We were relieved, and thankful that all of Asher’s bloodwork for this week was normal. So as of Friday, we are still on track to go home sometime next week. The date is to be determined, because we’re trying to squeeze in as many appointments as we can from St. Jude. We’re so thankful that he’s been mostly stable, with only a few minor bumps along the way.

Due to Asher’s inability to fully close his right eye, he has scratched his cornea somehow, and is constantly fighting chronic dry-eye. He’s not in any pain because he can’t feel much in that eye, but it’s a concern. If we can’t get good progress in healing over the weekend with antibiotics and taping, the optometrists have said they will need to sew it shut. Please pray that it will heal this weekend.

This will possibly be Asher’s last weekend with his family in Mississippi. His birthday is in a couple of weeks, so we’ll be...

Caring Bridge - July 11, 2019

Asher was released from inpatient Tuesday afternoon. He’s been holding up well. He’s recovering from his C Diff infection, and his biggest issue has been a little nausea in the mornings. His mood has drastically improved, alongside his breathing, which means he’s been talking almost non-stop. More words have come out of his mouth in the last 24 hours than the entire previous week. I can’t express how happy that makes us.

He has a full schedule of appointments on Thursday, and we’ll decide on Friday if he’s well enough to make a trip to see family in Mississippi.

Join us in thanking God for the prayers he’s answered. Please pray that he would continue in stability and symptom improvement.

What turned out to be the longest hospital stay for Asher was finally over. We were relieved. It seemed like we could get back to what had become the new normal...

Caring Bridge - July 8, 2019:

As of today (Monday), Asher is still in inpatient care here at St. Jude’s in Memphis. Thankfully, the symptoms for which he was originally admitted have been resolved. Unfortunately, new issues have surfaced—fever, vomiting, diarrhea—and are the reason he is still being kept inpatient. Please pray with us that Asher will be stable enough (no more fevers, vomiting, or diarrhea) to be released as soon as possible (as early as tomorrow). Also, please join us in thanking God for the blessing of inpatient care—our doctors, nurses, and other staff at St. Jude have been excellent during this tense and tough bout. As taxing and uncomfortable as it can be, we are thankful that we didn’t have to battle the constant barrage of issues that came up this week by ourselves.

With a diagnosis like Asher’s, our primary focus is symptom relief and management, and it seems...

Caring Bridge - July 7, 2019:

We’re thankful for the improvements in Asher’s health while he’s been in inpatient care this week. His blood chemistry has improved significantly, and appears to be under control. He was even well enough yesterday that he got a day pass to go to the Memphis zoo to spend time with family. We all had a great time.

Asher is, however, still struggling in a few key areas: elevated heart rate, respiratory rate, low oxygen, vomiting, and an increase in moderate to severe headaches. These symptoms are expected to a degree with the type of tumor he has, but the MRI he had this week showed no tumor progression, and marginal change in the cyst (which we tend to blame for a lot). He also had a fever Friday night. As of Saturday evening, he is still in inpatient care.

This has been one of his toughest weeks. He’s fought hard, and is exhausted. Please pray that...

Caring Bridge - July 1, 2019:

Asher was admitted to inpatient care today, due to low potassium levels, high CO2 levels, and very high glucose. The potassium levels are possibly due to much of the vomiting from the previous week. The CO2 levels are likely due to his poor breathing. High glucose is potentially linked to the clinical trial he is participating in. His blood pressure has also been a little high. Please pray that his blood chemistry and vitals can be brought under control.

I’ll preface this commentary by stating very clearly that I have a deep love and respect for the doctors and researchers at St. Jude. No highlighting of the risk of cancer research are in any way meant to reflect poorly upon them, or to imply that my son’s quality of life was somehow secondary to the advancement of cancer research.

In the land of a making thousand decisions in a short period of time...

Caring Bridge - June 30, 2019:

As we close in on what appears to be our last week in Memphis, things have been a little more difficult all around. For nearly three days last week, Asher’s blood pressure started to get out of control, leading to some of the worst headaches he’s had in recent memory. He’s currently on some medication to help control it, but he hasn’t bounced back fully from this. We’re seeing symptoms that were in the rise when the cyst was growing: fatigue, shortness of breath, difficulty speaking, elevated heart rate, etc. Asher has also been very emotional, and sometimes, he’s inconsolable. Pray that we can comfort him, and that his symptoms would ease. Please pray for him.

Leah and I have also been a little under the weather, and that certainly doesn’t help. Please pray that no one else gets sick.

The first half of the week is full of appointments and exams...

Caring Bridge - June 24, 2019:

As of this week, we’re about halfway through our time here in Memphis. We’re thankful for all the ways God has provided for us while we’ve been here, from housing to quality time with family.

The ride has been a little bumpy for the last few days. Asher threw up a few times on Saturday and was not able to sleep. Sunday was tough—his low energy level, headache, and the persistent dizziness contributed to a general feeling of crummy. Then, this (Monday) morning he threw up while he was at one of his clinical visits. Like a lot of symptoms, they aren’t consistent enough to point to one thing in particular, but the compounding effect of managing nausea along side the bevy of other symptoms he’s currently enduring at various levels (dizziness, insomnia, reflux, etc.) are a lot for the little guy to handle. Nevertheless, he’s been a champ in handling it...

Caring Bridge - June 17, 2019:

Thanks so much for praying for us and supporting us this past week. Our car is back on the road running well, and we are so grateful for that. Praise God for his provision in so many ways for that circumstance.

We’re back to establishing a routine this week. The schedule is a little thinner over the course of a week than last time, but we’re trying to use all of the St. Jude resources at our disposal to get Asher all of the help we think he needs—things like extra physical therapy. The staff is amazing here; pray that God would continue to grant us wisdom in how we use the resources for Asher’s best treatment.

Finding a solution for Asher’s poor sleep quality continues to elude us. We’re to the point now where we will start with mild medications such as Benadryl. Pray that we can find something that works consistently.

Now that the shunt is in...

Caring Bridge - June 12, 2019:

It’s been a busy and hectic week so far, starting Sunday night when our car unexpectedly broke down in a major way. Thankfully, we were about 25 minutes from family at the time, and were able to borrow a car to get Asher to Memphis for his Monday morning appointments. We’ve got a rental now, so we’re ok, but pray that the car can be repaired and back on the road without any further issues.

I have to confess: this was a bigger deal than I made it out to be. We had left Tupelo and were on our way back to Memphis when the car died; like dead. We were only about 45 minutes outside of Tupelo at the time, so the in-laws came to the rescue. They brought a car for Leah and Asher to take onward to Memphis, and brought Annelise and I back to Tupelo where the car would be towed to a dealership for diagnosis the next day.

Our vehicle was a salvage vehicle...

Caring Bridge - June 8, 2019:

We are so thankful to report that Asher’s surgery—installing a shunt in order to relieve pressure from his fourth ventricle of his brain—went well. We are thankful that he was able to breathe adequately on his own after surgery and didn’t need a ventilator. Asher also showed incredible patience having no food for 14 hours, and no fluid for 6 hours prior to going into surgery. He was released on Saturday afternoon, and we spent the evening in our room at Tri Delta Place with family. Again, we are so thankful to God for these things.

Some things you can pray about:

Pray for his breathing to improve. He’s been short of breath a lot over the last 24 hours.

Pray that the dizziness he is experiencing will go away. He’s felt very uneasy today. If you move him around at all, he becomes startled, and says he feels like he’s falling.

If all goes well...