July and August results continue
down the normal path (0.8 mg/dL in July, and 1.2 in August). Thank you for the continued thoughts and prayers. We
continue to be blessed, from the enjoyment of everyday summer activities with
the kids, to the special trips and visits with friends and family, to the
opportunities to share the story of God's amazing work in my life, to being
humbled by how God is using my life to encourage others going through difficult
times. “Now to him who is able to do
immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at
work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout
all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” – Ephesians 3:20-21
6/13/2013 - Keep Rejoicing!
Keep rejoicing with me, and praising God! On June 3rd I had blood work taken, and there continues to be no sign of cancer. My Kappa light chain protein level is 1.0 mg/dL... absolutely, extraordinarily, fantastically normal! With a million thoughts running through my head, I find myself at a lack of words to write... I am resting in God's amazing grace, and it is wonderful! Thank you for your continued prayers and encouragement. - Brady
5/5/2013 – Every day feels like a miracle
I would like to share why I enjoyed last week so much,
besides the fact that my blood work came back right in the normal range again
(kappa light chains at 0.92 mg/dL). So
here’s why a perfectly normal day can be so amazing… I remember last August and September when I
used to park my car at the office and grab my laptop backpack. Pulling it from the back seat of my car and
swinging it over my shoulder I would wonder if this would be the day I would
make it into the office without a few back pain twinges, or an ache in my hip
that would make me walk just a little funny.
But now, I can wear my backpack with no problems and no funny walk; and
that makes me smile. I remember a really
difficult morning back in October, right before I went into the hospital, when
I came to terms with the fact that, because of my increasing back problems, I
may somehow have to be a dad that couldn’t lift up his kids… couldn’t wrestle, couldn’t run and couldn’t
rough house… I shed some heavy tears
that morning. I was confident I could
still be a good dad; I knew that I wouldn’t have been the first dad to have to
live with difficulties like that, but coming to terms with it was a big pill to
swallow. But now, I can lift them, I can
throw them around, wrestle with them, and catch them when they run (although
they’re getting pretty fast!). I
remember months when I couldn’t put Samuel to bed because I couldn’t lift him
to put him in his crib. I’m a bedtime
daddy, so I get to spend special time with each of them every night putting
them to bed. Missing those nights with
Samuel was really tough, especially because with each of the kids, I
experienced a picture of God’s Love for me as I held them, rocked them,
comforted them, sang to them, prayed over them, and just watched them fall
asleep in my arms during those special bedtimes when they were babies. But now, I have no trouble putting him to bed
at night, or getting him out of the crib when he wakes up. I remember back in September having to back
off of some of the activities I normally did to help out around the house, and
then for a few months, I couldn’t really do anything. That left a tremendous burden on Jas to keep
up with three kids, a husband either in the hospital or out of commission, and
the entire house mostly by herself. But
now, I’m back into the old routines, and we’re even getting some of house
projects done that were on hold… I built
some shelves to finish off our floor-to-ceiling built-ins for the family room,
as well as installing a mantle around the fireplace, and I’m working on
building us a nine foot barn wood dining room table. Every day feels like a miracle. I still have to watch myself a little bit, I’ll
get sore when I push it quite a bit and have to rest a little longer than
normal, but I’m still healing and it keeps getting better. I never imagined I would feel this good
again, and I praise God for the way He heals.
