Congratulations are in order today for my dear daughter in law Rachel who celebrates a milestone birthday.
May the Lord continue to be your strength and may He grant you and Mike and the boys continued blessings.
Congratulations are in order for my dear daughter in law Bethany who landed a desired job today! May the Lord bless you in your work, and in the home Dave and you are building.
Thanks to a crew of guys who are busy today and tomorrow ripping up and replacing flooring in our house. Thanks also to those who have provided food for them.
Thanks to the many expressions of love shown to Barb and I, and especially to our children and parents.
Today's scrabble. Got hammered by 100 points.
This morning's blood test has shown my White Blood Cell count to be at 0. The chemotherapy has done it's work eliminating my stem cells and not allowing for production of new WBC. I cannot be given WBC in a whole blood transfusion because that would give me infection and a host of difficulties. So we wait for engraftment and the first signs of that will be an uptick on my WBC count. We are hoping to see something around Day 14, a sign of good things to come.
Until engraftment I am also unable to produce hemoglobin (RBC) and platelets. Today my platelet count was at 10, the threshold for a platelet transfusion which I had late morning following another "stem cell chaser". Normal platelet counts are 150-400. At diagnosis I was around 50. My oral chemotherapy had been able to stabilize that count and I was at 53 when I entered the hospital. Normal hemoglobin levels are 140-180 for men. I have fallen from 120 to 93 today. If I fall below 90 then I will receive a transfusion of RBC. I have entered a study on differing hemoglobin levels to transfuse at. Standard here has been 70, and the study is comparing that to 90. I was randomly selected to go in the 90 grouping. My hopes that an earlier transfusion may result in less fatigue and more oxygen to my cells, making me more robust and able to fight infection.
The program head was in today (as per normal) and she fully expects me to break with at fever at any time. This is normal, but I suspect no fun at all. They will culture blood and start me on broad spectrum antibiotics at that time. The cause of infection is unlikely to be determined, but they expect a normal bacteria that my immune system would otherwise handle but now cannot.
Entering this time of no immune function is the hardest part yet. Completely vulnerable. I am sitting here waiting for the inevitable onslaught. One of Mike's pupils in a comment remind us of the truths of Scripture summarized in the Catechism when he points us to QA1 of the Heidelberg Catechism
Q. What is your only comfort in life and in death?
A. That I am not my own, but belong body and soul, in life and in death,
to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ.
He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood,
and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil.
He also watches over me in such a way
that not a hair can fall from my head
without the will of my Father in heaven:
in fact, all things must work together for my salvation.
Because I belong to him,
Christ, by his Holy Spirit,
assures me of eternal life
and makes me whole heartedly willing and ready
from now on to live for him.
There is rest. There is peace. There is life.
3 comments:
So wonderful to read another update that is filled with positive thoughts and encouragement to all who read your blog. It is amazing that you and your family are able to bring hope and joy to all those reading, giving us the full confidence that should anything befall us, we too will be given an extra measure of His love. Through your witness we are assured that as His children we will be carried through life's storms should they come to pass. We know that this does not come from our own strength...
Praying for a good night's rest and continued good spirits. To your wife as well!
BTW, you have a beautiful writing style...
In Him, the vanB's
We pray for strength and a peace that passes all understanding in this time of waiting. Be still and know that [He]is God. Ps. 46. We are so blessed to have a heavenly Father who walks with us through our struggles and who knows our pain and fears. Rest in Him. Praise God that in our weakness we can be strong because He provides all that we need. We love you. Love the Schoutens
So nice to see you on Skype last night - a special moment to be sure! Praying for freedom from infection and for lots of patience and strength for each day. Keep up the Scrabble playing!
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