Transplant Day - 5

Today is day 4/4 of the first chemotherapy drug Bulsulfan.  I am connected while I write now.  Poison pumped in your body to heal you is a weird concept.  The nurses come dressed in full gear in order to hook me up and take me off.  I hope they don't have a spill. A picture of what life needs to be like for a time, where what I touch or go, others want to avoid - so now I have a private bath!

Thankfully side effects remain well controlled.  The Head of the unit stopped by today and we talked for a while.  She has not seen anyone with my exact disease in this unit before, likely because of a number of reasons such as: persons age at discovery of the disease, stage of disease at discovery, how much chemotherapy prior to transplant, and underlying health issues that would prevent a transplant from even being planned.  They are hopeful that early treatment in this way will prove successful for me.

  Psalm 139:13-16
"For you formed my inward parts;
   you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
    my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
  intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, everyone of them,
   the days that were formed for me, 
   when as yet there was none of them."

We have often talked about that our lives are in the hands of our Creator God   Psalm 124:8 "Our help is in the Name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth."   A Creator God who appoints  our days for us in His providence, for His will and for His glory.   Is there a safer place to be?

Tomorrow I start Cyclophosphamide for two days.  I will be hooked on IV around the clock to hydrate heavily to protect my kidneys and liver.  More pills to start their work against side effects coming up.

Prayer Needs:
1. Continue to pray that the chemo will be killing all the cancer  cells in my body, preparing me for the transplant.
2.  That medications given to my brother will produce the desired levels of stem cells, and that he may be protected.
3. Pray that Barb and I and our children may have daily trust in their Shepherd's care for them through this and in their homes, callings, and travels.
4. Pray for peace for our parents and extended family too.
5. Pray that our Lord's Name is exalted and glorified with whomever we come in contact with.