Praise God! Brent is Cancer-Free

Our prayers have been answered... in exactly the way we were hoping for! It's official! Brent is cancer-free! They called today and told us the good news. They said that the results from his bone marrow test couldn't possibly have been any better. The apologized over and over for not getting this info to us sooner. There was some mistake with how the file was coded or something. Who cares... all I heard is "Kelli, your husband no longer has the Philadelphia chromosome". I could have dropped the phone, peed in my pants or a number of other things. But instead... I just stood there, eventually picking my jaw up off the floor.

I asked about the platelets being high. Luckily, Dr Wender was standing right there, so she asked him. He said not to give it a 2nd thought until his next Dr appt. If they're still high at that time, then they'll look into it more. Those numbers can be affected by something as simple as the food you eat... so just because they are high one day, doesn't mean they'll be high the next day.

At this point... all I can say, is please drop to your knees and thank God for His healing hand.

FYI - Brent will need to continue taking the chemo pills on a daily basis. He'll also continue to be checked on a regular basis (monthly for now, and then they'll spread out more as time goes on). He will also have to continue having bone marrow tests regularly (every 3 months for the first year, and then I think every 6 months after that).

Recap: Brent is CANCER-FREE!

Update on Brent (or maybe not really)

OK, so I'm trying to keep my cool and not get frustrated, but it's not working very well. We went to Sioux City today for Brent's appt thinking that we were going to be getting the results from his Bone Marrow Test (which he had done 3 weeks ago). Well, not only did we not get the results, but we didn't even get to see a Dr. Can you say frustrating?!?

The nurse that checked Brent's BP and all that jazz mentioned something about that his white blood cell counts had gone up just a little (not an alarming amount), and also that his platelettes were high. (If any of you know what that means, please let me know.) I asked if that was a bad thing, and the nurse just said "They were in the high range". Great! Thanks for clarifying (sense the sarcasm). The nurse was going to have someone call us with some answers. I figure we've been patient for 3 weeks. If we haven't heard by tomorrow... our patience runs out, and they'll be hearing from us.

We also found out that the study isn't going to cover everything that we thought they were originally. That makes me a bit nervous. They'll be getting us a list of what they are covering and what they're not. Luckily, we have amazing insurance through Interstates. God really did know what he was doing when he put me at Interstates (not that I doubted that... ever)!

So basically, this really isn't any kind of update. All I can ask right now is that you pray that God gives us however patience He really thinks we should have.

Thanks for checking in!
Brent & Kelli, Karter and Brody

Haircuts

**Update** OK, so I apparently can't tell my kids apart. Let me clarify. While it's tru that Karter changes and gets smarter by the day... I may have actually been talking about Brody in the first sentence below. Just so you all know, Karter has actually been able to roll over for quite some time not. :-)

So here are our boys. Karter has really changed a ton lately. He's getting smarter by the day. He rolls all over now, and he loves to watch and laugh at his big brother. I would say the proof is in the picture... Monkey see, Monkey do!

We started putting Brody in his bouncer. He loves being on his legs. Karter loved this thing when he was a baby, too! In fact, he really wants to climb in it now, but he hasn't climbed all the way in... yet. We're trying the "this toy is for babies and you're a big boy" angle.

Brody got his first real haircut. Ashley is so good with the kids! we love her! Brody did very well. He sat so nice! Of course there was the occasional head bob, but he is only 5 months, ya know.

So here is the before:

And here is the after:

Can you even believe it? Isn't he such a little man now? It's crazy! He's getting so big already! All of a sudden, he figured out the whole "eating" thing. He eats his cereal and fruit like a true champ!

As for the RSV bug that the boys had... Karter has officially kicked the bug. He's doing much, much better. Brody, is doing better, but we're still dealing with his cough. It's not nearly as bad as it was, but it still wakes him up at night. I've heard that they can have some of the symptoms for up to 8 weeks, so wer're getting there.

