Saturday, December 9, 2006

"Every Joy or Trial..."


Our beloved Joel started his chemotherapy on Thursday evening around 9:00 PM. So far he has done well and has not had any side effects. He is resting well and eating well, although he has resisted eating at times. It is very important that he eats well and gets as much nutrition as possible as he endures the chemo. The plan as of today is to continue in the hospital doing the therapy until Tuesday evening. Lord willing, on Tuesday we will bring the little blessing home.

We are so grateful for the wonderful outpouring of love that we have received from so many of our friends and family. We thank you so much for the calls, visits, gifts, encouragement and most of all, prayers.

We are facing 15 weeks of a therapy program that will involve several hospital stays for chemo and many visits to the clinic for monitoring and testing etc. He most likely will also need blood transfusions during this process. We will keep you informed, Lord willing, with the details for those of you who might choose to give blood.

After the 15 week induction, we will then have several more months of treatment that will involve bone marrow transplants. The whole program is scheduled to last around 7 months.

The Sunday before we entered the hospital, before we knew what we were about to face, Caleb and Daniel, Joel's twin brothers, picked out the following song to sing at our home church meeting: "Like a River Glorious". Here is the last verse:

Every joy or trial falleth from above, traced upon our dial by the Sun of Love;
We may trust him fully all for us to do;
They who trust Him wholly find Him wholly true.
Stayed upon Jehovah, Hearts are fully blest-
Finding, as He promised, Perfect peace and rest.

The Lord has used the words of this song to encourage Cindy's and my heart during this time. We know that the Lord Jehovah is faithful, and will see us through.

1 comment:

Dawn Claunch said...

I am praying for the health and complete healing of your sweet baby! God is our Jehovah Rapha and He can heal!!! We saw a young boy (4) in our church completely healed of a tumor in the abdomen. It was just gone...a miracle from God. I will pray for God to perform a like miracle in Joel's case. To God be the glory no matter what!
Dawn ><>