I am off of all medications except a blood thinner, which I’ll be taking through about July because of the blood clots I had in November. I will continue to get blood work every month to check my kappa light chain protein level, and I will try to keep the updates coming. Getting back to where I was physically has gotten us back into more of our old “normal” life again… and with that, the busy-ness has crept back in and we have a jam-packed schedule. Although, with a slightly different perspective on life, I think we are enjoying each moment a little more, busy or not…
I have been reading some verses I want to share with all who
have been praying for me. They resonate
with so much of my journey, though they were written by Paul who was going
through crazy persecution I could probably never understand… nonetheless, it
still resonates with my story and has been really encouraging, so I hope it is
encouraging to you as well [my comments
in brackets]. “We do not want you to
be uniformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the
province of Asia [just like I felt
overwhelmingly compelled to write my story and share it with my family and
friends]. We were under great
pressure, far beyond our ability to endure [definitely
felt like this a few times. when your own body is killing itself, you have to
deal with some pretty interesting thoughts], so that we despaired of life
itself. Indeed, we felt we had received
the sentence of death [literally, we
received just that from the medical community]. But this happened that we might not rely on
ourselves but on God [absolutely! we rely
on God every minute to sustain us, but it’s easy to take that for granted when
things are going smooth and comfortable. it's in our greatest times of need
that His faithfulness shines bright, and my trust in Him has grown so much
through this], who raises the dead [and
if He can raise the dead, which He has done many times in the sight of many
witnesses, then what do we have to fear if we trust in Him?]. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril
[as I believe He has delivered me, here
and now], and he will deliver us again [and
I think here Paul is referring to the hope he has, and the hope I have, in the
deliverance we will receive when this earthly life filled with pain and
suffering is over, and I am rescued into the eternal presence of my Lord Jesus
Christ. O glorious day!]. On him we
have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your
prayers. Then many will give thanks on
our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many [I already hear of this through those who
have shared how my story has encouraged them, and by so many who have continued
to pray for me regularly. I am humbled by how many people have kept me in their
prayers, and delighted by the glory God is receiving through answered prayer].”
– 2nd Corinthians 1:8-11 (NIV).
I read these verses often, and thank God for all those who
have rallied around us. We are truly blessed!I am off of all medications except a blood thinner, which I’ll be taking through about July because of the blood clots I had in November. I will continue to get blood work every month to check my kappa light chain protein level, and I will try to keep the updates coming. Getting back to where I was physically has gotten us back into more of our old “normal” life again… and with that, the busy-ness has crept back in and we have a jam-packed schedule. Although, with a slightly different perspective on life, I think we are enjoying each moment a little more, busy or not…
3/10/2013 – Miracles, one after the other…
Two to three days, I was told many times, would be how long
it would take to collect the amount of stem cells they wanted to freeze for me. Ok, I can handle that. The procedure didn’t sound too bad, and wasn’t
as I went through it this past week. I
had to give myself a few shots to stimulate the production of stem cells in my
body, and get them into my bloodstream.
No big deal. The Neupogen made my
back and hips a little achy, but it wasn’t that bad, and the Mozobil was a
little weird, but also not bad. Monday
morning, I went in for blood work and to put in a jugular venous catheter (also
weird to have a couple tubes handing out of your neck). The blood work came back fine, as it has
been! The CB34 number they were looking
for to be at or above 6 came back at 30.
Apparently this is not a great indication of how well the collection
will go, and 30 is pretty good, but not as spectacular as I thought when I
first heard… I went in for the first
collection day Tuesday morning and told the nurse to get ready for a miracle as
she showed me to my bed, because I’m going for 12 million. 6 million stem cells per kg of body weight is
what they were looking for, but I was a little zealous because of what God has
been doing through my journey so far. I
was quickly humbled by the Holy Spirit, as He whispered in my heart that God
promises to provide what we need, so don’t get too cocky… I had a great nurse, she was very encouraging
and pulling for my miracle. I got hooked
up to a machine that in some amazing way, takes my blood, spins out the stem
cells, and puts the rest back in for about three hours. About two hours into it, the doctor doing
rounds came by and looked at my charts and numbers. Quite less than encouraging he said that my
numbers looked ok, but “don’t get your hopes up… probably three days, maybe
two, but you won’t be done today… unless a miracle happens.” I just smiled real big and thought to myself,
“well, now you asked for it.” After I
finished up that day, they said I would hear my results around 4:30 or
5:30pm. I got some lunch and went back
to the hotel… prayed, read a book,
talked to Jas and the kids, and got a phone call… “Brady, we got your numbers back… 6.9 million…
you’re done.” I wasn’t surprised,
but I was praising God! Every step of
this process, walking with God is humbling and amazing. I didn’t produce these numbers, there is
nothing I could do… Whether God made the
right conditions with the right drugs and the right doctors at the right time,
or whether He just doubled the cells like He fed the 5,000 with five loaves and
two fish, I don’t know. But what I do
know is that the doctor said it wasn’t going to happen, and it did. And it was pretty awesome because I got to go
back and see the doctor and nurses the next day to get my jugular catheter
pulled. I was all smiles, and I pray God
was honored as I tried to give Him the credit for the amazing results… Thanks you for your continued prayers, God is
being glorified through this fragile body.
