Dealing With Chronic Illness

I am not sure I have ever used my blog to link you to another's blog, but this post today from Dr. Charles Fielding, M.D., struck a chord.

Multiple Myeloma and heart disease are treated as chronic diseases (see my previous post for recent news). His words are insightful, but not easy.

By the way, the doctor who accompanied the Apostle Paul was Luke.

It is a short read.

https://lifeuntangled.org/2020/01/20/living-with-chronic-illness-or-the-pride-down-pride-up-paradox/

Pastor Tom

Just A Clay Pot

Superman was said to be the “Man of Steel.” I remember watching those “Adventures of Superman” episodes back in the fifties and sixties and seeing bullets, fists, and other objects bounce off Superman’s body. Of course, this man of steel could fly, use his x-ray vision, and do whatever he wanted to do. (There was one thing he couldn’t be around, and that was kryptonite, which would render him weak and whimpering, but that is not my point here.)

the Apostle Paul says we are not men or women of steel. He is speaking to Christ followers about the treasure of the gospel, and the weakness of he, his co-workers, and, well, all of us. The whole passage I am considering here is found in 2 Corinthians 4:3-11 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Corinthians+4%3A3-11&version=NLT), but my focus today is verses seven through twelve.

7 We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure.[b] This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.

8 We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. 9 We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. 10 Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.

11 Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies. 12 So we live in the face of death, but this has resulted in eternal life for you.

In 2 Corinthians 4:7-10 (NLT), Paul gives us some encouragement amid what must have been great adversity. He starts off with the truth that we are just earthen vessels, jars of clay. You know, Genesis 2:7 (NIV) “Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground…”

But those circumstances (vv 8-9) do not crush or destroy. Why? Not because of some inner strength but because of God’s strength, available to every believer. Paul’s “threat of death” was likely due to persecution. We face adversities and even death (life is terminal, you know) from a myriad of possibilities. 

Over the last few months, I have faced some health issues that underline my “clay-potted-ness." Let me try and give you the Reader’s Digest version. If you would like details, just let me know.

Fall, 2019

• By mid-summer, we knew the clinical trial I was in treating the Multiple Myeloma was not being as effective as we had hoped, and knew a change was coming. 
• September 26, had a heart catheterization and I received two stents. Chest pain relieved!
• October 11, with approval from my cardiologist and oncologist, went to Peru. 
• October 27 - Came home really sick. Visited ER the day I got home. Next day, went back to ER, and stayed in the hospital for fifteen days. Treated for Pneumonitis / Pneumonia.
• After the Hospital stay, ten more days in rehab, then home, November 22, under the watchful eye of home health 
• Visited family during Thanksgiving week. Over the next couple of weeks made a couple of short visits to the office, saw some doctors, worked at home some, and finally returned to the office on December 16.
• How could I have gotten so sick? We are not sure, but it probably goes back to a really suppressed immune system. We are going to watch that much closer in the future. 

January 2020

• I started cardiac rehab. It will be good for me for both the heart and the lungs. 
• I have also begun cancer treatment again. This is the first cancer treatment I have had since the heart stents on September 26.  Treatment runs on four week cycles, and involves an infusion (carfilzomib) twice a week the first three weeks, a good amount of a steroid (dexamesthasone) once a week for three weeks, and then a pill (pomalidomide) that I will take daily for twenty-one out of twenty-eight days. (I have learned these by generic names, since the folks at Emory use them and the folks here recognize them.) If the treatment is effective, I will be on it at least a year. 

Remember, first, that you are a clay jar, not a person of steel. You need the Lord Jesus living in you (by the presence of the Holy Spirit) 

As you pray for me, please pray that 1. God would be glorified, 2. That the treatment works, and 3. That side effects are minimized. 

Blessings,

Tom

Tunneling

The picture is from Amsterdam in 1988. The tunnels seem appropriate because of what is happening tomorrow. I was with a group traveling to Africa and we had a fifteen hour layover, so we got to see some of the city. 

For four or five months I have experienced shortness of breath and since May have had some occurrences of chest pain when I exert myself (climbing stairs, walking a good distance, etc.) I kept hoping it was something that would go away as some of my cancer treatment medications were finished, but it has not. So, today, Wednesday, April accompanied me to see a cardiologist. The short story is that tomorrow, I will have a heart catheterization to really see what is going on. Pray as they tunnel their way up to my heart through a vein, that if there is something they will find it. When they find it, pray that it can be fixed while in the cath lab. We are not sure if this is related to cancer treatment, or being 69 years old with some family history of heart disease, or a combination of the two. Still, I want to get it checked out, and this is the best way to tell. Pray that God is glorified through all of this. 

On the cancer front, I am still in the clinical trial, and the creepy number keeps creeping upward. A change may be coming to my treatment, but nothing definitive yet. 

Thanks for your prayers

Mountains and Valleys

The picture above doesn’t have much to do with what follows, but sometimes fighting cancer does seem like climbing one mountain, then descending to the valley, and then up the next one, each getting a bit higher and higher. (The picture, by the way, was made at Three Crosses (Tres Cruces) between Omas and Ayviri. Tres Cruces is able 12,000 feet.)

These verses from Isaiah 40:4-5 come to mind: “Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.”

These verses are from a prophetic passage about the coming Messiah, but they speak to me as well. God will be glorified. That is what I desire. 

Yesterday (8/6) at my Emory appointment, our PA noted that my numbers continued to creep upward, and that we might be looking at another treatment sooner rather than later. Of course, that is disappointing. I probably won’t know the results of Tuesday’s test until Friday, but hopefully then I will get an idea of the pace at which things are going. It will likely be a few months  (I hope) before things go up to a point of having to discuss a treatment change. We talked a little about future options with our PA, but not a lot. The good news is there are options!

I am a little bummed, as I was hoping I would get a year to two years out of this current treatment, but it looks like that isn’t going to happen. Multiple Myeloma is stubborn.

Here is how I ask you to pray:

Pray that the IgL numbers slow their climb, or go back down! (That would be nice!) 

Pray also that this will not interfere with a mission trip in October and a vacation trip with my son in November. 

Pray that God is glorified, that my treatment will become more effective, and side effects will be minimized. 

I will keep you posted. Next appointment at Emory is September 3.

Normal. Sort of.

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.