Highlight: Joseph did very well with his day of fasting and had no adverse reactions to his treatment.

Highlight: Joseph’s neutrophils (type of blood cell that fights infection) are still very low – so low that he cannot receive part of his treatment until they come up. He is also very susceptible to infection.

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Joseph did very well on Monday. He was very interested in playing on Monday morning and really was not interested in food. When we went to the hospital he was again happy to see all his doctor and nurse friends. After we completed all the morning tests and paperwork I took Joseph in the baby buggy for a long walk. He fell asleep almost immediately and did not wake up until just minutes before his time in the surgical theatre. He once again slept longer in recovery than expected but once awake was soon ready to go and wanted to walk out of recovery on his own.

So Monday was a great day for Joseph – especially with his need to fast all morning. Thank you for praying for him (and me).

Prayer Request: That Joseph’s neutrophils will recover by next week. He needs them for protection from infection and in order to move on to the next phase of treatment.

It was during this visit for treatment that I was able to review the next phase of treatment with the consultants (US specialists). So far Joseph has had a very good response to all his treatment and his long term prgonosis is good with regard to Leukaemia. However, we had a talk about the percentages and the things that can work out in ways we would not like. So even though Joseph is doing well there are some long term side effects that could become a problem and, though not a high risk, there is still the possibility that Joseph would have a reoccurrence of Leukaemia, even after all his treatment.

Now to put all of that in perspective, fifty years ago a diagnosis of Leukaemia was a terrible thing. There really was no effective treatment and children would die within a short time of being diagnosed. Then some treatments began to be developed but almost all children would get the Leukaemia again within a year of treatment. Slowly over the decades lessons were learned and treatments improved until now children diagnosed with the version of Leukaemia that Joseph has have a very good chance of not just surviving the disease but thriving in later life. So Joseph has good “odds” of a full long term recovery, but there is still a real risk of serious issues both from side effects and reoccurrence of the disease.

We feel so blessed that Joseph is facing Leukemia at this time in history. He has already benefitted from so much medical progress. Yet all medical treatment depends on the response of the disease to treatment and how well the patient can tolerate the treatment. Again, we feel so blessed to see Joseph carried along through his treatment by so many prayers. As wonderful as all of this has been, there is always that tinge of uncertainly about Joseph’s future.

What a contrast to the new life in Jesus. I don’t have to hope that it will all work out or that the “odds” are in my favor because of the things that I do.  I have the clear words of the Bible – that if I belong to Jesus I have eternal life – for certain – with no lingering fear or doubt. And that is the source of our peace and comfort for Joseph’s future.

And the witness is this, that God gave unto us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath the life; he that hath not the Son of God hath not the life. These things have I written unto you, that ye may know that ye have eternal life, even unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God. 1 John 5:11-13