The chart pictured here is one of my latest reports. The picture of the dryer control reminds us that "normal" is a setting on a clothes dryer. I believe Erma Bombeck,
a writer and humorist well known in the 1960s through 1990s, is due the credit for that little statement.
For cancer patients, "normal" is a precious and often elusive goal. We want our numbers to be normal. For those of us with blood cancers, our doctors do lots of blood tests. They do them often. The tests are the first look to see how things are going. There is one test in particular that lets me know if the treatment I am receiving is effective. It looks at my "Free Lambda" or "IgL" number. "IgL is one of a number of immune globulins all of us have in our blood. They work together to fight off infections. Sometimes, though, they go rogue, and that means cancer.
Since early this year, I have been in a clinical trial at the Winship Cancer Institute at Emory University Hospital because it seemed like the most effective option after my previous treatment began to lose its effectiveness. I have just taken the last treatment in the "intense phase." I have a week off. Then I start the "maintenance phase."
As you can tell from the chart, as soon as the trial began, that Free Lambda number dropped quickly. After a few cycles it actually hit normal, but has been creeping up since. However, that is not a big, bad, thing. The chart gives perspective. I may not be "normal," but I am a long way from that peak in the early part of this year. As my PA said, "We will ride this as long as it lasts." Would I like to be in the normal range? Of course! There is a lot I want to do. Hopefully maintenance will be a long phase, and maybe the numbers will actually creep toward normal.
Where is God in all of this? Right in the middle. Christians affirm that the world is broken. It has been since Adam and Eve. Diseases, along with many other things, exhibit that brokenness. Yet God provides for those who will believe in Him and follow Him. This is not faith in faith, but faith in Christ, who paid the penalty for our sin when he died on the cross and rose again three days later. (See 1 Corinthians 15:3-8). He is faithful. He will listen to our complaints. He will answer our prayers, but not always in the way that we might want. Christ followers look forward to a better place after this life, so we endure what this life brings and trust Him to bring us through it.
What is your part in all this? Please pray. Pray that God is glorified, the treatment works, and side effects are minimized. And pray that the number creeps downward. Thanks! Your prayers mean more than you know.
