Cruising For The Cure 2010

On Sunday Ben's Grandpa (Gary Bollier) completed the 1079 mile motorcycle ride "Cruising For The Cure" from Illinois through Iowa to Kansas City, MO and
back through Springfield, IL into Chicago. It took him 19 hours.
We are thankful for a safe trip!
If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation in support of Ben,
please see the information below.
Thanks,
Paul and Michelle

Helping Hands is a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving others through financial support. Through this organization, people can give a tax-deductible donation of which 92% goes directly to help pay for Ben's current and future medical expenses. The other 8% goes to help others who have medical needs in the ministry. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You can support by donating an amount per mile i.e. . . . penny per mile - $10 dime per mile - $100 dollar per mile - $1000 or any donation you wish … $ _____ To Donate on-line, please visit www.hhmin.org To make a donation Go to the Make a Donation tab on the left side of the Home page then go to the Donate to Helping Hands Ministries Approved Projects tab then in the Project Category select Medical Projects then in the Project select Benjamin Ferguson. You can visit http://benjaminferguson.blogspot.com for more info on Ben's story. or … send your check made out to Helping Hands Ministries … to Michelle Ferguson 0N556 Herrick Drive Wheaton IL 60187 Thank you so much!!

Tony Dungy Visits Wheaton Academy

The Ferguson family got a behind the scenes picture with Tony Dungy
when he came to speak at Wheaton Academy.

The boys were sporting some WA gear!

Summer Fun in New Hampshire

The Ferguson's are spending almost 3 weeks in New Hampshire visiting Paul's family.

They are having a great time and enjoying the peaceful and beautiful Lake Wentworth.

Ben loves fishing and wants to do it everyday.

Paul and Ben fishing off the dock.

More fishing!

Enjoying Poppie's boat.

Poppie and Lanny took the boys to Storyland, a great amusement park that the boys loved!

One of the water rides that Ben loved and laughed the entire time.

The boys like the book Where the Wild Things Are and

were excited to meet one of the "wild things".

Fighting haemophilus influenzae

Ben has been fighting some seasonal allergies and he started coughing with it, which is a sign of a lung infection. The doctors put him on Omnicef for 2 weeks to hopefully take the cough away. It wasnt doing anything and Ben wasn't feeling well. So they added another 2 weeks.

Then Ben had an appointment with the CF Team. At his appt. he cultured haemophilus influenzae even though being on Omnicef. Which is not good.

So they added Rampfin (a very strong antibiotic) to the Omnicef for another 2 weeks.

That seemed to kill the bacteria in his lungs.

He still was struggling with allergy symptoms so the doctors have put Ben on a steriod nasal spray. The nose spray has taken away his allergy symptoms!

Now Ben seems to be healthy. He still has a little bit of a cough but the doctors think its due to post-nasal drip from allergies.

It has been a long 2 months but we think we have gotten past this sickness!

We are so thankful for God's grace and peace He has given us through this time.

Its never fun to go through a time of sickness and

He has answered our prayers to take away this sickness from Ben.

Koko and some exciting News!

The Ferguson's took care of Koko for a week and the boys loved it!
Ben absolutely loves animals and was great at caring for Koko.
They were sad to see him leave.

Exciting new for the Ferguson Family.
Michelle is expecting their 4th child at the beginning of October!
There has been alot of prayer that went into this decision and
they ask for your prayers for a healthy baby.
"Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward."
Psalm 127:3

A Graduation and Birthday Party

Megan's graduation from Indiana Wesleyan. Yah!!

Ty and Ben made Daddy a huge cookie for his birthday!

Daddy's Birthday!

Helping Hands Ministries

HELPING HANDS MINISTRIES

We are very excited Ben was accepted into the Helping Hands Ministries!
Helping Hands is a nonprofit organization
dedicated to serving others through financial support.
Through this organization, people can give a
tax-deductable donation
of which 92% goes directly to help pay for
Ben's current and future medical expenses.
The other 8% goes to help others who have medical needs in the ministry.

Please visit www.hhmin.org

To make a donation
Go to the Make a Donation tab on the left side of the Home page
then
go to the Donate to Helping Hands Ministries Approved Projects tab
then
in the Project Category select Medical Projects
then
in the Project select Benjamin Ferguson.

Thank you!

Chicago Field Muesum

Looking at the large T-Rex named Sue.

Snack break

They were so excited to have Cousins Zion and Selah and Aunt Missy and Uncle Hakeem join them at the Field Muesum! It was fun running around together!

Ben and Caleb digging for dinosaur bones at the Family Playlab.

Ben and Caleb couldn't get enough of the dinosaur exhibit.
They are inside a dinosaur nest playing with baby dinosaurs.

Enjoying outside

A game of soccer that quickly turned into . . .

a wrestling match.

Ben's on the bottom

but finds his way to the top!

Benjamin turns 4!

Ben is 4 years old!

Ben received a few dinosaur books on his birthday and all he wanted to do was read them.

Papa got Ben some golf clubs and is looking forward to teaching Ben the game of golf.

The Saturday before Ben's birthday, we had a party at Wheaton Academy gym. We played shark & minnows, red light/green light, and a relay race. Then we had a scavenger hunt which included Ben's favorite thing - candy.

Enjoying a cupcake.

Cough

Ben caught a cold about 3 weeks ago and couldn't get over it so he went on an antibiotic for 2 weeks. That ended this past weekend but his cough has not. So Dr. McColley has Ben on another 2 weeks of antibiotics. Its hard having him on an antibiotic for a whole month. Please pray for Ben to get back to his baseline of no coughing. Please also pray against progression of the disease in his lungs. Thank you for your prayers.

Sledding

The boys are ready for sledding.

The boys got bunk beds this past weekend. They love them!

Basketball Games and Dinosaurs

The family at a Wheaton Academy Basketball Game.

The boys love going to the gym!

The dinosaurs always come with the boys to the gym.

A favorite pastime of walking the "sharpteeth" dinosaurs along the bleachers.

Ben is obsessed with dinosaurs!

Cold Winter Days

Silly boys

Playtime with some favorites: trains, dinosaurs and trucks.

Ben and Caleb have become really good friends.
They are a dynamic duo and love to wreck havoc wherever they go.

Ben always seem to have things happen to him. The latest is slipping on the ice and getting a nice goose egg on his forehead. He is a tough little kid.

A Good Clinic Visit

Ben had his routine CF clinic at Children's Memorials office in Westchester, IL.

He is doing really well and hasn't had an exacerbation since July 29th!

Thank you for your prayers! Please continue to pray for Ben.

He has been doing a lot of growing this winter. In the past 2.5 months, Ben grew 1 inch.

Ben needs to keep working on getting high calorie, high fat meals to keep up with his growing.

His weight was fine but is not increasing at the same rate as his height, so his BMI went down. It is a little above 50% so they want to keep a close eye on his weight.

Please pray that Ben will start taking more ownership of his eating and would have a good appetite. It is a burden on Michelle and Paul to make sure he is getting enough to eat.