Andrew's "Sooner than Later" Post

Some of you may remember posts here on this blog about Andrew's battle with cancer this year... Andrew received some difficult news regarding an MRI: the cancer has spread into other parts of his body including, apparently, his spine. If the spine in fact has a cancerous tumor on it, it will not be operable. Andrew and Grace have decided to take a different approach to this next phase. Instead of trying to find ways to kill the cancer, they are going to find ways to enjoy the quality of life he has now--to make the most of what remaining days God grants him.

Please pray that they'll have great wisdom in discerning treatment methods, pain-relief methods, and moreover that God would continue to be magnified in their lives as The Greatest Treasure... for to die is gain.

Tomorrow Rhett gets to come home!

Today I received the following update from Amanda:

Today was pretty uneventful. That is good news in the Fuller family! My Dad went with me to the hospital in case Rhett could come home today, but when we got there they decided to go ahead and do the 24 hour EEG at the hospital so when he is done with that test he gets to come home! They will read the test and give the results to my pediatrician, who I will see on Monday. He had only one culture grow something back that was abnormal, but since it was from the blood draw at Silver Cross they redid it and the second time it came back normal. Whether or not he had an infection, I do not know. Either way he was treated with the antibiotics and now he is testing fine. They pulled his I.V. today, which thrilled me. I was so happy to see him with nothing stuck in his body. He looked better today then yesterday and today he didn't shake at all. We are so happy that everything is seeming to be better and all right, just pray with us that the shaking stays at a minimum and does not gradually get worse. That is what I will look for in Rhett. If the shaking starts to get worse and worse I think I will take him to the dr. before it gets bad enough to go into a seizure again. That was probably my mistake last Saturday. When I saw the shaking get worse, I should have called right away, but instead I just thought I would call the dr. on Monday. I never realized that it would lead to a seizure. Another test that is still pending is the PKU tests. That is another test that would result in a diet change for Rhett if it came back positive. We are praying that comes back soon so we can have an answer and not wonder about why it was abnormal. Connie thinks this could all have resulted from my being strep B positive the last 2 pregnancies and not this time. Strep B does not hurt the mom but can cause serious problems to a newborn if the mom isn't treated with antibiotics before she delivers. I was not treated this time and the neonatologists at the other hospital said that this was their top suspicion as to why Rhett had symptoms of infection. I'm not sure why they could not just test him for strep B. I hope if that is the case that it is out of his system and we are done with this 2 week chapter in his life. Please continue to pray that everything goes well as we bring him home and that God will give us a peace about Rhett and that I won't be the "nervous, new mom" the neurologist implied I was. Thanks again for the kind emails, sweet phone calls, and cards. I thank God I have such a good family and friends!! Love, Amanda

I praise the Lord for my mom (shown in the picture here with Rhett) and all the sacrifices she has made for all of us kids.

Rhett Update

Yesterday they put Rhett on a continuous EEG while being video monitored at Children's Memorial. If he has an observable seizure during the next 24 hours they'll be able to cross-reference back to that point in the EEG's recorded data. After that, they'll have run out of tests and will likely send him home saying, "he just has to grow out of it." If that's the case, that will be extremely stressful for Jon and Amanda not knowing if/when he'll have another seizure or about the severity of it. Please pray for wisdom with the testing and supernatural insight for the doctors.