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3-30-05

 

“This is the day that the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.”

Psalms 118:24

 The sun has finally broken through after about five straight days of pouring rain. I am rejoicing in this beautiful day. (Actually, every day is a beautiful day!) Like today's sunshine, I feel like I am starting to break through in my recovery. I am getting stronger everyday and my energy level feels closer and closer to normal. I continue to taper down my Prednisone. I am on alternating doses of 45mg one day and 0mg the next. As long as everything remains stable, I will continue tapering by 5mg every two weeks.

 

I still struggle with a low hematocrit, causing me to anemic. My most recent level was 34%. My goal is to get up to 42 – 44%. Despite being anemic, I broke my post transplant distance record recently by cycling 55 miles. Thanks again to my Pastor. I couldn't have completed the distance without him. When the ride got too tough I just tucked in behind him and enjoyed riding in the protection of his draft. I am on track for riding American's Most Beautiful Bike Ride on June 6 th , a 100-mile ride in Lake Tahoe , to celebrate my one-year transplant anniversary and to raise money to fight Leukemia and Lymphoma.

 

 

 

Easter was very special this year. My brother and sister, along with my new baby nephew, joined our family for Easter service. It was wonderful to be together celebrating the wonderful gift of Jesus resurrection.

 

 

I had a scary setback recently. A couple weeks ago my oncologist asked me to go see a dermatologist to have a small, but suspicious mole checked out. The dermatologist decided to remove and biopsy the mole. A couple days ago the doctor called me to say that the lab results indicated the mole was evolving into a cancerous one. As a precautionary measure, I was in the next morning (yesterday) to have another one-inch diameter section of tissue removed from the site of the mole. Fortunately, the dermatologist is very confident that everything is fine. However, as a cancer patient it is a little difficult to be completely at ease. Test results from the new sample will be available next Monday. I will be praying everything will be negative like the doctor is predicting. I thought this cancerous mole was a result of all the radiation I have been exposed to during cancer treatment. However, the doctor explained that it was a result of a lot of exposure to the sun when I was younger. I was careless when I was young and had my shirt off all the time and never wore sunscreen. My kids don't like to wear sunscreen either, but we make them anyway. I ask that everyone reading my journal today will remember to wear sunscreen. You should also keep an eye on your loved ones. Be sure they are wearing sunscreen and keep an eye out for suspicious looking moles. Moles that darken in color, change shape, or get bigger. Skin cancer is nothing to mess around with. I know it is considered beautiful to have a deep dark tan, but it isn't too beautiful to develop skin cancer.

 

Thank you for your continued prayers for me and my family. I also ask that you lift up the following requests:

 

•My continued successful recovery, good test results from my recent skin biopsy, and that my hematocrit can reach a level of 42 to 44%.

•Prayers for Janet who has been hospitalized for the past few months battling Leukemia. Pray she can get strong enough to go home. Pray for her finances as well. She is a teacher and needs sick leave sharing to keep her income going while she is ill.

•Pray for Jane's battle with Lymphoma. She started her treatments yesterday. Pray the treatments effectively eradicate all her cancer and that the side effects are minimal.

•Pray for Britt's brain cancer and his daughter's Leukemia. Bring them both the Lord's peace and healing touch.

•Prayer of thanksgiving that my friend Karen's recovery from transplant is going so well. Continue to renew her strength and bless her ministry of helping other cancer patients.

 

My recent scare with the skin cancer reminds me once again of how fragile life is. I heard a terminally ill colon cancer patient share that you should be planning for tomorrow, but living for today. I pray we all can do that.

 

“We must never consider our future without first asking God to be in charge of it. And once we do that, we are to leave it in His hands and not lose sleep over it.”

Stormie Omartian

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