(Day 13 post transplant)
This will be a brief update, but wanted you all to know that we are scheduled, barring any unforeseen surprises of curve balls, we will leave the hospital and move to my mom's for what figures to be the next couple of weeks. This is a huge indicator of progress as the would not let me out if my numbers were not coming up like needed. No big crowds, and no flowers, but familiar territory and a place to get outside and enjoy some Spring before it becomes Summer.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Friday, March 26, 2010
Music That Ministers
(Day +7 after transplant)
Wednesday, I was feeling a bit low while checking email and such, and I realized I was sort of getting down. I decided to launch iTunes and listen to some Praise and Worship music. On laptop computer speakers there isn’t a lot a sound quality but the message came through clearly, and it was what I needed. I needed to be reminded that God was in control, because He is. I was reminded that while I might falter, He never will. I heard again that those who wait would renew their strength. I was reminded that God is big, never surprised and good.
Update
I have felt pretty yucky the last few days, which is normal. Maybe, though, today is a notch back in the right direction. While the counts are still low (white count so low they cannot measure it) the Doctor said that some monocytes are beginning to appear from the transplanted cells. Very good news. I do not know if that means I am progressing faster, but it does mean I am progressing. Now if the digestive system can get the message. Still taking Imodium and Anti-Nausea stuff as well. Another bit of news: Blue Powerade actually has some taste today. Yay!
Walked a mile today (by 11:00 AM) and want to do at least one more.
Please continue your prayers. They are the essential part of my attitude through the struggle, and the key to my healing.
Wednesday, I was feeling a bit low while checking email and such, and I realized I was sort of getting down. I decided to launch iTunes and listen to some Praise and Worship music. On laptop computer speakers there isn’t a lot a sound quality but the message came through clearly, and it was what I needed. I needed to be reminded that God was in control, because He is. I was reminded that while I might falter, He never will. I heard again that those who wait would renew their strength. I was reminded that God is big, never surprised and good.
Update
I have felt pretty yucky the last few days, which is normal. Maybe, though, today is a notch back in the right direction. While the counts are still low (white count so low they cannot measure it) the Doctor said that some monocytes are beginning to appear from the transplanted cells. Very good news. I do not know if that means I am progressing faster, but it does mean I am progressing. Now if the digestive system can get the message. Still taking Imodium and Anti-Nausea stuff as well. Another bit of news: Blue Powerade actually has some taste today. Yay!
Walked a mile today (by 11:00 AM) and want to do at least one more.
Please continue your prayers. They are the essential part of my attitude through the struggle, and the key to my healing.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Big God
(Day +3 after transplant)
Today has been pretty good. Walked a couple of miles (one mile each time) and hiccupped a whole lot. Counts were a bit more stable today than yesterday. However, they should drop over the next day or two. This is normal.
This morning I was reading a little about one of God’s names, “Jehovah-Sabaoth.” It is translated “The Lord of Hosts." This name of God meets failure and offers deliverance. The Lord of Hosts delivered Goliath into David’s hand. It is good to be reminded that God is huge. He can handle whatever we encounter, if we are right with Him and following Him. He isn’t my “cosmic bellhop” to do my bidding, but He IS in control.
Possibly when you saw the title of this post, you thought something amazing had occurred in my treatment. Well, not yet. But everyone says I am on schedule. Pray that I will continue to sense His presence in the daily routines here, my time alone with him, and other opportunities I may have. Pray that God will be glorified in it all.
I am anxious to get back in the saddle, but know that patiently waiting, praying, listening, and growing may be exactly what God desires to put me in the right saddle, on the right horse, and headed in the right direction. It will all come together in His time.
Thank you all for your continued prayers, notes, emails, and thoughts. You guys are great!
Today has been pretty good. Walked a couple of miles (one mile each time) and hiccupped a whole lot. Counts were a bit more stable today than yesterday. However, they should drop over the next day or two. This is normal.
This morning I was reading a little about one of God’s names, “Jehovah-Sabaoth.” It is translated “The Lord of Hosts." This name of God meets failure and offers deliverance. The Lord of Hosts delivered Goliath into David’s hand. It is good to be reminded that God is huge. He can handle whatever we encounter, if we are right with Him and following Him. He isn’t my “cosmic bellhop” to do my bidding, but He IS in control.
Possibly when you saw the title of this post, you thought something amazing had occurred in my treatment. Well, not yet. But everyone says I am on schedule. Pray that I will continue to sense His presence in the daily routines here, my time alone with him, and other opportunities I may have. Pray that God will be glorified in it all.
I am anxious to get back in the saddle, but know that patiently waiting, praying, listening, and growing may be exactly what God desires to put me in the right saddle, on the right horse, and headed in the right direction. It will all come together in His time.
Thank you all for your continued prayers, notes, emails, and thoughts. You guys are great!
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Another Quick Update 3/20
This is a short post just to bring you up to date. At least I think it is going to be short. I never know when I start these things.
