{Day 275}

I’m not sure how to write this post.  I’m hopeful but my heart is also breaking.  One of “my” kiddos in India is sick.  Very, very sick.  He has leukemia.  My sweet Hosanna, my heart aches for you.  When I read the email that my dear friend Paige sent me from India the water works started.  I couldn’t help but cry.  I long to be there to comfort Hosanna but I know that Jesus is there with him and holding him close.  If you are the praying type will you please pray with me for Hosanna?  It would mean so much to my momma heart.  Please pray for a quick and full recovery.  He’s not even quite ten.  Here is some of the email that Paige sent to me:

Hosanna had Leukemia.  When he got Dengue Fever early this year they were able to get his counts up and release him from the hospital.  Children with normal blood levels should have only taken 4-5 days to recover with the treatment that he was receiving.  After he was released, he got sick again and they took him to the hospital and checked his blood counts again.  He was low on platelets and white blood cells but didn’t have Dengue Fever.  So they tested his blood for Leukemia, which has similar symptoms to Dengue, and he tested positive for it.  I have been unable to get a straight answer from the doctor he was with for 14 days when he had Dengue as to why this wasn’t looked into and why we didn’t know it from all the blood tests that were being done.  He has sorta stopped answering our phone calls.  So, we have sent him to HYD to work with the best Cancer Treatment Facility in Southern India.  He has a government card that allows him to receive free treatment.

He is in the 5th month of a 6th month Chemotherapy session.  I have not actually met this doctor but I have a friend in HYD who goes and visits Hosanna and his mom on a weekly basis.  She gives me updates.  After the 6th months of treatment he is done for a little while and I am not sure what the next steps are.  We have heard that if the cancer is not gone in the 6 months then the child will die.  Does that mean that he can only get 6 months of care for free?  Does that mean that Chemo is only allowed for 6 months at a time/year?  I have lots of questions and we will be asking those questions the next time we are in HYD.

This is all I know as of now.  Sean and I have been using some of our money we have set aside for giving to help with transportation costs, eggs, chicken, and Pediasure.  Other than that the government is paying for the treatment.

We are believing for complete healing!  He is not going to school this year but we did not fill his spot in the home.  We want him to know that he has a place when he gets better.  We gave him his uniform and shoes and socks, just so he could still feel a part of the things happening in the home.

One concern that I have is when he gets out of the hospital his mom wants him to live with her which is in a hut and in a really rural village.  This is a concern because I am not sure that it is the healthiest place for him to live.  We would love to have him and his mom move into the home.  She could help out with the kids.  Please pray that she would do this.  It would guarantee that he was getting 3 good meals per day, have some schooling because the other boys could bring home his studies from school and he could keep up, even if he didn’t take the exams.

These are all the things I am thinking about with regards to him and would love some prayers as we decide what is best for him once he is done with his 6 months of treatment.

Hosanna needs a miracle.  Please pray for him!  Thank you for taking the time to read this.  Have a wonderful day and please go hug the ones that you love.  Life is precious and short.