{ Marley's ongoing health issues }

We've been on a roller coaster the past 2 months, with Marley's health.  

He's always suffered from allergies, but they seem to have gotten worse over the past few months, and then his lymph nodes started swelling up.  We knew then that something was not right and took him to the vet.

I've talked about this before, it was suspected that he had some sort of infection going on, because his blood work had come back negative for cancer or anything else.  He did a treatment of steroids and antibiotics, and even though it helped the infection, it didn't solve the problem.

We were sent home and told to give him Benadryl.  Over the next month that what we did but the lymph nodes never went down.

He started running a bit of a temperature and so we decided to take him to a different vet for a second opinion.

She was shocked at how big his lymph nodes were.  Again, the possibility of an infection was mentioned and he is now on a one month treatment of steroids and a broad spectrum antibiotic.

We just went back yesterday for a reevaluation to see if we are on the right track, but unfortunately his glands continue to be swollen, though they tend to fluctuate.  They go down, they come back up, go down and come back up.

It is the strangest thing.

The vet was and is perplexed and said she has never seen a case like this.  She called in a specialist and the specialist herself is confused and perplexed as well.

So, this is where we now stand.

I will tell you that Curt and I are almost 1000% convinced it is allergy related.  I don't feel in my spirit that it is cancer.  I have a peace about this situation that can only come from God, and I've prayed on this, and the answer I always get is "he will be fine, it's not cancer".

The thing is, we can't rule anything out.

Both the vet and the specialist have told us that we can't rule out cancer yet, because sometimes cancer will cause the nodes to swell up, and shrink back down and so forth.  (not that I'm questioning the doctors, but that just doesn't sound right to me)

Our plan of attack at the moment, is to finish off the next 2 weeks of the antibiotic and tapering off the steroids, once the steroids are done, we are starting him on Apoquel which is a prescription medicine for allergies.

A week after that we will go back in for a reevaluation.

At that point, if it is allergies, and the Apoquel has worked, the lymph nodes should be back to normal size.  If not, then we will need to aspirate one of the swollen nodes, and send it in to the lab for diagnostic.

It's never something we want to even think about.  I told the vet yesterday that I don't want to hear the word cancer, but I understand that we have to rule everything out.

 

I have been struggling with this the past two months, because the thought of my baby boy being unwell, breaks my heart.  God sent him to us to heal the pain of losing Lola, and I can't imagine that He would allow him to be taken from us after just 4 years.  

 

But, with that said.  We can't question God's plans or His will.  

 

After leaving the vet yesterday, I released it all into His hands.  I finally let it go, and said "Lord you know how much Marley means to me, to us.  I am releasing him unto your hands, Lord do as you will, we will just follow whatever the plan is."

 

It was a relief, like a flowing rush of stress being removed.  It felt so good to just let it go, to not carry that weight on my shoulders and not fight it.

 

Again, I felt that overpowering feeling of "it's not cancer, he will be fine".

 

After arriving back home, doing dinner, and the nightly routine, I took my shower, got into bed and opened Instagram.  The very first post I saw was from Prophet Charlie Shamp, and it said this:

 

I prophesy to you tonight that where they told you that it will never work and that it's impossible;  suddenly it will rearrange!

The possibilities will be endless and the blessings will be bottomless.  I prophesy this season you will swim in the miraculous.

 

Wow!!!

 

Confirmation of what He has been telling me all along.  Right there.  Have you noticed that when you are needing a word of comfort, you will read something, hearing something, or watch something that seems to be just what you were needing?

 

It happens to me all the time.

 

In ending this post, I wanted to ask you to please continue to keep Marley in your prayers, and keep us in your prayers as well.  For us to find the correct treatment to make him better, for us to have the peace that we need to move through this trial, and for us to have the finances to afford whatever is needed.

 

I will tell you that just the past 2 months we've spent over $700 in vet appointments, medication and blood tests.  

 

It's something we do willingly, and we will do whatever is in our grasp to make our baby boy healthy again.

 

But in the meantime, we leave it in the hands of the Almighty God, for He is the doctor of doctors, the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega, the King of King and the Lords of Hosts.

 

His will be done!