Antisocial, the definition in the dictionary says, "hostile or harmful to organized society; marked by behavior deviating sharply from the social norm." Can this be me? Well, I guess my blood is according to the doctor today. It has to do with my one enzymes or chromosomes and how they are not playing well with the others and pushing the others around and taking over the place. This is how Dr Gingrich sort of explained my leukemia. I really enjoyed our doctor visit to Iowa City. He is a very nice man with a lot of information but easy to understand in the way he explains things. If he wasn't in Iowa City I would probably continue to see him. Dr Sangha is great but it was just easier talking and understanding Dr Gingrich. He was full of information and there fore if you want all that you will have to tune in possibly on Monday when Craig has the chance to get more in depth with the information we received. (I think Jody did a great job of explaining, and I don't think most people want more details or a history of the disease and treatment options as they have changed over the past 12 years. But his information did give us greater understanding in what we know and how comfortable we are with this) I can tell you that he thinks I am doing great and at this point doesn't see any reason why I should have to go through the process of testing for bone marrow transplant. We asked him if it did come down to it and the meds weren't working how long would the process take. He said it would take about 2-3 weeks in regarding to testing my siblings and the possible match there. If none of my siblings were a match then about 6-8 weeks to find a universal match. To us that just didn't sound too bad. Much quicker then we had envisioned. So I did not have to have any test done today. HURRAY!! One less poke.
We asked what is considered remission. He said there are basically three stages and here again is where I wont be able to say it all right. The first stage has to do with the blood. (hematological remission) It is is no longer detectable through the blood tests. The next stage has to do with what is called the Fish test. (Some kind of physic- remission) (Don't know if it is spelled fish or phish.) This has to do more with the, I think, chromosomes (just a more detailed test) and then the third stage is another test (PCR test that looks very closely at a large group of cells to look for any Philadelphia chromosomes in the blood) where they look at things even smaller and it is no longer detected. This whole process could take up to a year or more. (There are goal time frames that they would like to have Jody hit certain levels by) He did inform me again as Dr Sangha has said this is something I will have the rest of my life as well as being on Gleevec.
Dr Gingrich talked to us for about 45 minutes. How many Dr do that anymore? We were able to bring home a lot of information specifically about CML and so will have a lot of reading to do this weekend. ( Good thing to take along to Nathan's basketball, tournament tomorrow.)
So that is the very basics of what we found out today. My appointment was at 10:30 and we were out of there by 12:30. Not too bad I thought. Again, Craig will possible write more in detail about the information we received today so stay tuned. He has a busy weekend and just didn't have time to write today but I didn't want to keep you all wondering.
Another quick update. Continue to keep my brother in your prayers as I found out on my way to my appointment this morning that he was not able to have his surgery do to the fact that the hospital didn't have a certain instrument that his Dr would not work with out. So after already having his sinus's washed and been on IV and basically ready to go they told him it was off. What a major drag. So keep him in your prayers as well.
When I got home from my appointment I was able to take a few minutes and read from my devotional, "The Upper Room" and I have to share what it said. It was titled Six Weeks and the verse was from Exodus 16:6-7 "Moses and Aaron said to (Israel),"...You shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and ...you shall see the glory of the Lord." After the Hebrews crossed the Red Sea, "the pople feared the Lord and believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses. (Ex 14:31) The writer writes about how when he was a teenager this story seemed to go down hill from there. He got tired of the peoples whining and lack of faith. He found it hard to believe that six weeks after the great Exodus, people began to doubt God and to think the Exodus had been a mistake.
As the writer grew older the story became more believable. He saw how quickly he himself could fall back into doubt and whining after God did something wonderful in his life. From what he's observed, six weeks is about the average life of human trust. God responded to the Hebrew's ingratitude--not by taking away from them but by increasing their blessings and working additional miracles. He didn't punish them like we would think. He gave them more blessing and miracles. Wow! God's presence was obvious.
It has been five weeks now for me with this new diagnosis. Do I consider it "something wonderful God did in my life?" Well, in a way yes. He planned for me to have this physical and for the doctor to do the right tests and find this early. That is something wonderful But am I still trusting God or am I falling back on my doubt and whining? I have to say that I probably have been doing the later of the the two somewhat. There are parts of me that think " How can I be so fortunate? Surely having cancer is more difficult then this. I really haven't had any real problems and complications."I have heard other cancer stories that have not been so good. I start thinking things will surely get worse rather then trusting that God had it planned this way all along. I think I have maybe even whined just a little about some of the small things that I have had to deal with, sore muscle and major leg cramps. I believe that this whole thing has just been an eye opener to what God has in store for me and how much He is in control of my life, not my worries and anxieties. He too has blessed me during this time and is working miracles in me. The writer ends the devotional with this prayer which is my prayer to all of you: "God, thank you for remaining faithful even when we doubt, for delivering us from bondage, and for blessing us with all that we need. Amen.
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