He is my strength when I am weak!
On another note, my back has been getting much
better, and over the last weekend and during my stem cell collection, it has
gotten a huge step better. Since then I
have gone maybe a whole day at a time without even a twinge of pain. Less than a month ago I met with my
neurologist, took a CAT scan look at my bone, and it was doing well enough to wean
myself off of my brace and not have to go for another scan. The bone is still healing, and the pain is
going away as it does. It really is amazing,
I feel great. Thanks again, for your
continued prayers.
2/23/2013 – Stepping Out of the Boat
A week or so after my last post was pretty uneventful, which
gave us a little chance to breath and relax.
But it wasn’t long before the flu started hitting everywhere around us,
we had some friends and family visit us from Ohio and Indiana, my grandpa
passed away, and we felt God leading us in a direction that it would take a lot
of faith to walk in… Thankfully we
somehow avoided the flu, and we had a great, encouraging and refreshing time
with our house guests. And although my
grandpa’s passing was not unexpected, it’s hard to see someone so wonderful
go. He will be missed by so many…
because of his kind and generous spirit, there were always people just looking
for ways to help him out with something.
He was just one of those people you enjoyed being around because he
loved life and didn’t need much to be happy.
My brother and I were both able to fly home for the funeral, and
although the circumstances weren’t the best, it was nice to see all the
family. My grandparents left quite a
legacy, and you can see the traits that made them wonderful people passed on
through the generations. They will
always have a special place in our hearts.
One of my main prayers in the weeks after we got the amazing
results back from my first cycle of treatment had to do with the story of Jesus
walking on the water. In the book of
Matthew, chapter 14, Matthew writes of when the disciples got in a boat and set
out across the lake. They made it out quite
a ways, the water was rough, it was dark, and they noticed Jesus walking
towards them on the water. They were
terrified, they thought He was a ghost, which makes perfect sense to me. I mean, I have heard the story before, but
this was where the old "walking on water" cliché came from, who would have
imagined it before it really happened… So Jesus tells them not to be afraid, that it’s Him on the water… and so Peter yells out from the boat to Him,
saying that if it really is Him (Jesus), tell him (Peter) to come out to Him on
the water. So Jesus does, and Peter
actually gets out of the boat and walks on the water. And this is where I get a picture of
"stepping out in faith." Turns
out that Peter walks a little, but then looks around and gets scared by the
storm. He starts to sink at that point and yells out to Jesus, "Lord, save
me!" Immediately, Jesus catches him
and says "You of little faith, why did you doubt?" They get into the boat, the wind dies
down, and the disciples in the boat say to Him, "Truly you are the son of God."
Every time I remember reading that story, I have wanted to have a faith
like Peter’s… a faith that believes even
the impossible is possible with God… to
believe that when Jesus says "come," there is nothing to fear, even if the only
way to Him is over the stormy sea. I
find comfort that even though Peter’s faith waivered, and he started to sink,
that Jesus was right there to catch Him.
