Look at what is behind Jedi in this picture the beauty, is there any doubt that God is watching over him right then and now
Prayers for Nephew
- Thread starter MGMIAM
- Start date
MGMIAM
Gold $$ Contributor
A day full of fevers
Journal entry by Dianna Schaller — 11 hours ago
Today was filled with fevers, more blood cultures and resting. Jedi’s ANC this morning was basically the same as yesterday. The rest of his labs were stable. Since his fevers have persisted (highest at 103F) throughout the day the plan is to do CT scan of chest, abdomen and pelvis tomorrow to check for abscess or any other obvious cause of infection. Depending on what the scan shows we will talk about proceeding with the second round of chemotherapy, possibly at a as lower dose of his ANC does not climb.
There were some tough moments today as Jedi shared some of his fears regarding his symptoms being caused by the cancer getting worse. He worries at times that he will not get better. We shared a good cry and then had a great talk about worry and anxiety. I shared one of my favorite verses with him: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:6-7. We pray a lot for that peace
We talked about how our minds get plagued with “what-ifs” and how they do not bring us to any place good. God wants us to bring all those thoughts to Him instead of letting them twirl and swirl around in our minds. So that’s just what we did; we took all those fears and anxieties and we brought them to the Lord in prayer. We gave them up to Him and His perfect plan for Jedi. Tomorrow we will do it again, because that’s what His Word tells us to do: “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
1 Peter 5:7
Thank you all for your support, your encouragement, and your prayers. We see and feel them all. I think Jedi says it best tonight when he said he’s got “Love gifts”. When I asked him what he meant by that he said, “You know the people we treasure like gifts!” Yes, my sweet son, we do have a lot of “love gifts”, and we surely treasure them all!
Journal entry by Dianna Schaller — 11 hours ago
Today was filled with fevers, more blood cultures and resting. Jedi’s ANC this morning was basically the same as yesterday. The rest of his labs were stable. Since his fevers have persisted (highest at 103F) throughout the day the plan is to do CT scan of chest, abdomen and pelvis tomorrow to check for abscess or any other obvious cause of infection. Depending on what the scan shows we will talk about proceeding with the second round of chemotherapy, possibly at a as lower dose of his ANC does not climb.
There were some tough moments today as Jedi shared some of his fears regarding his symptoms being caused by the cancer getting worse. He worries at times that he will not get better. We shared a good cry and then had a great talk about worry and anxiety. I shared one of my favorite verses with him: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:6-7. We pray a lot for that peace
We talked about how our minds get plagued with “what-ifs” and how they do not bring us to any place good. God wants us to bring all those thoughts to Him instead of letting them twirl and swirl around in our minds. So that’s just what we did; we took all those fears and anxieties and we brought them to the Lord in prayer. We gave them up to Him and His perfect plan for Jedi. Tomorrow we will do it again, because that’s what His Word tells us to do: “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
1 Peter 5:7
Thank you all for your support, your encouragement, and your prayers. We see and feel them all. I think Jedi says it best tonight when he said he’s got “Love gifts”. When I asked him what he meant by that he said, “You know the people we treasure like gifts!” Yes, my sweet son, we do have a lot of “love gifts”, and we surely treasure them all!
MGMIAM
Gold $$ Contributor
Victories
Journal entry by Dianna Schaller — 12 hours ago
As today comes to a close, my mind is swirling with thoughts of everything that has happened. It was quite the day of events and information! We started the morning off with preparing for Jedi’s CT scan. He needed to drink contrast prior to the scan, so it was pretty much go time as soon as his eyes opened. He was a trooper as usual and got it down with very little issue. The scan went well, and we returned to our room in time to get a phone call from Madison. The bone marrow transplant doctor called to inform us of the results from the blood typing. She gave us the unfortunate news that none of Jedi’s brothers are a match. As I said before, siblings typically have a 1 in 4 chance of being a perfect match. Because Jedi has 5 brothers his chances of a match were better than most. The doctor said even the lab director examined the typing, because it was so unusual. She said it was just a case of bad luck. Well, I don’t believe in luck, and I trust that God has a good plan for this, too. I believe this even more since the worldly odds are so against us. The doctor then informed us that there are at least two excellent unrelated donor matches from the bone marrow donor registry! All thanks to God for this news! The registry has already been contacted, and they need to contact the doctors to evaluate if they are still eligible and willing to donate. Please help us fervently pray for one of these donors to pass the tests and be willing to donate!
