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August 23, 2005

While the incredible Lance Armstrong rode to his seventh Tour De France victory this summer, I continued to ride my Tour De Recovery. Lance's major challenges in his Tour were probably the mountain stages. One of my mountain stages was an infection this past July that landed me in the hospital. The infection came on in a matter of hours in the middle of the night. I woke up with a temperature of 103 and went to the emergency room, but got impatient as I waited for over two hours. Feeling horrible I decided to go home and sleep for a couple of hours and go into the clinic when it opened first thing in the morning. I felt better in the morning as my temperature went down, but when I saw Dr. Blau she was quite upset with me. She had just gotten the results back from my labs and determined I had a Gram Negative bacterial infection. She has seen this infection be fatal to patients in just several hours. My decision to leave the hospital the night before could have cost me my life. Trust me, I learned my lesson. Dr. Blau immediately admitted me into the hospital. I wasn't happy to be admitted into the hospital. I hadn't been in the hospital overnight since I had a fever a few weeks after transplant. I knew I needed a distraction so I rode my bike for about an hour before entering the hospital (so much for being admitted immediately) and I brought it to my room with me so I could ride my stationary trainer. The admitting nurse was asking if I was patient, because I wasn't behaving like the typical patients she admits onto the cancer floor. My response was, “I am not your typical patient. I do not plan to lay in this bed the whole time I am here and I intend to go home tomorrow.” Between my IVs I would take walks and when I was on the IV and couldn't walk I would ride my trainer. The hospital stay went well and I was released the next morning as my temperature returned to normal. Probably the worst part of my stay at the hospital was an incident I had while riding my trainer. I was pedaling along when a good song came on my iPod. So I stood up and really started to pedal hard. While pedaling my bike slipped out of the trainer for some reason and I fell over into my IV pole. Yes, I crashed on a stationary bike. Fortunately, I fell the right direction and didn't yank my Hickmen Line out of my chest, which was connected to the IV pole. So the only thing that was damaged was my pride.

Other than my stint in the hospital, my Tour De Recovery has gone well this summer. As a matter of fact, so well that I will be returning to work teaching in a week and a half. I am so thankful and very excited. It has been over a year since I have been in the classroom.

The best part of my Tour De Recovery has got to be yesterday's stage. I was at the doctor to receive the results of my most recent bone marrow biopsy. These results were huge. The last bone marrow test in May showed an increase in my Leukemia cells and if the trend continued on this test my prognosis would not be good. To say I have been anxious about these results is an understatement. I have been very afraid and my faith has definitely been tested. When Betty, the Physicians Assistant read the results to Michelle and me, I could just feel this huge burden being lifted. She announced that my Leukemia cells had decreased from 3.3% to 2.9%. Even though that doesn't seem like much, it is a decrease. Meaning my immune system is fighting off the Leukemia cells and winning the battle. My blood counts were also awesome as my hematocrit went up to 40% and my platelets increased to 150,000. Basically, you wouldn't know I was a Leukemia patient by looking at my blood counts. They are totally normal. As you might imagine, there is much rejoicing in my household.

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say, rejoice! Phil 4:4

I know many people are praying for my test results, my continued recovery, and my family. We are so grateful. I know the upcoming stages of my recovery ride will not all be easy, there will be additional challenges, but I pray it is in His will that I win my race.

Four Things That Help Make Trials Easier

It Helps…when I know who is in control.
It Helps…when I know I am not alone in my suffering.
It Helps…when I know the purpose of God behind it.
It Helps…because I become more compassionate with and understanding of others.

Please lift up the following prayer requests:

•Continued decrease in my Leukemia cells.

•Stamina as I return to the classroom.

•Karen G. as she experiences her own set of challenges in her transplant recovery.

•Jane's recovery from Lymphoma treatment. May the treatments be behind her for good as she moves forward with her life after cancer.

•Karen K. as she continues her chemo treatments for breast cancer.

•Joanne's recovery from her transplant and strength to get through some of her setbacks.

•Patrick's fight with Leukemia and continued support of his wonderful family.

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