Prayer's For Soren: August 2007

From The Beginning...

Hello to all, first, we wanted to create this page to tell Soren's story. From the beginning, we had just celebrated his third birthday in which he made it to Disneyland for the first time. We spent three days there and had a blast. After our return home he begins to get a cold we treated him with regular OTC medication and it seemed to subside. Then on Thursday night he had a fever so I told my husband that we should take him to see his doctor just to make sure he didn't have an ear infection and that I would rather him get checked instead of putting it off over the weekend. So he went in to see the doctor but, his regular doctor was out of town so he saw another doctor (who has never seen him before) her name is Dr. Moreno. She noticed that he looked pale and pricked his finger to check to see if he was anemic she then sent him to the lab to get some blood work. She called me later that evening a couple of times and the last time she asked if we could take him to children’s hospital the next day for some more blood work. I was concerned because the last time I spoke to the doctor it was about 9 pm on Friday night and she sounded concerned. She assured me that after the lab work she would call me and give me the results. She told me to take him around 11:30. So I went to sleep that night a little worried but, I told myself not to stress that there was really no need for that since I really did not know what was going on. However, I did wake up about 5:30 on Saturday morning to get online and check out other related illnesses with anemia. I read a lot of info and was a bit overwhelmed and decided to shut-down my computer and relax. I blow it all off saying it’s just me being that I am pregnant I thought I am just overly worried and emotional. So we had a typical Saturday morning Soren woke up and played like normal then we all got ready and went to have breakfast at our favorite place and then headed over to get the lab work. As we were on our way I noticed that I had a voicemail I checked it and it was Dr. Moreno calling just to see if we were on our way. Then I knew something was seriously wrong. I kept my composure and still hoped for the best. As we began walking up to the hospital I told Tim I hate this place. He looked at me strangely and said what I just said anytime you go to the hospital with your children it usually isn’t something good. Anyhow, we went inside and proceeded with the lab work. The person at the lab said that they were expecting us that Dr. Moreno had called them asking for the results as soon as they were available. So we left the hospital and I told Tim wow what a beautiful day what are we going to do? We decided to go to Babies “R” Us and shop around to see what we needed to get to prepare for the new addition to our family. Then Soren was hungry so we asked him where he wanted us to go, of course he chose his favorite place El Polo Loco. We had just ordered his food when my cell phone rang. It was Dr. Moreno she called me to tell me that she had the results and the results indicated some abnormalities in the white blood cells and that she suspected it to be Leukemia. I just lost it completely. It was not what I expected to hear. I tried to finish my phone call she apologized for not being able to give me this news in person so she gave me directions to go back to the hospital and told us that they were expecting us and that he would be admitted. I tried to thank her for everything. I am very grateful to her for everything… I recall crying all the way and Tim was a mess too. He was driving extremely fast I told him to slow down but he was just a mess. Soren just said, “Mommy don’t cry.” That’s when I realized that I needed to pull it together especially in front of Soren. Once we were admitted we met Dr. Johnson, she came in and talked to us and confirmed our nightmare. The next thing I know is he needed a blood transfusion and we were surrounded by really sick children. I thought how can this be my son looks fine he looks so much healthier than all these other children. …….

Welcome Friends and Family

I do want to start by saying thank you! I know your support and prayers have given me the strength I need. We are all very grateful to have so many people praying for us everyday! I know at first everyone was calling and wanting to know what happened? The problem was we still didn't understand what had happened. It all happened so fast. So...I do apologize for not communicating but, it was very difficult for me. It seemed the only time I knew what was going on was when I was explaining it to someone and it was like the nightmare kept repeating over and over as I would explain it. Then we began to have many people ask us what we needed. The problem with that was we did not know what we needed. I know my answer usually was prayers and that is something we can always use. I tried to email friends but, even that was hard. For those of you that know me I am blind without my glasses, and crying plus typing at the same time is practically impossible. So I hope this page can keep everyone stay informed and updated. Thank you for all your support, prayers, cards, and gifts. Soren was very happy with all his new fun toys, this really helps him stay busy playing all day. It is very comforting knowing that so many people are there for us!

Saturday, August 25, 2007

What's New in the Jacobsen Household!

We are still waiting for Soren's counts to go up so he can move on to the next phase. His ANC counts are still very low which means he is unable to fight off anything. So he is still isolated. I know this blog is used to keep everyone updated on Soren's health. But since everyone is so faithfully praying for him I thought I add another request to your prayers. This week I started to have contractions and had to be taken in to the hospital. They were able to monitor the baby and she is fine. I was given a shot to stop the contractions and two shots to help develop her lungs if she comes early. I am now on bed rest! So please pray that she waits it out and that I don't go crazy. Thankfully my mom was here to stay with Soren while we were at the hospital that just amazes me how my mom always happens to be here when we need her. She usually comes up every Thursday to watch Soren for us while we both work on Friday. But, it just so happened she came early and went with us to his clinic appt. Then she stayed here with us even on her birthday to help us out. So just continue to pray for all of us as we deal with another obstacle.

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Just Waiting

Hello, I just wanted to update on Soren's progress. Last Wednesday he had a blood transfusion because his hemoglobin counts were too low. He also received some chemo after his transfusion. He is doing pretty good we are praying that his counts go up by this Wednesday. So we can move on to the next phase. Soren can't wait to go visit everyone! He is doing great thanks to you all for your prayers. He loves going to the hospital and doesn't even cry when he is getting poked! It still amazes me how tough he is. He does have a favorite nurse who is just amazing with him. Her name is Kim, she is awesome! Soren says his prayers every night. He says,

"Dear God, thank you for this food ,

pray for Soren to get better,

for my counts to go up,

pray for my baby sister,

mommy and daddy,

Nana and papa,

papa, great grandma and papa, Ama, and ..... in Jesus name AMEN!"

Saturday, August 4, 2007

On our way to Interim Maintenance

Today was his last day of chemo for this week. For the last two weeks he has had chemo 4 times a week. He has been doing pretty good a little moody at times and nauseous but, overall he is doing fine! Keep praying for him. The next couple of weeks he will be finishing up this consolidation phase and moving into Interim Maintenance. However, his counts are dropping which is normal for him at this stage. The reason we are excited that he is almost ready for the next phase is because it will not be as intense as this phase he is currently in. We may even be able to be a little more normal! So as soon as he is on the next phase his counts should begin to go up! We shall see... I know I am getting a little ahead of things It has just been hard for him to have to be so confined. This Wednesday will be a tough day for him. He will have a different dose of chemo and what is called PEG (two long needles administered at the same time in his quadriceps). This is just brutal for us all, he has had this done several times and many of the times we were able to do it while he was still out but, this time he will be awake. After this he is very sore. Like I said before your prayers are extremely helpful!

P.S. Happy 30th Birthday Tim!

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