He Can Make a Way...

This is David- Leading up to Friday, the kids have handled the anticipation of separation rather well, until the night before treatment at least.  Abigail and Andrew shed many tears with the thought of being away from each other and snuggled quite a bit on the floor of our room (where they slept the last few nights).  While there were tears, we did our best to instill in our kids the mindset of viewing all of this as an adventure and a battle.  Our hope is to build in them an attitude of not feeling discouraged or defeated before even beginning their treatment, but to go into it with an excitement and anticipation, knowing it is temporary and will pass, so while on the journey to enjoy its nuances.  Hopefully, this week goes well, they are able to see God's presence in the midst of everything, enjoy the differences outside of their normal routine, and realize it was kind of fun (especially on this first one, since this will leave an impression in their minds with which they will interpret all future treatments).

Getting in some last minute snuggles...

This is Kristi-  On Wednesday there was a time of prayer for Andrew before school.  Seeing 100+ people show up to pray for and support our boy (and our family) was an incredible reminder that Andrew's Army is strong and in full effect as we pray to the One who is the author of healing, hope, and comfort!

Wouldn't be complete without donuts with green icing!  Thank you Lauren B!!!

Check out these paper dolls that many of the Campbell Elementary students colored as their representation of being a member of Andrew's Army and in support of Pediatric Cancer Awareness month, donated money to our favorite foundation, Triumph Over Kid Cancer!

This cutie also participate in the morning of prayer before heading off to her school!

Andrew and his precious teacher!  LOVE HER!

The day prior, I had been asking the Lord to show me His hand in the details because I was getting weary (just mentally and physically exhausted) and the "what if" monster was getting loud.  Wednesday prayer meeting was just the reminder I needed and then God gave us one of those hugs that served as his own personal signature written across the sky.

This rainbow appeared out of no where...  there wasn't a drop or rain cloud in the sky!  As we began praying, a second rainbow appeared!  These rainbows served as a powerful reminder that God can make a way where there appears to be no way.  There are so many stories in the bible that remind us of this truth, consider how he delivered Daniel from the lion's den, allowed David to defeat Goliath with just a sling shot and a stone, parted the Red Sea for the Israelites when they were pressed on every side, opened Sarah's barren womb, fed 5,000 people with just a few loaves and fish, called Abraham to sacrifice Isaac and then provided a ram in his place, and best of all, when Jesus defeated sin and death through the cross!

Here is a pic of that powerful reminder that God doesn't need rain to make a rainbow, nor does He need a roadmap to heal our boy!

Then on Thursday night, Andrew couldn't wait to attend a surprise birthday party for his best, best, best friend who was turning 82 years old, Mr. Alan.  Mr. Alan had surgery last week and has been experiencing some complications that kept him from being able to attend his own surprise party, so we brought the party to him!  We had an amazing time of celebrating a man that God hand picked to befriend Andrew and literally love him like his own.  These two have a relationship that is impossible to explain, you really just have to watch them together to even be able to scratch the surface.  When Andrew heard Mr. Alan was in pain (like he was) he would just weep and beg God to heal him.  Both Alan and Andrew are mighty men of God (just 74 years apart), who know suffering all to intimately.  For those who don't know Mr. Alan's story, he lost his first wife and two of his children to Huntington's disease and now he and Andrew are temporarily "pain buddies" as they minister to one another through their physical pain.  We prayed, cried, and laughed as we celebrated Mr. Alan's birthday and reminded one another of God's goodness and faithfulness.

We got Mr. Alan a new christian book and Andrew picked out a stuffed deer (one of Alan's favorite animals) and matching keychains.  The keychains have a compass (since God is both of their compasses in life) and a tag that says "best friends" on it.

They had a play date the night before (on Wednesday) as a little reward for Andrew enduring 2 long days of pokes and scans.  They built legos...

 And watched a movie...

UPDATE ON ANDREW- His treatment yesterday lasted about 5 hours.  They gave him 4 different types of nausea medication prior to his treatment beginning because the amino acids that they administer to protect his kidneys from the radiation can make you super sick.  They ran the amino acids for 30 minutes before they started the prrt therapy (radiation).  The prrt therapy ran for 30 minutes and then the next 3-4 hours was finishing the amino acids infusion.  With an hour left, Andrew started to feel pretty nauseous, so they paused the infusion for 5-10 minutes and that seemed to take care of it.  PRAISE THE LORD, Andrew didn't throw up then and hasn't thrown up since.  Outside of being pretty wiped out, he feels pretty good.

Our brave boy getting his 1st round of prrt!

My battle gear!  Love my new shirt and zebra belt!

Last night, he and David stayed at my parents house (they live in our neighborhood), since he especially can't be around Grace and Abby.  He was feeling pretty defeated last night as was missing us a lot, but he is handling this journey with much courage and bravery!  Andrew had a scan first thing this morning to make sure the radiation went to all of the tumors and by God's grace that appears to be the case.  David and Andrew are now at my in-laws house in The Woodlands until Wednesday.  They are going there because it makes it harder on all of us knowing Andrew is so close, but we can't be with him.  For some reason, him being in The Woodlands is far enough away where we can't just pop over to see him, but not too far to where he feels inaccessible.  Also, my in-laws have the perfect accommodations for this leg of the journey.  Andrew sent this text this morning, so it gives you some insight as to his heart.

While he misses us a bunch (and we miss him A BUNCH too), we continue to praise the Lord that his spirits are still good.

PRAYER REQUESTS-  At the consultation with the team of dr's administering prrt to Andrew (more about how amazing they have been in a minute) they shared that based on the scans they did prior to prrt his tumors (especially the lymph nodes) are taking up a good bit of glucose (what the cancer needs to feed itself) meaning they are probably more aggressive than we had originally thought or it's possible they have become more aggressive.  This was sort of scary to hear, but we are praying (please join us in praying) that every cancer cell would gobble up the radiation and not just get sick, but that they would die and stay dead.  At that same consultation we learned that the cancer has not spread to his lungs or bones which is a GIANT PRAISE.  They did see some spots on his lungs that look like they are recovering from an infection verses a new met and that correlates with his elevated white cell count.  Please also pray that we would all continue to remain in good spirits as we continue to choose joy despite missing each other terribly.  Please cover us in prayer of the next week!

***The dr's and nurses at Excel Diagnostics have been absolutely amazing on so many levels, starting with the mere fact they agreed to treat Andrew because they had to get special approval/compassionate use to do so.  Andrew had to get an IV placed for 4 days of scans and treatment, so the nurse that worked most closely with him was so proud of him for being so brave that she got him a Target gift card and told him to buy himself a Harry Potter toy (since she knows he loves Harry Potter).  After she had to stick him twice to try to get the IV placed on the second day, he was crying from being discouraged and it hurt, so she bent down in front of him and affirmed him for being so brave, gave him a long hug and told him she loved him.  It was so sweet, it made me cry too!  The dr's have been there to serve us on every level possible from answering my million questions, taking phenomenal care of Andrew, and above all... demonstrating a level of hope that we have soooo needed (a huge answer to prayer)!

Check out these precious dolls some dear friends had made for the kids!

Your faithful prayers have been heard and answered in so many ways, please keep the prayers coming because they matter to God and to us, every single one matters!

#BUTGOD  #FIGHTLIKEAROSS