A Small Step Back for Chase

Over the past few days, Chase has continued to have his “ups and downs”. Fortunately he was able to avoid hospitalization last week due to the infection concern and for the following couple of days, he did really well. Then over the weekend his nausea returned and he had a really bad day on Saturday (couldn’t hold anything down). He seemed to bounce back again yesterday – ate well, held it down and was in great spirits, so we were really hopeful that we had figured out how to balance the supplements with his ability to tolerate them. However, this morning the nausea continued once again and after vomiting at home before school, he never really got back to stability (they called to have us pick him up at school after one hour and he didn’t have an appetite the rest of the day, although vomited again after drinking a healthy smoothie and apple juice).

So, we’re continuing to work on approaches to soothing Chase’s system. We’re adding drops of ginger to many of his drinks, increasing the natural anti-inflammatory supplements (boswelia, bromeline, ginger and lycopodium) in hopes that they will help him get back to stability. This is really a difficult process to watch as it brings him down throughout the day and makes it a challenge for him to participate in functions as his typically happy self.

We’re praying that the latest suggestions of our Nutritionist and the Burzynski Clinic will work so that Chase can get back on track. If we don’t see progress in the next few days, we may resort to taking a step back with his doses of ANP to see if it makes it easier for his system to tolerate and then gradually increase again over time. This process is particularly challenging right now as we were planning to taper Chase further off the decadron (steroid); however, the anti-inflammation aspect of this might be what he’s needing. That’s typically the Clinic’s response, but we’re hoping / praying to find a better way. We’re also anxiously waiting for his bloodwork results to see if we managed to boost his hemoblobin naturally over the past week.

Timing isn’t good for such as set-back and period of concern since I’m heading to Europe on a business trip for the rest of the week and can’t be at Carol’s side to help with Chase. Nevertheless, I’ll be there in spirit, believing that he is in good hands with the Lord and legions of angels by his side. Thanks again for joining us in prayer on this journey for Chase.

Lots of love and gratitude,

John & Carol Sammut
Chase and Barbara Ann