Not long after the call from Madison the oncology doctor and PA came to visit us in our room. They informed us of the results from the CT scan. No obvious infection/abscess was noted, which we are thankful for. It did show signs that his cancer is still active with enlarged liver, spleen, and lymph nodes. They are all smaller than his previous scan so that is positive news! With this information, and the fact that his fevers are not resolving with antibiotics, they are attributing his fevers to the cancer. He also has a mass in his chest that grew from the last scan. Obviously, this was not great news, however, the doctors and the radiologist think, because of the location, it could very well be rebound thymic hyperplasia. At this point, with no concerning symptoms associated with it, we will just keep an eye on it.
Another bit of good news we received today was that his ANC was up to 530. That was a really good jump from yesterday. We are hopefully it will be even higher tomorrow morning.
All this being said, the plan is to start Jedi’s second round of chemotherapy tomorrow morning. The risk of letting the cancer go untreated any longer is greater than the risk of a lower ANC at this point. Please pray with us that Jedi’s body responds well to the chemo again.
A huge thank you goes out to our Schaller family for organizing an Independence Day party for Jedi before he starts chemo. They have all been really great about isolating with us, so they can help with the other boys as needed. Because of this the doctor said it would be okay to have some family time. The child life specialists here at Gundersen helped make it special with patriotic favors! They are so awesome! Make sure to check out the pictures
We know that all these victories only come through our gracious and merciful Lord. I came across this victory verse and then the following explanation. I pray, as we make all these plans for Jedi’s treatment, that we continue to trust God and His will for our lives.
“The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the LORD” (Proverbs 21:31)
The writer is convinced that, even though the horse is made ready for the day of the battle, it is God who gives them victory. This is true when we read the biblical history recorded in the Old Testament. Many battles have been won miraculously with less human efforts signifying that God played a major role in those victories. Moreover, despite their weakness, these battles are won when people obeyed God. Hence the author says, all the preparation for the battle can be made, but ultimately it is God who can deliver! Even today, we often face many challenges in our Christian journey and see ourselves as weak and helpless compared to those problems. So, we make all the preparations, but let us be confident that if we obey God by doing His will, God will give us strength to overcome or face any troublesome situation. Because, it is God who gives us victory. Amen!
Journal entry by Dianna Schaller — 12 hours ago
As today comes to a close, my mind is swirling with thoughts of everything that has happened. It was quite the day of events and information! We started the morning off with preparing for Jedi’s CT scan. He needed to drink contrast prior to the scan, so it was pretty much go time as soon as his eyes opened. He was a trooper as usual and got it down with very little issue. The scan went well, and we returned to our room in time to get a phone call from Madison. The bone marrow transplant doctor called to inform us of the results from the blood typing. She gave us the unfortunate news that none of Jedi’s brothers are a match. As I said before, siblings typically have a 1 in 4 chance of being a perfect match. Because Jedi has 5 brothers his chances of a match were better than most. The doctor said even the lab director examined the typing, because it was so unusual. She said it was just a case of bad luck. Well, I don’t believe in luck, and I trust that God has a good plan for this, too. I believe this even more since the worldly odds are so against us. The doctor then informed us that there are at least two excellent unrelated donor matches from the bone marrow donor registry! All thanks to God for this news! The registry has already been contacted, and they need to contact the doctors to evaluate if they are still eligible and willing to donate. Please help us fervently pray for one of these donors to pass the tests and be willing to donate!
Not long after the call from Madison the oncology doctor and PA came to visit us in our room. They informed us of the results from the CT scan. No obvious infection/abscess was noted, which we are thankful for. It did show signs that his cancer is still active with enlarged liver, spleen, and lymph nodes. They are all smaller than his previous scan so that is positive news! With this information, and the fact that his fevers are not resolving with antibiotics, they are attributing his fevers to the cancer. He also has a mass in his chest that grew from the last scan. Obviously, this was not great news, however, the doctors and the radiologist think, because of the location, it could very well be rebound thymic hyperplasia. At this point, with no concerning symptoms associated with it, we will just keep an eye on it.
Another bit of good news we received today was that his ANC was up to 530. That was a really good jump from yesterday. We are hopefully it will be even higher tomorrow morning.
All this being said, the plan is to start Jedi’s second round of chemotherapy tomorrow morning. The risk of letting the cancer go untreated any longer is greater than the risk of a lower ANC at this point. Please pray with us that Jedi’s body responds well to the chemo again.
