Hi all,
Mary gets to play survivor one more time – only she isn’t trying to outwit, out play, out last for a million dollars and title of survivor – I think she is trying to rack up a million dollar medical bill to go with her “Survivor“ title – lol. Her leukemia has returned which is a set-back but not a complete blindside. We were told very early on that this type of cancer was very aggressive and resistant to treatment.
Some have asked how this has happened – if the stem cells grafted she should be healed…well it is similar to planting a seed…
You prepare the field then plant the seed. You weed and water till the plant takes root and is stronger than the weeds and can survive and flourish. Mary had the cells planted but they are still taking root and even though she is grafted the old marrow is still around and has not been completely eradicated. We were told that the leukemia would return and the only option was a transplant. We were hopeful that the transplant would have more time for the new cells to flourish.
So what comes next… well normally at this point in the treatment she would be weaned off the immunosuppressant’s over a 3-6 month time frame so that the new bone marrow could slowly take over without an overwhelming attack on the body, kind of easing into the take-over…but with this new development she will be taken of the immunosuppressant’s very quickly, with-in a week, in the hopes that the new bone marrow will become very aggressive and fight off the cancer… this does open her up to the possibility that she will see additional complications from the internal struggle going on.
We will meet with the transplant team and oncology team on Tuesday afternoon to discuss what the treatment plan will be. It will possibly involve some chemo to keep the leukemia cells under control and the possibility of a second transplant if the current one has not had time to strengthen enough to withstand this onslaught.
How are we doing??? Well, we are a bit emotional over this, but Mary wisely pointed out that this is not a Zombie Apocalypse so things are still manageable. We have already selected our hats for Tuesday’s meeting and we intend to show them that we are not beaten and still have a sense of humor.
We have discussed why she has not been healed since that has been promised to her. The conclusion we came to is that sometimes we need bigger miracles than just being healed. It would be easy if everything fell into place and zip zap it was all over…well not exactly zip zap in this case. Sometimes the Lord expects us to endure for a season so that certain lessons can be learned and promises fulfilled not just for us but all those around us as well. We do know that the Lord has “prepared a way” for us to meet this test and we will have everything we need when we need it so when it is time we can return to his loving arms and he can tell us “Well done”.
As always we would not have been able to make it this far without the support of our family and friends. You are all critical to our survival and we love you so much for your efforts on our behalf. We only hope that one day we can return the favor and be the same kind of support for each of you.
Love,
Deb
