Hello Friends.

The past few days have been challenging for Luke.  Chemotherapy often creates queasiness and nausea, and in Luke's case he has not felt well enough to attend school this week.  He has been very frustrated and discouraged, because he loves being at school and he really misses it.

Yesterday, at about 1:30, Luke received a gift when the entire Mason High School band came marching down our street and performed for Luke in front of our house.  Luke was blown away, and it was a much needed encouragement.  He misses playing in the band, and misses his friends, and it was a huge blessing for Luke.

As usual, Luke's impact went beyond what we could have expected.  Several neighbors came out and introduced themselves, and asked how they could pray for Luke.  The Superintendent of Mason Schools lives in our neighborhood, and brought his entire staff out to watch.  The house across the street from ours was being roofed yesterday, and when the band came down the street the workers just stopped and watched in amazement.  One of the guys took some photos from his spot on the roof...I've included one of them below.

Luke returns to Grand Rapids tomorrow for another round of chemo.  Please continue to pray for his body and his mind to be strong through the treatments, and for healing.  We can't stop, WON'T stop praying, for God to heal our boy.  (James 5:14-16)

God bless,
James & Lu,
(for Sam, Jay, & Luke)

Hello Friends.

Luke has been home for a week, and has now completed six chemotherapy treatments.  He has experienced some mild side affects, including low appetite, jaw soreness, and funny tastes in his mouth, but overall he has tolerated the treatments pretty well.  He is experiencing some discouragement and lack of motivation, which is completely appropriate for the situation he is faced with.  Today he was more active and upbeat, partially due to visits from T.J. & Kacey, Christy, Dale & Carol, and Anna.  The other day Luke received an email from Chris Spielman, whose wife has battled cancer, and he responded by sending a photo of himself wearing an Ohio State cap.  Classic Luke.

Thank you for your ongoing prayers, encouragement, and support.  We are so grateful.  Please continue to hold Luke in your prayers.  We are encouraged that things have settled down a bit, and praying earnestly for that to continue so that Luke can receive the treatment needed to eradicate the cancer from his body.  We are hopeful that Luke can participate fully in school this week, with the exception of Thursday when he'll be back in G.R. for another round of chemo.

Can't stop, WON'T stop praying, for God to heal our boy.  (James 5:14-16)

God bless,
James & Lu
(for Sam, Jay, & Luke) 

Hello Friends.

Stitches are out of his leg, stomach is healing well, first round of chemotherapy complete, AND (most importantly) Luke is home.

Continuing to pray, for God to heal our boy.  (James 5:14-16)

God bless,
James & Lu
(for Sam, Jay & Luke)

Hello Friends!

My apologies for the delay in posting this update about Luke.  The past week has been a whirlwind, and for some reason the hospital has blocked the website for this blog, so I cannot update from Luke's room.  So many of you are praying so faithfully, we are so thankful.  Please keep praying.

There are many kinds of cancer.  The particular type of cancer our son Luke has is pretty aggressive.  Chemotherapy is a drug regimen that kills fast growing cells in the body.  The type of cancer in Luke's body typically responds very well to chemotherapy.  Yesterday, six weeks after his leg surgery, Luke received his first chemotherapy treatment.  By God's grace, it was uneventful. (see photo!)  There will be about 60 treatments in total over the course of the next year.  Our prayer is that Luke will be completely free of cancer at the end of the year, and that the cancer would never return to his body.

The perils of chemotherapy are widely known, because the drugs administered do not know the difference between helpful fast growing cells and wicked cancerous fast growing cells.  As such, Luke is certain to lose his hair, and likely will experience fatigue, nausea, loss of appetite, and other issues related to his digestive tract.  Our prayer is that the symptoms Luke experiences would be mild, and that his body would stay strong throughout so the chemotherapy can continue uninterrupted.