I got my stem cells back yesterday. We celebrated. They put balloons on my door. They sang to me the Stem Cell Birthday Song. (I do not know the official name.) So now we wait. The doctor that came in this morning told me I would have about a week, starting in a day or two, that one of the other doctors calls the “miserable phase.” This is the period of time we will be waiting for my stem cells to kick in and start replacing the blood cells that just normally die. So, while perhaps not much to look forward to, it helps to know what to expect. During this period, the staff will keep a very close eye on me to make sure I stay okay. The staff, by the way, has been great here at Emory.
Just keep lifting April and I up. We are doing well and moving through each thing and each day as God opens it to us. Your prayers mean more than you know, and are the key to God being glorified and my being healed.
I got my stem cells back yesterday. We celebrated. They put balloons on my door. They sang to me the Stem Cell Birthday Song. (I do not know the official name.) So now we wait. The doctor that came in this morning told me I would have about a week, starting in a day or two, that one of the other doctors calls the “miserable phase.” This is the period of time we will be waiting for my stem cells to kick in and start replacing the blood cells that just normally die. So, while perhaps not much to look forward to, it helps to know what to expect. During this period, the staff will keep a very close eye on me to make sure I stay okay. The staff, by the way, has been great here at Emory.
Just keep lifting April and I up. We are doing well and moving through each thing and each day as God opens it to us. Your prayers mean more than you know, and are the key to God being glorified and my being healed.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Bored on Rest Day
Today was my rest day between big chemo yesterday and getting stem cells tomorrow. However, to keep me from being bored in one sense, I got bored in another. Getting me in the program here at Emory was sort of rushed, and they had never done a bone marrow biopsy on me here. They need one as a base line for another a hundred days out (something to look forward to) to see if the cancer is truly in remission or not. Today’s test came with a little sedation, so that made it more tolerable. A visiting medical student from Bangalore did the procedure under several watchful eyes. He told me he had done ten already, and I will say his eleventh one was done very well. He is on my “A” list of bone marrow biopsy givers. Now, it still is not my favorite way to spend an hour or two, but the folks here made it quite tolerable.
The rest of “rest” day has been pretty normal. I went and walked a mile—just 21 laps around our triangularly shaped unit. I usually start questioning my lap count between ten and twenty, so I do an “extra” to be sure I get it all in. I hope I can keep that up.
Grateful! So far no major side effects from yesterday’s big chemo blast. It is sort of strange that it took less than an hour to get it inside me. To reduce the possibility of mouth sores, I ate ice for about four hours. I started thirty minutes before and kept it up at least two hours after. Keeping the mouth cold reduces the blood supply to those tissues, so less of the medicine floats by. Plausible to me! The only side effect I am having right now is hiccups. I have had that before with another chemo drug. They just come and go.
Tomorrow, I will get my stem cells. They treat it like a birthday, and in a way, it is. If I didn’t get them back, and they didn’t start working, I wouldn’t be here long. So I guess it will be my third birthday. First birthday was way back in 1950, the next in 1961 when I received Christ into my life, and tomorrow will be the third. (If they do come in and sing, I hope to have my little point & shoot camera set on go to record the video.)
Please keep the prayers coming. They tell me that day three has the best potential to be a lousy day. Now, day zero is tomorrow (Friday), when I get the stem cells. Today is day -1. That is just how they count it. Day three is a day when some of the effects of the chemo I got on day -2 can show up. Also, counts are dropping and such. So please keep praying.
God our Banner
I have been working through Lord I Want to Know You, by Kay Arthur. It is a study of the names of God used in Scripture. (It is an excellent study, by the way). Today I was reading about “God Our Banner,” or “Jehovah-nissi.” He is the One we follow. We are under his authority. As we obediently follow, we will see Him work, and He will be glorified. Praise the Lord.
The rest of “rest” day has been pretty normal. I went and walked a mile—just 21 laps around our triangularly shaped unit. I usually start questioning my lap count between ten and twenty, so I do an “extra” to be sure I get it all in. I hope I can keep that up.
Grateful! So far no major side effects from yesterday’s big chemo blast. It is sort of strange that it took less than an hour to get it inside me. To reduce the possibility of mouth sores, I ate ice for about four hours. I started thirty minutes before and kept it up at least two hours after. Keeping the mouth cold reduces the blood supply to those tissues, so less of the medicine floats by. Plausible to me! The only side effect I am having right now is hiccups. I have had that before with another chemo drug. They just come and go.
Tomorrow, I will get my stem cells. They treat it like a birthday, and in a way, it is. If I didn’t get them back, and they didn’t start working, I wouldn’t be here long. So I guess it will be my third birthday. First birthday was way back in 1950, the next in 1961 when I received Christ into my life, and tomorrow will be the third. (If they do come in and sing, I hope to have my little point & shoot camera set on go to record the video.)
Please keep the prayers coming. They tell me that day three has the best potential to be a lousy day. Now, day zero is tomorrow (Friday), when I get the stem cells. Today is day -1. That is just how they count it. Day three is a day when some of the effects of the chemo I got on day -2 can show up. Also, counts are dropping and such. So please keep praying.
God our Banner
I have been working through Lord I Want to Know You, by Kay Arthur. It is a study of the names of God used in Scripture. (It is an excellent study, by the way). Today I was reading about “God Our Banner,” or “Jehovah-nissi.” He is the One we follow. We are under his authority. As we obediently follow, we will see Him work, and He will be glorified. Praise the Lord.
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