A huge thank you goes out to our Schaller family for organizing an Independence Day party for Jedi before he starts chemo. They have all been really great about isolating with us, so they can help with the other boys as needed. Because of this the doctor said it would be okay to have some family time. The child life specialists here at Gundersen helped make it special with patriotic favors! They are so awesome! Make sure to check out the pictures
We know that all these victories only come through our gracious and merciful Lord. I came across this victory verse and then the following explanation. I pray, as we make all these plans for Jedi’s treatment, that we continue to trust God and His will for our lives.
“The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the LORD” (Proverbs 21:31)
The writer is convinced that, even though the horse is made ready for the day of the battle, it is God who gives them victory. This is true when we read the biblical history recorded in the Old Testament. Many battles have been won miraculously with less human efforts signifying that God played a major role in those victories. Moreover, despite their weakness, these battles are won when people obeyed God. Hence the author says, all the preparation for the battle can be made, but ultimately it is God who can deliver! Even today, we often face many challenges in our Christian journey and see ourselves as weak and helpless compared to those problems. So, we make all the preparations, but let us be confident that if we obey God by doing His will, God will give us strength to overcome or face any troublesome situation. Because, it is God who gives us victory. Amen!
Journal entry by Dianna Schaller — 12 hours ago
As today comes to a close, my mind is swirling with thoughts of everything that has happened. It was quite the day of events and information! We started the morning off with preparing for Jedi’s CT scan. He needed to drink contrast prior to the scan, so it was pretty much go time as soon as his eyes opened. He was a trooper as usual and got it down with very little issue. The scan went well, and we returned to our room in time to get a phone call from Madison. The bone marrow transplant doctor called to inform us of the results from the blood typing. She gave us the unfortunate news that none of Jedi’s brothers are a match. As I said before, siblings typically have a 1 in 4 chance of being a perfect match. Because Jedi has 5 brothers his chances of a match were better than most. The doctor said even the lab director examined the typing, because it was so unusual. She said it was just a case of bad luck. Well, I don’t believe in luck, and I trust that God has a good plan for this, too. I believe this even more since the worldly odds are so against us. The doctor then informed us that there are at least two excellent unrelated donor matches from the bone marrow donor registry! All thanks to God for this news! The registry has already been contacted, and they need to contact the doctors to evaluate if they are still eligible and willing to donate. Please help us fervently pray for one of these donors to pass the tests and be willing to donate!
Not long after the call from Madison the oncology doctor and PA came to visit us in our room. They informed us of the results from the CT scan. No obvious infection/abscess was noted, which we are thankful for. It did show signs that his cancer is still active with enlarged liver, spleen, and lymph nodes. They are all smaller than his previous scan so that is positive news! With this information, and the fact that his fevers are not resolving with antibiotics, they are attributing his fevers to the cancer. He also has a mass in his chest that grew from the last scan. Obviously, this was not great news, however, the doctors and the radiologist think, because of the location, it could very well be rebound thymic hyperplasia. At this point, with no concerning symptoms associated with it, we will just keep an eye on it.
Another bit of good news we received today was that his ANC was up to 530. That was a really good jump from yesterday. We are hopefully it will be even higher tomorrow morning.
All this being said, the plan is to start Jedi’s second round of chemotherapy tomorrow morning. The risk of letting the cancer go untreated any longer is greater than the risk of a lower ANC at this point. Please pray with us that Jedi’s body responds well to the chemo again.
A huge thank you goes out to our Schaller family for organizing an Independence Day party for Jedi before he starts chemo. They have all been really great about isolating with us, so they can help with the other boys as needed. Because of this the doctor said it would be okay to have some family time. The child life specialists here at Gundersen helped make it special with patriotic favors! They are so awesome! Make sure to check out the pictures
We know that all these victories only come through our gracious and merciful Lord. I came across this victory verse and then the following explanation. I pray, as we make all these plans for Jedi’s treatment, that we continue to trust God and His will for our lives.
“The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the LORD” (Proverbs 21:31)
The writer is convinced that, even though the horse is made ready for the day of the battle, it is God who gives them victory. This is true when we read the biblical history recorded in the Old Testament. Many battles have been won miraculously with less human efforts signifying that God played a major role in those victories. Moreover, despite their weakness, these battles are won when people obeyed God. Hence the author says, all the preparation for the battle can be made, but ultimately it is God who can deliver! Even today, we often face many challenges in our Christian journey and see ourselves as weak and helpless compared to those problems. So, we make all the preparations, but let us be confident that if we obey God by doing His will, God will give us strength to overcome or face any troublesome situation. Because, it is God who gives us victory. Amen!
