

Courtesy of Camp Sunshine, it's staff and volunteers, we did not have to cook a thing. We only bussed our tables, swept the dining area and our cabins and had a wonderful, refreshing time together. We also met some other families facing similar things with their children. The biggest blessing was that we only paid for gas to get there and a small registration fee ($25)! Thanks to the great folks at Camp Sunshine!

We enjoyed early morning fishing (and catching!)

A family hike.

Pedal-boating--we FILLED two boats!

All the children got to shoot a compound bow. Archery has been a family dream and now we know it is do-able.

We played putt-putt--some at a very relaxed pace!

The children enjoyed a rest time pillow fight, since James was all wound up and wouldn't sleep.

Until we went to the dining hall to play BINGO--because it rained.

Since Carrie's birthday was Sunday, she was given some cupcakes, some of which we enjoyed on the ride home!

Carrie Rose, our princess, turned FIVE! She enjoyed her day along with brunch, a dress up tea party (with no reading)and a picnic dinner and movie with a wonderful stacked berry trifle cake!

We celebrated a new addition to the family. For those who didn't know...

our friends, Jarod and Anna (whose wedding we came down for in January 2007) welcomed their first child, a son, named Ezekiel, in December.

Anna came to help us when Becca, Carrie and James were born. She has a special place in our hearts (so do Jarod and Zeke, now) and it was a real pleasure and privilege to have them down for dinner and a visit and to take some of our 'traditional' baby pictures. And one of Jarod's traditional family funny pictures (bottom right, below).

Hannah was a little disappointed we couldn't get the photos before April 1st so we could have done a photo with the children, Zeke and Vern and me for an April Fool's joke. Ah, well.

In addition, we had plenty of unphotographed activities. James had counts and chemo twice--his counts remain good, but not TOO good. Which is good. Vern was home for spring break this past week (which has been wonderful!) and we have gotten a lot of things moving around the homestead. We actually finished a few things!

The girls and I did some sewing for our Camp Sunshine trip. We made three jumpers (one for me, one for Katie and one for Carrie), pantalettes for play and sleeping, pajama pants for Owen and a skirt for Hannah. We are looking forward to doing more.

We also made the trip to Atlanta for James' counts and then toured Your Dekalb Farmers' Market. We hadn't been there since 1998, we think. It was quite the education and we picked up some fun-to-eat treats--including sugar cane and a coconut!

Thanks for thinking of us, for stopping by to check on us and for loving us. We treasure your notes and comments still... your prayers even more.

Have a sweet and blessed week!

Love, Stephanie

The Poppins

While we were away, we missed out on some fun. Since we left the camera at home, we got to see some of the fun we missed! And you get to too!

Owen Poppins demonstrates proper technique.

Katie Poppins sets the standard.

Becca Poppins--with the perfect shoes for the job!

I heard there would have been a Carrie Poppins, but the umbrella was almost too heavy for Becca Poppins.

Have a wonderful day!

Love, Stephanie