Saddle Up - Horse #6*

 

*A friend’s doctor commented that Multiple Myeloma treatments were like Pony Express ponies, “you ride one until it is exhausted, and then you get another horse.”

 

As many of you know, I entered a clinical trial back in August (fifth horse) and it worked great for two months, but then the horse began to walk backwards, and the numbers went back up. By the first of February, the number that we pay most attention to was higher than it has ever been, so we began looking for what was next. My doctor at Emory recommended another trial, and after praying about it, I signed the consent form. That began the process of tests and pictures (PET scan, Echocardiogram, blood tests, covid tests, and the ever-popular bone marrow biopsy and aspiration. So all that is done, and it is time to saddle up.

 

I go to Emory tomorrow and check in the hospital for about a week. Yes, I will be in the hospital. It is a new immunological treatment, and it can have some very serious side effects, so I have to be in the hospital for the first dose or two. Assuming things go well on Monday, I will get my first small dose of this medication on Tuesday. Assuming no major reactions, I’ll get more later in the week.

 

So, your prayers are coveted and needed. My request is as usual: First, that God is glorified in everything. Second, that the treatment works. Third, that the side effects are minimized.

 

Thank you. So many have prayed for me for so long. I am blessed and grateful.

 

 

P.S. If you would like to know more specifics about what I am taking and how it is supposed to work, contact me. I will try to post updates here, but most will happen through Facebook or April’s emails.  

Looking For Horse Number Six

 

 

“Multiple Myeloma treatments are like Pony Express horses. You ride one for as long as it lasts, and when it is exhausted, you get another horse,” said a friend’s doctor. I have quoted him before, and I am quoting him again, much sooner than I had hoped. The clinical trial I began in August started with two months with the number we watch dropping a lot. The next three months, that number climbed at an accelerating pace, to the point it is now higher than ever before. So, I am asking what the next “horse” will be. Pray with me about that. Pray that God continues to lead us and glorify Himself, and that we find a treatment that will be effective, long-lasting, and I will tolerate well. Thank you! Your prayers, as always, are the main ingredient in my treatment. Thank you! I feel fine. Enjoying the start of my retirement

 

By the way, the Horse Drawn Wagon scene accompanying this post I photographed in 2003 near Oradea, Romania.

The Next Horse?

 

A Potential Treatment Horse 

Multiple Myeloma treatments are like Pony Express horses. You ride one until it is exhausted, and then you get another horse. Horse #4 is worn out, so we are looking for horse #5.

My doctors at Emory's Winship Cancer Center have identified a clinical trial that seems to be a good fit for me. August 3, if all continues to seem good, I will sign the consent form and begin the tests that must be done to be sure I qualify for the trial, and also to be as sure as possible that I could stand the treatment. This is a new iteration of a family of medications I have taken through the years, so hopefully it will work and side effects will be minimal. April and I will know a lot more after Tuesday, and we will try to keep you posted as things develop. 

Philippians 4:6-7 says, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

As always, your prayers are requested and appreciated. They are the main ingredient in my treatment. I firmly believe they are why I have made it almost twelve years since my diagnosis. 

Looking for a Fifth Horse

  

 

Sometime within the last year, a friend who is also walking the Multiple Myeloma Road quoted her doctor as saying, “Multiple Myeloma treatments are like Pony Express Ponies. When one gets exhausted, you have to find another horse.” It looks like, for me, that my doctors and I will soon be looking for my fifth horse (5th type of treatment).

Recent blood tests show that the number that I and my doctors watch was no longer creeping upward but climbing rapidly. Not the news I wanted to hear, but not totally unexpected either. MM treatments don’t always have a long period of effectiveness.

 

I got the news by phone, and after I hung up, I opened my Bible to Psalm 16.

 

Psalm 16:1-2

Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.

² I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;

    I have no good apart from you.”

 

Psalm 16:8

I have set the Lord always before me;

    because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

 

Those were the words I needed to hear at that moment. I know I am very blessed to still be here since my diagnosis in October 2009. I'd like to stay a bit longer.

 

I am scheduled for a visit to Emory on July 6. They called Friday and are hoping to get me in for a PET Scan either here in Augusta or there at Emory before July 6. That is kind of a tight schedule. Pray that happens.

 

So, please pray:

1.     That God will be glorified

2.     That we’ll find a very good next treatment.

3.     That I will tolerate the treatment and its side effects well, and that it will work.

4.     That I will get the PET Scan before I go to Emory on July 6.

5.     That the new treatment can be done here in Augusta, if possible. It is so much easier.

Your prayers are the main ingredient in my treatment. Thanks!

Keeping Flexible

 

(Note: I sent this to some of our small group leaders earlier this week at our church, and some sent it on to their group members. Response that I received was positive, so I thought I would share it with a wider audience.)

Keeping Flexible

Above my desk in my office, there is a display of flags from places the Lord has allowed me to go, and in the middle of them is Gumby. Why on earth? Well, when you are on mission, whether right here at home or thousands of miles away, flexibility is key.

The back story on the Gumby is that a former student minister gave it to me when we finished some mission training with students, with one of the latter sessions being on the necessity for flexibility. If Gumby is anything, he is flexible.

Flexibility is a quality demanded in much of life, and that is no less true in how we do church, where we do church, and what we do as a church. We rarely know ahead of time which way the wind of the Spirit is going to blow, so we have to raise our sails and be ready to go in whatever direction He leads us (or blows us!).  

Jesus said in John 3:8 “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Paul wrote in Galatians 5:16, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”

Stay flexible. Be ready to walk as God leads you, fulfilling His direction, no matter what that might be. Even if it is hard.

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A quick health update: The cancer is being held at bay by the treatments and your prayers. Praise the Lord. I have recently developed a new heart issue (“atrial flutter”) so I have some tests and appointments on December 1 and 2. I would appreciate your prayers in all of those.

Blessings,
Tom