Luke's bowel and the incision from his surgery are both healing very nicely.  He has avoided infection, and he is eating and processing foods normally.  He is still tender, but he is moving around quite well and has weaned off most of the pain medications he was taking.  Our prayer is for Luke's digestive tract to be completely healed, as that will make it much easier for him to tolerate some of the potential digestive issues he might be faced with.

Luke's leg is also healing very nicely.  He will have his stitches out on Monday morning.  He will soon enter the process of rehab so he can be fitted for a prosthetic leg.  He is very eager to move forward with receiving a prosthetic leg, so he can spend less time in his wheelchair and more time hanging out with his friends.  Our prayer is for Luke to be able to move through his physical therapy in a timely fashion over the next few months so he can be up on his feet very soon.

The plan is for Luke to be discharged on Monday, after five days of chemotherapy treatments.  If that indeed happens, Luke will have been in the hospital for two full weeks.  He can't wait to come home.  We can't wait to be home with him.  Our prayer is for Luke to be home Monday afternoon with the first round of treatments behind him, stitches out of his leg, healed up from his bowel surgery, AND feeling well enough to attend Young Life Club on Monday night!

We are so grateful for Luke.  He's truly a gift.  This is such a battle, and we know the Lord will fight for Luke.  Our prayer is for healing.  We can't stop praying, WON'T stop praying, for God to heal our boy.  (James 5:14-16)

God bless,
James & Lu,
(for Sam, Jay & Luke)

(note:  Laura and I have been friends with Matt and Stacy Santen since High School.  On Wednesday, as we were responding to Luke's health issues, I sent texts to Matt and Laura sent emails to Stacy with prayer concerns.  Matt compiled those into the following update from West Virginia, which was edited with more details)

Dear Friends,
 
We continue to need your prayers.  The pain in Luke’s stomach turned out to be much more serious than anyone had previously thought.  Early Thursday morning he had another surgery to relieve an obstruction in his bowel, which was being caused by a tumor the size of a walnut.  This appears to be the cancer spreading more rapidly that expected.  The surgery was a success.  The doctors examined the remainder of his intestinal tract, and found it to be healthy and without tumors.  Luke's stomach pain is gone, and he is recovering.  He is miserable because he has a tube running through his nose and down his throat, and he just wants to go home.  We all just want to go home.  Ugh.
 
This has been a difficult setback for all of us, and yet the oncology team remains very optimistic that the chemotherapy regiment will cause the cancer to run and hide.  We have always known that the cancer inside of Luke is aggressive, but to see it up close is so scary.  Our emotions range from anger to frustration to hope to confusion.  We ask that you would pray without ceasing for Luke, specifically:

1) His digestive system to activate so he can have the tube out of his nose tonight!
2) Healing from the bowel surgery so he can begin chemotherapy right away.  The goal is Wednesday.
3) His leg is healing REALLY well.  Bless God for no infection there.  Thankful :)
4) For Jay and Sam, who are away from their parents and very concerned for their brother.
5) For Laura and I.  We just love Luke so much, and our hearts ache to see him in pain.
6) Ultimately, for the cancer to GO AWAY, and STAY AWAY from our son's body.
7) Thankful for my Mom & Dad, and for Jackie, Mark, Bruce & Sue, Blake, Eric & Joanie, Marcie, and countless others who have prayed for us and served us so well over the past few days.  Bless God for providing comfort through His people.

We are so proud of Luke.  He is a tough minded young man with a deep faith in Jesus.  We are learning from his example as we watch him suffer through one trial after another.
 
Can't stop praying, WON'T stop praying, for God to heal our boy.  (James 5:14-16)

God bless,
James & Lu
(for Sam, Jay & Luke)

Hello Friends.

We're learning to hold loosely to any plans we have made for Luke's treatment.  Today we experienced yet another curve ball.  Luke's stomach has been bothering him for several days now, and then early this morning he began vomiting.  The issue is nothing serious, and he is now back at DeVos in Grand Rapids, resting and receiving fluids.  His caregivers believe the antibiotics he's received for the potential infection in his leg have caused some unrest in his digestive tract.  Ironic.  Frustrating.

