Sometimes, I really, really hate WordPress. I had just finished up a blog post when the damn thing crashed, thus wiping out the post…
Oh well, I’ll attempt to recreate in the next few paragraphs.
After what seemed like an eternity Ben is finally scheduled to receive Rituxan next week. He will receive three rounds of treatment over a three week period. Rituxan is a chemo that is normally used in non-Hodgkins lymphoma. It destroys white blood cells. In this case, we need Ben’s immune system to be knocked down some so that his body doesn’t reject the 3F8. That, my friends, is a paradox I’ve never fully come to grips with. (Paradox, for the benefit of some folks in Canal Winchester, can be found in a dictionary. Those can be found in libraries…)
Giving a kid high doses of chemo has been the standard treatment for the last 80 years. Some of the chemos Ben received, like vincristine, have been in use that long! Ive often wondered why we don’t have more targeted drugs. Of course, part of that is because the money for pediatric cancer research is just not there.
I saw a great presentation the other day about how much money COG gets for research. It was pretty sad but it also had some helpful suggestions on where we could get extra funding. If I can find the link to it, I will post it for your benefit, at least for folks outside of Canal Winchester who can read and make intelligent assumptions between cause and effect.
So, about the kids. They are doing really well. Ben is thriving in school, making our decision to hold him back look like a good one. His teacher labels him a superstar, which is pretty fantastic in my book.
Madeline, too, is doing great. She still loves to be a social butterfly, preferring her friends over school and parents at times. However, her last report card showed that she had above average scores on many of her subjects, so I’m pretty excited knowing I have to extra intelligent kids!
One thing I’ve learned over the past two and a half years is that no matter how much Satan throws at us, like using certain people in Canal Winchester to try and ruin our lives, is that God has our back in every situation. He walks with us and, if we let Him, will shoulder that burden. My walk with God has only started very recently and I’m instilling in Ben and Madeline as much truth about God as I can so they, too, know that God is sovereign and the evil little things and people in Canal Winchester that try to destroy us aren’t bigger than Him.
Despite Satan and his minions here on earth, we will overcome this and the other trials he puts us through.
God bless,
Matt
Ben is looking for some Minecraft players to hang out with. If any of you have kids who play Minecraft, let me know.
