10 days and Counting

 I am writing to give you all another quick update. Andrew continues to amaze us with his strength, energy, health and joyful spirit. We are 10 days away from round 3 of his chemo treatment and we have not experienced any side effect this time being home. Andrew had his blood drawn two days ago and those results showed that his counts are up again and he is "in the clear'" from hopefully getting any sickness and returning to the hospital. He continues to eat lots, sleep through the night,  jump out of his pack and play (a new, not so wonderful thing that he has learned), and just amaze us with his humor and life. We are so thankful to God for His mercy on our little man.
 My mom and stepdad will come back into town on Wednesday and Rick and I will pack our bags to return to UVA on Thursday at 10am. Andrew will have a three day chemo treatment. The chemos are ones he has already had so don't anticipate any major side effects. Please continue to pray for that situation. We will have two more rounds of chemo and than another scan to determine whether or not surgery is the next step. We are guessing that it will probably happen sometime around April, but can't be sure the timing. The interesting thing is that the cough that we originally took him in for has returned in a lesser degree. He has been coughing off and on at night and at times throughout the day. It is nothing that we are concerned about, but it is very interesting. This is because our ongologist told us that the cough could have been caused by the tumor pushing against the lung. When it pushed it would cause Andrew to cough since it was an abnormal lump in his chest. The doctor also told us that when the lung became "used" to having the tumor there, the cough went away because his body learned to adjust. His other thought was that the cough might return when the tumor began to retreat because the lung would then expand again and have to adjust to breathing "normal" again. This could all be theory, but part of me rejoices in the coughing, thinking maybe that wretched tumor might be disappearing.  Praise God for treatments that will help my boy have a long life without too many lasting side effects. We again are not completely out of the woods yet, but we sure are closer.
  We are doing okay here on the home front. The snow has kept us homebound  and that can drive anyone a little crazy. We haven't had church in 3 weeks so that has taken its toll on our spiritual well being. We long for the Word to remind us of God's faithfulness and love as well as the fellowship of other believers to share our trials and joys with. Our kids are doing well and reminding us of our need for grace and forgiveness. Our weaknesses even in our daily, normal lives bring out our need for a Savior that lifts our eyes to Someone in control. Someone who loves each of us and knows our hearts and needs. Thank you for praying for us. That is the greatest gift you all can give to our family right now. We need it often and we love each of you for your love and support.  Please pray for the next week at home together. Pray that we might enjoy each other and love each other well. Pray for Andrew's third round of chemo....his time in the hospital, the side effects, and his heart through it all. Please pray for the other kids while we are away. Pray for their little hearts to be secure and know they are loved. Please pray that transitions will be mild and they will get back on track when we come home. Pray for Rick and I in our marriage that we will draw closer together and make wise family decisions. And please pray for this tumor to be retreating especially from Andrew's spinal cord...that maybe we wouldn't even need to have surgery to remove any of it.