New Treatment is Coming

I finally made the dreaded call today to Noah's oncology clinic and we are scheduled for Noah to start his treatment this Wednesday (11/17) at 9am. As I mentioned in the last post, this is a different protocol than the previous one. He will receive the treatment about every 2 weeks for the next six to twelve months. The side effects of these new drugs are somewhat similar to the others, but less severe, so we've been told. Of course there are always potential serious side effects with any drug, but the chances of that happening are very low. Dr. Reddy believes that Noah will no longer need to be admitted for fever/neutropenia as he has before since these drugs shouldn't knock his immune system down so much. The treatment on Wednesday will be in clinic; he should be finished before Wednesday afternoon.
Over the next few days please remember Noah in your prayers as John and I begin to explain that he will start getting his "medicine" again, begin his shots again, etc. Pray that his body will not have any negative reaction to the new drugs, that the side effects will be minimal if at all, and that they will WORK. I'm sure you can imagine my biggest fear...but I'm continuing to push that fear aside and believe that through this last surgery and the new treatment Noah will be healed. I've had several people ask me, REALLY ask me, in the past few days - "how are you Jess?" And to be very honest, I am tired. Before Noah's tumor recurrence I had complete confidence that he would have finished treatment before Christmas and wouldn't need any more. I was praying, "Lord just get me through December." Now I've had to change my prayer to, "just get me through this Wednesday." I'm trying not to think about another year of treatment, but just getting from day to day. So if you want to pray for me also, please pray for strength, and peace, and rest. Not just sleep, but emotional rest and freedom from stress. I haven't done a very good job at managing that lately. I didn't mean to get so personal, just thought I would give a quick Noah update. I will post again after Wednesday's treatment, either Wednesday night or Thursday morning. Thank you for continuing to follow us and to God be the glory!

* John preached this past Sunday at our church; if you would like to watch that message you can do so here. I'm very proud to be his wife and I am thankful for the work God does in his life. :)