Life expectancy

Praise the Lord. Five years ago this month I was diagnosed with CLL. This is a type of leukemia that usually affects people a lot older than I am and is considered incurable. At that time, I asked how long my life expectancy would be and was told five years.Most of the last five years I have felt fairly good. I've had to deal with the reality of where I am at physically, yet in these last five years the Lord has used me in more instances than the previous twenty five years combined. without going into detail about this, I must say that the last five years has been very profitable for me as far as being used in the Lords service.Currently, I am receiving chemo treatments and the treatments seem to be affecting me in a good way. Most likely the chemo would put me in remission again, however, the five year prediction from the oncology doctor very well could happen. There is a twenty to thirty percent chance of death within a year with a bone marrow transplant. It looks like I will probably be able to get a bone marrow transplant and it has the potential to put me in a permanent remission. I have decided to go for the bone marrow transplant.Over the last five years, I've been soaked with oil quite a few times and there have been more hands laid on me in prayer than I would care to guess. If the Lord leads you to pray for me over the next year, then do pray. One way or the other, there will be a complete remission. :-)Sister Dorcas is the only one that I have spoken to on this forum about this until now. As I told her, if you don't hear from me for awhile that doesn't mean anything is wrong. If the Lord brings this to your mind, do pray though.I pray that I don't die in a sin polluted land. How wonderful it would be to see revival even if it was only the beginnings of it. This is what to pray for.In Christ,GaryE

Amen.:)

Hi GaryE...!Thank you for sharing this information with us. I will definitely be praying for you very diligently, and I will ask my friends, family and all of the men and women of God that I know to hold you up in prayer.I had a "girlfriend" of sorts when I was a teenager who was diagnosed with leukemia (pardon my spelling). She had relapsed twice, and eventually became a category 4 patient, with little chance of living another year. However, the Lord healed her completely. An evangelist by the name of Justo Chavana prayed for her, and she was healed. The doctors were amazed. That was ten years ago. Lea is now a wonderful young woman who uses her beautiful voice for the Lord. Lea once told me that, during the worst of her chemotheraphy, she didn't really care if she lived or died. To live, she reasoned, would be a blessing so that she could tell others about Christ. To die would mean that she could finally see the Lord's face. To her, it was a "win-win" situation. The Lord chose to have her stay. I have always been blessed by her passionate love for Christ and the pureness of the heart that beats for others. I will be praying for you, my brother! :-)

Hi Gary, again.Thanks for giving us all the privelage to pray for you brother. Also for bringing some needed reality here. My mom has been taking some experimental chemo treatments in pill form after having brain surgery to remove cancer there as well as other spot areas.This is wonderful news brother!I pray that I don't die in a sin polluted land. How wonderful it would be to see revival even if it was only the beginnings of it. This is what to pray for.Amen.

I praise God for the grace that I percive in you.May God continue to use you to his glory.With prayer,Robert.H

Sister Dorcas,I didn't notice your post the other day. Since I first posted about this potential treatment, the Lord has worked out a whole lot of things.It is hard to believe that I haven't been anxious or fearful about this transplant. I have been at rest and I thank God for this.There have been three potential matching donors so far. At least two of these are ten out of ten on the typing. They will figure out which one is the best by other criteria and make sure that person is still available.My insurance has come through with funds for transportation, food, and lodging while I get to and stay near the clinic. This is something that was agreed to by a insurance company and not in my paperwork. Recently, I was able to sign up for a Medicare prescription insurance that just recently went into effect in the US. This is a God send for me because there are so many prescriptions that I will need to be on over the next year and longer. It will still cost me money, but I think I will be able to manage it.Transportation to and from the clinic, which is over three hours away, looked to be a problem because I won't be able to drive. When I made a call to the government offices about possible transportation out of the county, I was told that they only had transportation locally. They gave me some phone numbers and told me that the people at the other end might help. They ended up being Christian organizations that network with many churches. I didn't even know about them. One of the organizations thought it could be arranged for someone to take me to the clinic once a month and another thought their group could probably do more trips than that. These people, along with some others, make it look like transportation might not be a problem at all.There are two things needing an answer for that haven't been worked out completely. It looks like I may need a care provider for a couple of months more than what is now covered. It is possible that the government or a Christian organization near Philadelphia, Pa. will be the answer for that.The other problem that needs covered is the work that I normally do at a truck stop chapel in Pa. The Chaplain at the truck stop is an eighty two years old widowed woman of God that has been a missionary to the trucking industry for over thirty years. She normally counts on me for help. Some of this help is physical work and some of it has to do with singing and preaching on Sunday mornings. Also, she has gotten ill quite a few times in the last couple of years and I'm usually the one who has gotten her to the hospital. Someone has to fill that void.It has been very interesting watching how the Lord takes care of problems when I find they are impossible for me to take care of. Praise the Lord.In Christ,GaryE

Hi dorcas...Thank you for the update. Please continue to provide such updates, as we are passing this request for prayer to others around the world.Thank you. :-)