Thank you, anyone who has been praying for me.
I seem to be doing okay. I have been going through a lot and have a long way to go. So far the Lord has helped me "Run Through A Troop!"
Grace, Mercy, and Peace
GaryE
Your awesome Gary E,Continue to Stay Focused on Him at all times. May he fill your heart with Joy and Peace as you seek his face.
Our prayers are with you brother!
MC
im praying for you. no matter how long the road is... no matter how hard.. stay on it. as long as it leads to him. god bless you
Gary,So far the Lord has helped me "Run Through A Troop!"
It's just great to see you posting. :-)
I’ve been waiting to re-post about my condition until I could write a very positive post and say that everything is perfect health wise. It looks like it may be a couple years before I could write a post like that so I’ll just fill everyone in on where things are.
Currently, I’m 85 days past transplant. They look at 100 days post transplant as being an important milestone for stem cell transplants. The next milestone is at about 6 months and then 1 year. After the 1 year period, if there is no sign of leukemia, it is considered a 50% chance of being considered cured. After 2 years if there is no sign of leukemia, I would be considered probably cured. Of course that is if I live that long. I was told when I started that there was a 20% to 30% chance of mortality going into transplant.
At the current time, I’m on three drugs that hinder my immune system. These drugs supposedly keep me from rejecting the matching adult stem cells that have been transplanted into my body. Until, I can be weaned off these three drugs, I have to take a bunch of other pills to keep me from getting a fungus, bacterial, or virus infections. Other pills are used to keep my blood work balanced because some drugs take things like magnesium out of a person’s system. Normally, I don’t use any medication at all so this isn’t easy for me to do.
There is what is called a graft host disease that kills a lot of allogenic transplant recipients. This isn’t all bad news when it comes to leukemia though. It is the rejection of the donor’s cells to the recipient that causes this disease but it is the same rejection that kills the leukemia cells. The idea is to control the effect until the recipients body can adapt to the new cells and at the same time kill the leukemia off. Right now there is a rash at different places on my skin that itches and is painful from graft host. It is not that severe, but it needs to go away before much can be done to get me off of the medicines.
My current blood pressure fluctuates from a upper normal to high now. About 10 days ago I had a severe headache that lasted for 2 days. Often, I get dizzy when I stand up and my anemia level is quite low. That all may sound bad but compared to a few months ago it really isn’t. While in the hospital one day I woke up and my fingers were yellow. For a while back then there was blood in my urine and stools. It was almost a 2 week period that I didn’t eat and it got so bad I had to have a potty next to the bed to make it to the toilet. I was too weak and could hardly stand up for a while. Also there was a period of high fevers and hallucinations. One night I was in a lot of pain and I started to pray, “Lord take this pain away.” All of a sudden I realized I was praying wrong and I said to the Lord, “If I have to live like this the rest of my life in order to be broken and used by you, it’s ok.” That seemed to be a turning point though the pain didn’t go away right away. Romans 8:28
Praise God, I’m 30 pounds lighter. Also, now I can go into almost any church and fit in because my hair fell out. Instead of looking like Elijah I’ll fit in almost everywhere. With no beard, no mustache, and no long hair I can fit in almost anywhere if I wear the right cloths. It was a problem when I first looked into the mirror though. The guy in the mirror didn’t look like me until one day I smiled.
Carry that cross,
GaryE
Dear Gary,
What a great post!
I don't know whether to laugh or cry though. Right now I'm in the library, and I'm pretty much doing both!
Your understanding of what you're going through, is very lucid and encouraging. Thank you for sharing so much detail.
Thank you for your ministry to us all.Also, now I can go into almost any church and fit in because my hair fell out. Instead of looking like Elijah I’ll fit in almost everywhere. With no beard, no mustache, and no long hair I can fit in almost anywhere if I wear the right cloths. It was a problem when I first looked into the mirror though. The guy in the mirror didn’t look like me until one day I smiled.Carry that cross...
Gary ... Failing to find an adequate expression...
[i]...when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?
The guy in the mirror didn’t look like me until one day I smiled.
What great faith. Praise God indeed Gary!
Hi Brother Gary...
Thank you so much for the encouragement! You are a shining star for the Kingdom of God (Philippians 2)! I knew a girl who was healed of Leukemia. She was a Category 5 patient -- and doctors had pretty much given up hope. It has been 13 years since she went into remission. She held her testimony during the treatment which turned many hearts toward the Lord. After she was healed, her testimony turned even more hearts toward the Lord. Today, she continues to sing of His great mercies.
I pray that you are encouraged today even more than you have encouraged us!
Matthew 5:8
Jeremiah 29:11-13
:-)
“If I have to live like this the rest of my life in order to be broken and used by you, it’s ok.”