So...please keep praying.  Luke is discouraged that he's missing more school, and he does not enjoy being poked and prodded.  Laura has been patient and gracious...her husband not so much.  My heart aches for Luke, and we all want Luke to be healthy as he begins his chemotherapy treatments. 

Many of you have asked about practical needs...feel free to click the "how you can help" link to sign up for meals and gift card options.  Luke really does enjoy visitors, so feel free to contact Laura or me to set up a visit either in Mason or at the hospital in Grand Rapids.

Our prayer, as always, remains simple:  God heal our boy.  (James 5:14-16)

God bless,
James & Lu
(for Sam, Jay & Luke)

Hello Friends.

Luke is home.  We are so thankful.  The doctors are optimistic that his leg will continue to heal with the help of the procedure he had on Tuesday.  He is scheduled to begin chemo late next week, and we are hopeful, but by this point we've learned to take things one day at a time.  Thank you for praying.

September of 2015 was an unspeakably hard month.  How do people make it through such heartbreak without Jesus?  Without God's Saints?  We can't imagine.  Since we've entered this difficult season we have been astonished at the generosity of so many, from family to close friends to complete strangers.  To wit...

...Tony and Mark spent the day with Luke.
...Fred re-purposed our living room.
...Brad set up this blog.
...Josh designed some pins.
...The elders came and prayed.
...Brian and Rach came for a day.
...Ronda brought a ton of food.
...Mark mowed our lawn.
...Bruce and Sue sat with us in the hospital.  For hours.
...Annalise was there when Luke woke up.  So were Ben and Stacie.  And Katie J.
...My mom and dad moved to Michigan.  My sister flew in from Korea.
...Chris came up from Chicago.
...Coryell called.  So did Hammer.  And Brad.  And Joey.
...The Pastors gave Luke an IPad.  And Bose headphones.  And ITunes cards.  Too much.
...Dozens came to Grand Rapids to see Luke.  Literally.  Dozens.
...Mark mowed our lawn again.
...Justin took Sam shopping for books.
...Holden and Christian took Jay to Daily Scoop.
...Emily and Aud and Kelsey played Bop It with Luke.  Kelsey lost.
...Kelsey came to visit.  And Dave.  And Lindsay.  And Austin.  And Kristen.  And...
...Erik listened.  So did Evan.  And Adam.  And Matt.  And Brian.  And Mark Burley.
...Mark mowed our lawn AGAIN!
...Ted Kennedy Jr. called to encourage Luke.  Seriously.
...Eric and Dilyn hung out with Luke.  Twice.  So did Matt and Becca.  And Sarah and David.
...Jackie brought Luke an XBox.  With Madden 2016.  And Destiny.  Too much.
...Mark and Judy stained our porch.  And brought yellow flowers.
...Burley drove from Bay City to visit Luke in Grand Rapids.
...Tony and Danielle came to Grand Rapids...again.  So did Katie.  And Annalise, with Damian.
...Brittany got smoked at Othello.  So did Brian.  So did I.
...Alexis is here right now.
...Wow.

We've received hundreds of emails, texts, and cards, and thousands of dollars in gift cards.  We didn't pay for a meal, or a tank of gas, or really anything at all for the entire month of September.  When you're hanging on for dear life, it means everything when folks provide.  It means even more when folks show up.  What we need most, what Luke needs, is to know that we are not alone in our pain.  We are so thankful that you've shown up because, truthfully, it's too much for us to bear on our own.  We sense God's nearness when you sit with us and laugh, and cry, and listen, and pray. 

Thank you.

By God's grace alone, we made it through September.  As my friend Zach said, we can't stop praying, we WON'T stop praying, for God to heal our boy.  (James 5:14-16)

God bless,
James & Lu
(for Sam, Jay & Luke)