Journal entry by Dianna Schaller — 12 hours ago
As today comes to a close, my mind is swirling with thoughts of everything that has happened. It was quite the day of events and information! We started the morning off with preparing for Jedi’s CT scan. He needed to drink contrast prior to the scan, so it was pretty much go time as soon as his eyes opened. He was a trooper as usual and got it down with very little issue. The scan went well, and we returned to our room in time to get a phone call from Madison. The bone marrow transplant doctor called to inform us of the results from the blood typing. She gave us the unfortunate news that none of Jedi’s brothers are a match. As I said before, siblings typically have a 1 in 4 chance of being a perfect match. Because Jedi has 5 brothers his chances of a match were better than most. The doctor said even the lab director examined the typing, because it was so unusual. She said it was just a case of bad luck. Well, I don’t believe in luck, and I trust that God has a good plan for this, too. I believe this even more since the worldly odds are so against us. The doctor then informed us that there are at least two excellent unrelated donor matches from the bone marrow donor registry! All thanks to God for this news! The registry has already been contacted, and they need to contact the doctors to evaluate if they are still eligible and willing to donate. Please help us fervently pray for one of these donors to pass the tests and be willing to donate!
Not long after the call from Madison the oncology doctor and PA came to visit us in our room. They informed us of the results from the CT scan. No obvious infection/abscess was noted, which we are thankful for. It did show signs that his cancer is still active with enlarged liver, spleen, and lymph nodes. They are all smaller than his previous scan so that is positive news! With this information, and the fact that his fevers are not resolving with antibiotics, they are attributing his fevers to the cancer. He also has a mass in his chest that grew from the last scan. Obviously, this was not great news, however, the doctors and the radiologist think, because of the location, it could very well be rebound thymic hyperplasia. At this point, with no concerning symptoms associated with it, we will just keep an eye on it.
Another bit of good news we received today was that his ANC was up to 530. That was a really good jump from yesterday. We are hopefully it will be even higher tomorrow morning.
All this being said, the plan is to start Jedi’s second round of chemotherapy tomorrow morning. The risk of letting the cancer go untreated any longer is greater than the risk of a lower ANC at this point. Please pray with us that Jedi’s body responds well to the chemo again.
A huge thank you goes out to our Schaller family for organizing an Independence Day party for Jedi before he starts chemo. They have all been really great about isolating with us, so they can help with the other boys as needed. Because of this the doctor said it would be okay to have some family time. The child life specialists here at Gundersen helped make it special with patriotic favors! They are so awesome! Make sure to check out the pictures
We know that all these victories only come through our gracious and merciful Lord. I came across this victory verse and then the following explanation. I pray, as we make all these plans for Jedi’s treatment, that we continue to trust God and His will for our lives.
“The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the LORD” (Proverbs 21:31)
The writer is convinced that, even though the horse is made ready for the day of the battle, it is God who gives them victory. This is true when we read the biblical history recorded in the Old Testament. Many battles have been won miraculously with less human efforts signifying that God played a major role in those victories. Moreover, despite their weakness, these battles are won when people obeyed God. Hence the author says, all the preparation for the battle can be made, but ultimately it is God who can deliver! Even today, we often face many challenges in our Christian journey and see ourselves as weak and helpless compared to those problems. So, we make all the preparations, but let us be confident that if we obey God by doing His will, God will give us strength to overcome or face any troublesome situation. Because, it is God who gives us victory. Amen!
jackson1
Silver $$ Contributor
Dianna Schaller, thank for telling your story. I pray for Jedi and the family multiple times a day. Words of wisdom fail me here, but bring tears to my eyes. I believe God has a plan, that we do not understand. Jedi is the kind of young man and family that I hope my grand daughters some day marry. Will continue praying for Jedi's full recovery.
MGMIAM
Gold $$ Contributor
Sing praises
Journal entry by Dianna Schaller — 11 hours ago
Last night we were “window-visited” by the amazing Schaller crew. They had a very creative and fitting display for Jedi. (A bit of backstory: before Noah left for boot camp, Jedi and he made a deal that Jedi would kick cancer’s butt back here, and that Noah would kick boot camp’s butt in Missouri. “Kicking cancer’s butt” has kind of become Jedi’s thing!)