Dear Brother Gary,
These are the words of a champion. You are an inspiration to me. God bless you, dear and precious brother. I'll see you one day in heavenly glory where pain is no more.
Brother Paul
God Bless you , Gary, and may He heal you more each day.
Your post is an encouragement to the Body of Christ.
Nellie
Dear Gary,Right now there is a rash at different places on my skin that itches and is painful from graft host. It is not that severe, but it needs to go away before much can be done to get me off of the medicines.
I'm wondering how you are doing right now, with regard to these side-effects? Are you continuing to make progress overall?
"be strong and of good courage"
I'll be praying as well !
The rash looks worse than it feels. Cortizone creme seems to keep it under control as far as itching and one of the anti-rejection drugs called tacrolimus has been able to be reduced in the last week. This could cause the rash to get worse but if I’m able to cope with lowering this medication it is a good thing. My hemoglobyn is likely to rise from getting off tacrolimus so I should have more endurance. I’ve been feeling fairly well over all though I must be carful not to take to many chances because of getting infections. Sometimes you have to do what you have to do though. It’s important to not be afraid to go outside because there might be a lion out there and it’s important to plow whether its cold or not. I must not take chances but I still have to hear the Lord when he says go if you know what I mean. Sometimes you have to go to Mark 16 and drink some water or something.
Last night I was at the chapel for a few minutes and a driver who I hadn’t seen for a couple of years was there. It is so good to be able to look in a brother or sisters eyes with tears in my eyes and say,”It is so good to see you,” I want to say the same thing right now to all of you that write on this forum. It is such a blessing to be reading the posts from the people on Sermon Index.
I have to go.
Hi Gary...
It is always good to hear from you! You are constantly in my prayers -- along with the prayers of many others in the family of God.
Well said! When I was in high school, my family moved to a very rural area in Tennessee. It was particularly difficult for me because I had only been saved for about a year, and I truly missed my brothers and sisters from the Church that I had been attending.Last night I was at the chapel for a few minutes and a driver who I hadn’t seen for a couple of years was there. It is so good to be able to look in a brother or sisters eyes with tears in my eyes and say,”It is so good to see you,” I want to say the same thing right now to all of you that write on this forum. It is such a blessing to be reading the posts from the people on Sermon Index.
Many of the guys in my former youth group would meet together daily for intimate prayer meetings. We would meet in various homes and remain praying until we had finished. We felt the liberty to be ourselves during those meetings -- and we would often cry out, weep, rejoice, etc... with great honesty and humility. We would also pray with one another concerning pressing needs. And there was hardly any adults present. It was simply the Lord moving in the hearts and lives of the young people that attended our Church.
When I moved to Tennessee, I really missed such intimate spiritual fellowship. I hardly knew any other young people (or even adults) that acted in the same sort of liberty, or that voiced the same passion for holiness and intimacy as I did. I remember thinking how often I had taken such liberty for granted before the move. Eventually, I found a group of elderly people in town that were a lot like my former group. They would tell tales about how God had moved in the past, and they truly hungered to experience such a move again. We began prayer meetings in the Church sanctuary, homes and even nursing homes. It was such a blessing to experience it once again!
I am going through yet another such transition again. I know a few such hungry brothers and sisters in the Lord, but it is difficult to find time to meet together (since most of them live far away). It will be wonderful to see you well and sharing more often in the near future, brother! You are truly a great blessing! Sometimes, we forget to let others know until something happens.
You are in the thoughts, prayers and hearts of many!
:-)
Gary's wife has requested prayer for him, from us all.
Here's what she shared in her email:
'[Gary] is back in the hospital as a patient. The same hospital he had the Stem Cell Transplant done. A set back has occurred and they are not certain what is going on for sure. He had a severe skin rash which looked like sunburn all over his whole body, head to toe. He is to have a platelet tranfusion today.'
Hi Dorcas...
Thank you for the update. We are praying. Please continue to update us.
-Chris
We are praying
Dear brethren,
I've had an email from Gary's wife.
[i][He] 'is in the hospital currently since September 22. His skin problem really became bad and they wanted to "aggressivly" treat him. Gary requests prayer...
Gary is feeling some better as of yesterday. He is still having troubles with his lower legs and feet. Requesting the prayers of the saints, from one in need of answers.'
His wife mentions in another place, that [b][i]Gary has pneumonia
Let's focus on his recovery from the pneumonia, as this is the first step to him being able to overcome everything else.
Also, let's pray he and his wife know the wisdom of the Lord in all the choices they may face, and decisions they may make in the coming days.
Thank you Dorcas,
Saints, our collective prayers are requested.
This discussion is locked.
