Joel's Journey: "God is our refuge..."

Sunday, December 17, 2006

"God is our refuge..."

Joel spent the weekend taking medicine and receiving his shot each night to help increase his white blood cell count to fight infection. He was up and outside at times but he was also resting at intervals during the day. Tomorrow he is scheduled to have another CBC check to monintor his blood counts. He does not seem to have alot of strength. We pray that his appetite will increase so that he can gain back as much strenghth as possible before the next round of chemo.

Adjustments are being made in the day to day routine of the Morris family, but it is not easy. The older children and dad made a trip to our home church meeting, while mom stayed home with Joel and the younger children. Baby Mercy went with dad and had a great time.

One scripture that is encouraging to us right now is Psalm 46:1:

"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."

We seek to rest in this truth as we walk through this difficult time. Please pray for Joel to be strong and for the Lord Jesus to heal his little body according to His will.

1 comment:

Teena said...: My heart hurts for you and I am lifting you up to the Father. Please know that I am reading over your blog and will continue to pray for Joel each day.

I am also praying for your other children and mom & dad too~

may God continue to give all of you and especially Joel the strength he needs.

will be checking in often. HUGS

blessings,
Teena
mom to 1/2 dozen; December 27, 2006 at 1:39 PM

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Joel's Story

Joel, our 11th of 13 and a twin of Josiah, at age 3 was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma, a childhood cancer, on December 6th, 2006. Joel had three perfect years of health and he and Josiah celebrated their 3rd birthday Sept. 13th, 2006. The first of Oct. Joel started having unexplained fevers for a few days and would return to active play. After the fourth round of fevers we took him to our family Dr. which they said his iron was low, so we treated that for a few weeks and took him back only to have his hemo. showing lower than before. We were referred to a hematologists and saw him a few weeks with blood checks twice a week. At a visit on Dec. 4th we showed the Dr. the bumps, (which were tumors but we did not know at the time) on Joel's head and he was very concerned and we were told we needed to admit him immediately and start extensive tests the following day. Joel went through rigorous testing and then the dreaded results were given. Joel was at a stage IV the most extensive stage, but we were hopeful that the Lord would use the means of Chemotherapy treatments to restore Joel's body. Joel endured 8 1/2 days in the hospital, came home for Christmas, and returned for his second round of chemo Jan. 3, 2007. Joel had a seizure that night after midnight and went into a coma due to a tumor bleeding in his head area and causing his brain to swell. After tests the following days, the Dr. declared Joel "brain dead" and took us to court to force us to take Joel off life support, as we did not agree with the medical field's definition of death. Our family sought to stand with the scripture, "life is in the blood,"and until Joel's heart quit beating naturally, he was living. We were making arrangements to bring him home and on January 23, 2007 his little heart stopped beating and he went to be with the Lord Jesus in heaven. Our lives are changed forever. God is faithful in the midst of this trial and we look with great hope to be with him someday.