The Schaller boys (and granny) painted their chests (and shirt) to spell “kickin’”, their backs to spell “cancer’s” and then they shook their butts! We all got a good laugh out of it! See the pictures to get your own giggles! Then they put together a small fireworks display that Jedi could enjoy from his window; complete with sound thanks to FaceTime! We are incredibly thankful for them taking the time to make his holiday special
Jedi had a restful night after day 1 of chemo with very minimal nausea. His labs this morning showed that his ANC quadrupled! He is now technically in the low normal range. AMAZING! God is good! We know this will drop throughout his chemo cycle, so we are incredibly thankful that it went up so high
Chemo went in today again without incident, and Jedi ended up sleeping through virtually the entire morning. He woke up once to use the bathroom and then woke up again surprised to hear it was after noon! He had a shower, and we were thankful to be able to head home for the day. We will be back in clinic bright and early tomorrow to continue chemo infusions.
As we were driving home from the hospital we got another amazing surprise. Noah was able to FaceTime us for almost a half hour! We were shocked and super excited to see him and talk with him for so long. He is doing really well and making friends. He likes his drill sergeants and his battle buddy. He is in red phase now, so he is excited to actually do more training (with COViD they have done a lot of sitting around the last few weeks to make sure they didn’t show signs/symptoms of the virus). To see his smile and hear him laugh was priceless! We got his official address now, and he loves letters, so if you have time and want to send him a few lines I know he would appreciate it. He said pretty much “words on a page” is the best thing to get
PVT Schaller, Noah
Delta Co, 2/48th INF BN, PLT 4
12952 6th Street, Bldg 654
Fort Leonard Wood, MO 65473
We have a great deal to praise and thank our gracious Lord for today! We thank him for all the above blessings, for the amazing doctors and nurses at Gundersen who lovingly care for our precious boy, and for all of you who continue to partner with us on this journey!
“May the peoples praise you, God; may all the peoples praise you.” Psalms 67:5
Journal entry by Dianna Schaller — 11 hours ago
Last night we were “window-visited” by the amazing Schaller crew. They had a very creative and fitting display for Jedi. (A bit of backstory: before Noah left for boot camp, Jedi and he made a deal that Jedi would kick cancer’s butt back here, and that Noah would kick boot camp’s butt in Missouri. “Kicking cancer’s butt” has kind of become Jedi’s thing!)
The Schaller boys (and granny) painted their chests (and shirt) to spell “kickin’”, their backs to spell “cancer’s” and then they shook their butts! We all got a good laugh out of it! See the pictures to get your own giggles! Then they put together a small fireworks display that Jedi could enjoy from his window; complete with sound thanks to FaceTime! We are incredibly thankful for them taking the time to make his holiday special
Jedi had a restful night after day 1 of chemo with very minimal nausea. His labs this morning showed that his ANC quadrupled! He is now technically in the low normal range. AMAZING! God is good! We know this will drop throughout his chemo cycle, so we are incredibly thankful that it went up so high
Chemo went in today again without incident, and Jedi ended up sleeping through virtually the entire morning. He woke up once to use the bathroom and then woke up again surprised to hear it was after noon! He had a shower, and we were thankful to be able to head home for the day. We will be back in clinic bright and early tomorrow to continue chemo infusions.
As we were driving home from the hospital we got another amazing surprise. Noah was able to FaceTime us for almost a half hour! We were shocked and super excited to see him and talk with him for so long. He is doing really well and making friends. He likes his drill sergeants and his battle buddy. He is in red phase now, so he is excited to actually do more training (with COViD they have done a lot of sitting around the last few weeks to make sure they didn’t show signs/symptoms of the virus). To see his smile and hear him laugh was priceless! We got his official address now, and he loves letters, so if you have time and want to send him a few lines I know he would appreciate it. He said pretty much “words on a page” is the best thing to get
PVT Schaller, Noah
Delta Co, 2/48th INF BN, PLT 4
12952 6th Street, Bldg 654
Fort Leonard Wood, MO 65473
We have a great deal to praise and thank our gracious Lord for today! We thank him for all the above blessings, for the amazing doctors and nurses at Gundersen who lovingly care for our precious boy, and for all of you who continue to partner with us on this journey!
“May the peoples praise you, God; may all the peoples praise you.” Psalms 67:5
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