The Jackson Family Online

Mark came home today. He looks much better and even helped the girls with their homework tonight. Nancy at work had a cool michigan blanket made for him and he is enjoying that, actually we all are:). Our family all went home this morning so life is getting back to normal. It was nice to see them all and they were a big help to us. Mark goes in for lab work on Thursday and I want to thank Merle Cromwell in advance for driving him to St. Louis. We still continue to receive cards daily and that is a huge encouragement to us all. Thank you for thinking of the girls too. Today I was reading Psalm 91 and the whole thing spoke to me deeply. God is good and he will deliver us I’m sure. Love you all and thank you for being God’s hands and feet to us.

Love,

Ruth

Hello again,

Well another Monday has come around, they seem to come so fast! Mark is still at Barnes Jewish waiting for his results on his blood tests. He is doing about the same with the mouth sores, resting a lot, and taking heavy doses of antibiotics and drinking ensure, so far he prefers vanilla over chocolate just in case you were wondering:). He has been able to eat a little more lately which helps him to not feel so weak. We have to be very careful at this point that he is not around any sickness, or at least as little as possible, since his immune system is so low. So please pray for us that the girls and I stay healthy, I guess I chose the wrong occupation for that (public School) but hey miracles still do happen:). We are also on vitamins, trying to get plenty of rest, etc. Hopefully Mark will come home in the morning (Tuesday). Thank you to Carol and Stan for Dinner tonight…and thanks to Melissa, Wayne, Christy, Mom Dennings for all of the help this weekend with Mark in the hospital and to Jeff Hall who is spending the night with Mark tonight. It is so good to have family and friends support to help on this journey and I realize that we are rich in supportive people in our lives. I was stressed a little about a job evaluation today at school but all went well…worry that I guess was not needed:). Us ladies at the house all went and treated ourselves to some ice cream after school just because and it was a nice time. Mark is raving about the fact that Jeff is bringing him applebees tonight at the hospital…I guess his appetite is returning:), that is a good sign. More Later…Have a great day!

Love, Ruth Jackson

Ruth called me at 3:00 p.m. today and asked me to update the web site for her so that anyone visiting it would know how Mark was doing.

 Mark went to the hospital last night due to a fever.  He is in a room at Barnes-Jewish Hospital (Not Missouri Baptist as I originally thought).  They have him on some strong anti-biotics just in case there is an infection somewhere causing his fever.  He also has developed sores in his mouth and throat, which are making it hard for him to eat.  The nurses have given him some medicine to help the sores that essentially numbs them so he can eat without feeling the pain or like he is going to gag.  They might let him come home tomorrow (Monday) but also might keep him until Tuesday.  Basically, they want to make sure they know why he has a fever and take care of it before letting him go home.  He has had some bloodwork done to help them understand what is going on with him.  They noticed from the bloodwork that his white blood cell level is low, which the doctors say is expected at this time.

 Their biggest prayer request right now is that he will be able to eat enough to get his strength back up, feel better, get his fever down, and then come home.

 I spoke with Mark briefly yesterday around lunch time over the phone, and he was feeling tired and had lost almost all of his voice.

Please continue to keep Mark, Ruth, Lauren and Lydia in your prayers as they go through this time, and as their life adapts to what is going on.  We will continue to keep this website up to date as best as we can, whether it’s Ruth, Mark, or myself (Todd) updating it for you.

It’s Friday!! Yeah!! We are so ready to rest and relax this weekend as I’m sure you are too. Mark did go to work today and also ran some errands which was pretty good progress for him. We filled more prescriptions…dealt with car repairs, oh the joy:) and I even got to have a chiropractor appointment which was great. God is good and we don’t want to ever forget his goodness. We continue to wait on him and ask him for strength to help us live in a way that is honoring to Him. Some days are better than others:). So…what’s God doing in your lives these days…I feel like you know all about us but what’s new with you…some of you it’s been years since we have seen you or talked, would love to receive updates from you about your life….kids, job, your life journey…Enjoy your weekend!

Love,

The jackson’s

Dear family, friends and sometimes complete strangers:),

Mark went to the doctor today…they noticed a skip in his heart beat, sent him to the hospital to have an EKG which turned out just fine. He had blood taken which is pretty much a weekly event and went over his symptoms with the doctor which are all pretty much to be expected and got prescriptions filled. Thank you to Tim Donsbach for driving him today, even in a sporty orange car:). The doctor stated that mark may very well be fatigued for the next week. So we’ll see what that is like, also today he has started losing his voice another side effect:). Ruth is busy teaching, looking forward to dropping some of the riff raff from her classroom since Friday is the end of the semester. The girls are enjoying grandma this week, and tonight we are going to go swimming for fun. THank you to Hillary Stanifer for supper tonight!! And thanks for all of your love, support, prayers, gifts, etc. on this rollar coaster we call life. Much Love, The Jacksons

As usual we hope all is well with you and your family…please know that we are aware everyone has difficult situations and problems going on and we don’t have a monopoly on this issue:)

Thank you for your prayers in advance…

Mark is noticing an increase in fatigue, dealing with some pain and developing a bit of a wheezing in his breathing, also dealing with a mettalic taste in his mouth. All of these things are normal symptoms of chemotherapy and he continues to go to work everyday but we would appreciate your prayers about these issues. Love,

Ruth

Well it seems to be going well so far. When you receive chemo they tell you all about the side effects that can happen and so you kind of anxiously anticipate how you might feel and the good news is Mark seems to be responding well so far. He actually looks better and has been able to manage his pain better since receiving chemo. Granted we are not out of the woods but for today we will enjoy his reaction so far. Ruth’s mom is with us for the week which is a real blessing…home cooked meals, homework/piano help, and overall some hands on love for the girls, ruth and mark. Mark’s lab test to measure how his blood levels are doing will be on Thursday. Unless anything changes I will probably not update this page until then. Hope you all have a great week! Love, Ruth

For Christmas this year we gave Mark’s grandma and Ruth’s mom a trip to visit us. O.k. maybe it wasn’t really just a gift to them but to us too:)! They will travel by amtrak and make a lay over at Chicago. It should be quite an adventure for them both!

THis week mark will go for chemo treatments monday through friday for six hours a day. Please keep him especially in your prayers! We praise God for the wonderful doctor, nurse and other workers we have at our doctor’s office! They work so hard and always have a smile.

Today Mark’s parents will come down for a visit. Mark’s dad is going to drive him back and forth all week to chemo treatments so Ruth can go to work. It will be nice to have a little live in help for a week:). The girls will enjoy getting a little grandparent time too.