Following the Path #2

October 2018, Peru - A farming family brings their animals home from  a day a grazing.

A few mornings ago, I was reading and writing about the events found in the Bible is 1 Samuel 7. When I came to verse 12, I remembered being in Ukraine in 1995. Some friends and I were visiting some believers, and we were meeting at their church building. During a break we took a little time to see their auditorium. On the wall high above the pulpit and choir loft were words in Ukrainian that I could not read, but the reference was decipherable: 1 Samuel 7:12. Looking it up, I found the words, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.” It was so appropriate in such a setting, in a country where faith in God had been mocked, attacked, and in many cases violently suppressed for ninety years. The encouraging reminder was painted on the wall to remind the people of God’s help in the past to encourage their trust in Him in the present and future. 

It is good for Christ followers to look back and see how God has gotten them to where they are. Seeing His hand in our lives past encourages us for the present and future. It isn't just about dealing with a cancer diagnosis, but all kinds of ways and circumstances that God works in to take us to places, people, and more. Think about how thus far God has helped you. When I do that, I am grateful.

Medical Update
Today I began cycle three in the clinical trial I am in for Multiple Myeloma at Emory's Winship Cancer. Last week I could not have treatment because my platelet count was too low (24). I ask several of you to pray that things would rebound. Today it was 204. The Nurse Practitioner I saw said that she had seen numbers come up often with a week off, but not that much. Thank your your prayers! He gets the glory. 

We won't know the results of the tests that really tell us what is going on with my MM until next week, but they expect nothing but good results. Once again, keep praying that 1) The meds work, 2) The side effects are minimized, and 3) God is glorified. You know I consider your prayers as the main thing in my treatment. 

Tom

Following The Path #1

On a Mountain Road in Peru.

I continue to follow the path laid out for me in the new cancer treatment. Except for taking pills everyday, I have completed the first cycle in my new cancer treatment. Thanks for your prayers. Side effects are minimal, drives to Emory tolerable, and I am seeking to glorify God. He has been so good, how can I not do that? 

Next Tuesday, on Cycle 2, Day 1, I hope I will get to hear some blood test results that will tell us whether the new stuff is beginning to work. Pray that way, please. 

When Trouble Comes

This week, I received a newsletter from a missionary friend who has some chronic health challenges, and she included the following quote from Joni Earickson Tada

Ephesians 1:3 - “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,"

When a particular trouble intrudes into our life, it has a way of taking over. It dominates our thoughts, controls our emotions, saps our will, and drains our energy. Eventually, it crowds and bullies every good thing out of our day. As God’s children, we can’t let that happen. Today’s Scripture tells us God has blessed us in the heavenly realms. He’s given us peace of heart and mind—something the world craves but can’t find. He’s given us faith to pass through deep waters. He’s given us the grace to give and to let go. He’s given us the sweet knowledge that we have an eternal home in heaven, waiting for us just around the bend. He’s given us His own Spirit as Counselor and Comforter. He’s washed away our sins and forgotten our evil deeds. We have more going for us than His own angels, who have never tasted such grace. 

God, there are times when I give in to my pain or surrender to my anxiety, allowing these troubles to fill my heart with dread or fear. In such times, I ask You to remind me of all the gifts You have given me. Help me to wash away the dark thoughts with fresh gratitude and heartfelt praise.

Tada, Joni Eareckson. A Spectacle of Glory (p. 76). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. 

First Cycle First Week, In The Books

No matter the weather outside, the ceiling in the waiting area of the Infusion Lab at Winship Cancer Institute at Emory always is sunny and bright. Great idea. 

Today marks the completion of the first week of the first cycle of the clinical trial I am now enrolled in at Emory. I feel very encouraged to be able to participate. So far side effects are minimal. Thanks for your prayers. Trusting that it all works and God is glorified. 

The picture above reminds me of some words of Jesus found in Matthew 5:45b: "For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust."

Cancer is hard. So are other diseases. But I am thankful that God's "sun" and "rain" include treatments that are getting better and better. 

Thanks for your prayers. Prayer is the main ingredient in my treatment. 

Something Different

Lima, Peru, October 2018. We could not exactly figure out what this contraption was, but we guessed it was an older version of the Flux Capacitor.

Something Different

Test results sometimes vary, and mine has. The genetic marker that showed up in my 2016 tests failed to appear in my most recent tests. That means I cannot be in the first trial, but I can be in another, so here we go—at least that is where we are right now. For a while, it will mean a couple of trips to Emory each week, and all the meds of the first study plus one. Cancer patients receive a "cocktail" of several meds, and those cocktails vary from cancer to cancer, and even patient to patient. (These, by the way, are the only cocktails I have ever had.)

Prayers are greatly appreciated. Pray that the meds work, side effects are minimal, and God is glorified.

For those who want to know more, private message me on Facebook and I can give you more details.

Convergence

Traffic in Lima, Peru, October 2018

Convergence

Traffic in Lima can be interesting. Here we see two busses that appear to be converging to squash the fellow carrying the produce. Everyone got through the traffic jam safely with no injuries or bent metal.

There appears to be a convergence of treatment regarding my cancer. So much is happening so quickly. 

Back in November I wrote about some changes in my Multiple Myeloma status. After another visit to Emory’s Winship Cancer Center last Tuesday, here is where I am headed—a clinical trial. Let me say at the start that I think this is good. It is NOT a last ditch effort to keep me around, but a course of treatment that seems to hold the most promise for me right now. There are multiple other treatment options, and those remain as a possibility for treatment later on, or if I don’t get accepted into the trial, or if the trial meds don’t work as expected. 

I have to go through the prescreening process, which is tomorrow, January 29. It involves blood work, x-rays, and some other fun things, but we assume that I qualify based on previous test results. Once that hurdle is cleared, we will set up a treatment schedule and get on with it.

The trial involves a medication already approved for the treatment of certain types of leukemia (CLL). The medication is called Venetoclax. About 15% of people with Multiple Myeloma (MM) have a particular genetic marker, and for those people, this medication seems to be very effective. That is what the trial is about. 

I will also receive a couple of other medications. Cancer patients are often recipients of a combination of medications that help fight the disease. Venetoclax is a chemotherapy medication. I will also receive an immunotherapy medication called Darzelex (daratumumab), as well as a steroid. 

Please pray all will go well tomorrow, including the travel to Emory and back, and that if this is God’s direction for me, that I will be accepted in the trial. While the medications are amazing, prayer is the main ingredient in my treatment. Always. 

I will post again when we know the results of the tests. 

Blessings,

Tom