Brent has an appt at the Cancer Center on Tuesday afternoon. This is when we find the results of the bone marrow test. Please pray for us as we have high hopes for this appt.

Another prayer request - Please pray for my friend Debi and her family. She just had her baby about a week ago. Landyn was early and was having problems with his lungs. They were soon transferred to Sioux Falls, and Landyn is in the NICU. It sounds like he's doing pretty well, but they could still use our prayers. Debi had a c-section, so please pray that she recovers as she deals with the stress of having a newborn in the hospital and an older son (I'm thinking he's 3) also. They live in Le Mars, so also please pray for safe travel for them.

Have a great rest of the weekend!

Brent, Kelli, Karter and Brody

Lean Hard

I found this poem today and wanted to share it. I think it's awesome.

LEAN HARD
by Mary Prentiss Smith

Child of My love, lean hard,
And let Me feel the pressure of thy care;
I know the burden, child, I shaped it:
Poised it in My own hand, made no proportion
In its weight to thine unaided strength;
For even as I laid it on, I said
I shall be near, and while he leans on Me,
This burden shall be Mine, not his.

Roast

Get a calendar and a pen. Write this down...

"Thursday, March 12th, 2009, Kelli Hooyer made a roast... and it was good."

For those of you who are wondering, I've tried many times to make roast, and it's always disgusting. I can admit this. It's not new for me. I'm not a cook. Yet tonight's roast was pretty tasty, if I do say so myself.

Brent's mashed potatoes and green beans were good, too, but that's not unusual.

That's all I have.
Kelli

Lord, Please Make Me Patient.

Well, today was the bone marrow test. It went well. Brent has been in quite a bit of pain tonight. There seems to be quite a bit more pain this time than there was the last time. He will be going back to work tomorrow (if all goes according to plan), but he will be on light duty. He's not supposed to do any heavy lifting.

Unfortunately I can not give you any results yet. In fact, we will not know any results until our next appt on the 24th. That seems like forever away, but I'm sure it will go quickly.

The boys are doing very well. I ended up taking Brody back in to the dr yesterday. They prescribed nebulizer treatments, and they've really seemed to help! Supposedly I got up with Brody one time during the night last night, but I honestly don't remember it at all. That must mean he wasn't hacking too badly, right? Today was his first day back at Gretchen's, and she said he had a pretty good day.

OK, now that my boys are all sleeping, I guess I can just as well go to bed, too. Tomorrow is a big day... I might actually get a full day of work in. (Seriously, I'm so thankful for my job!)

Sleep sweet, everyone. Thanks for the prayers!
K
(Warning: I'm not even proofing this before I hit "Publish Post".

This Week's Prayer Requests

Hey all. It's Sunday night, and what better way to start out a week than to ask people for their prayers. So, I have 3 prayer requests...

1 - My baby boys (OK, so Karter's not a baby, but he'll always be one of my baby boys). Karter had RSV last week. He's doing much better, but please pray that he only continues to improve. He still has the cough, but he's getting that sparkle back in his eyes.

Brody came down with RSV over the weekend. It's scary in any child, but especially in an infant. His oxygen levels were good this morning, so they just sent us home with no treatment. Just lots of lovin from his mommy and daddy. Karter hates it when Brody cries, so this is tough on both of them. Please pray that things don't get worse for Brody.

2 - Brent has his bone marrow test on Wednesday. Please pray that everything goes well, and that there's not too much discomfort after the procedure.

3 - Please pray for my dear friend, Helen. Her Dad passed away on Friday afternoon. He had a lot of health issues, and Helen has been very involved with his health care.


OK, so here's a couple pictures... just cuz I love to show pictures of my boys! Brody rolls all over now. We tried giving him some cereal, but he wasn't a fan. Maybe we'll try again after he's feeling better. Karter loved having Brody lay by him on the couch (aka "towch"). The 2nd picture is just Karter being goofy (imagine that) :-)



Thanks for all your prayers! Isn't it amazing to be loved by a God that hears every single prayer?

Hope you all have a great week!
Kelli