I also am encouraged because it was just the "little faith" that Peter
had that allowed him to step out of the boat and walk on the water! The story reminds me to keep the eyes of my
heart fixed on Jesus, the One who has the authority over all things… who calms the storm, who heals the sick, who
makes the blind see, who brought forgiveness for our sins, who raises the
dead and who died and was raised again by His own authority, because He has
authority even over death itself… and
like Peter, if I get distracted by the storm and take my focus off of the One
who sustains me (as I do time and time again), I too become fearful and my
faith is challenged… but Jesus is always
there to catch me, and gently lift me back up, and remind me of His
faithfulness, and encourage me with His peace and strength. Sometimes it’s not too hard to step out in
faith, the sacrifice is relatively small and the risk of embarrassment or
inconvenience isn’t too bad… but with
some things, it feels like there is just about every reason not to, and it
probably doesn’t make sense, but we see Jesus out there on the water and want
so badly to be out there with Him rather than in the boat. Which leads me to my prayer…
We
felt like, with myeloma and the treatments they laid out for us, that there
were many places where we could step out in faith, but this cancer is no joke… we sure weren’t going to just blindly step
out with no guidance, and we did feel that God was doing something amazing
already… we just didn’t know exactly
what He was doing (and we still don’t know exactly what He is doing, but I’ll
get to that later). So we prayed for
guidance and wisdom and faith and strength and everything else… and eventually, I got up the courage to pray "Lord
Jesus, when it’s time to step out of the boat, tell me to come to You… I’m listening…" It was hard to pray that. If you can imagine, which I’m sure you’ve
felt the same in your own situations, it’s like when you really want something,
something that’s good but that you know is going to be hard once you get it, so
you kind of don’t want to get it because then you can go about your business
the way it’s always been, and since you tried and didn’t get it, you feel good
about trying, but glad you didn’t actually get it… but then disappointed too, because really, in
all actuality, you do want it… so you
wait, after you’ve done everything you could, with your stomach in knots, to
find out if you’re going to get it or not.
That’s kind of what it felt like to say that prayer, and to mean it, and
to listen for an answer. And that’s when
things started to become more and more clear… not just to me, but to Jas as
well as she continued to pray alongside me, seeking His guidance. As the beginning of a third 4-week cycle of
chemo was about a week away, I had begun experiencing some different side effects
from the chemo, and the ways we felt God speaking to us made that week pretty
intense. There were times when I was
just mentally and emotionally exhausted, because thinking over the events we
believed God was moving in already, and the ways I believed He was leading us,
we both agreed that the time to step out in faith was now… We began believing what some of our friends
already believed, that during that first month of chemo treatment, when my
numbers went from bad to normal, surprising our doctors and throwing anything typical
out the window… that’s when we believe God may have rid my body completely of cancer. So what do we do now, right? The "problem" with believing this is that the
only way to know for sure if the cancer is gone, is if it never comes back… or to
look at it the other way, the only way to know if it’s still there, is if it come
back. So we decided (and I say "we"
because I couldn’t walk this road without the wonderful support Jas is for me)
that we would stop treatments and see if it comes back. We talked about staying the treatment path
since we can’t really know for sure, which would probably be the safest road to
take, but that just didn’t make sense when it comes down to what I really
believe. I have given up a life lived
for myself, in exchange for a life of serving God… the God of the Bible, who’s
one and only son Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior, and who’s Holy Spirit
lives in me. I believe that God created
the heavens and the earth and everything in them, and that He is ever present
with power and authority over all things.
I believe in miracles and I believe God can and does miraculously heal
people… although who, when and why are things I only wish I could understand. So when I have two paths before me, one where
God, who has raised the dead to life again, leads me to step out in faith and
trust Him with my life, and one where the doctors believe they can help me live
longer, but remind me over and over that they have no cure for what I’ve
got… this time, we have the faith to walk the path God is leading us down, for
His sake and for His glory. If my life
is going to be used to display God’s glory and presence to this world, then I
don’t want my own fears to get in the way of that… I want to be part of
something amazing! And I feel like I
already am.
The
anxiety built as we made our decision and had to discuss it with the doctors at
my upcoming appointments. I was
encouraged when I most needed it early the week of my first appointment,
through my three year old, of all people.
God seems to speak through our kids in encouraging ways during intense
times in our lives, and this is just one example. Before we got up one morning that week, Wyatt was up
and hopped into bed with us. When it was
time to get up and get some breakfast, he sat on the edge of the bed for a
moment looking down at the floor. He
hopped off and stood a little strangely, motioning his hands towards the floor
and said to me, "Come on daddy, this is the water, we’ve got to walk on the
water…" I smiled and said ok… I hadn’t mentioned my obsession with that
story to anyone that week, it had just been in my private prayers. He hadn’t ever said anything like that to me
before or since. Just a little
encouragement from God to give us the courage we needed to walk boldly on a path
that doesn’t really make sense without God.
And so Jas and I went to see my doctor for my pre-third cycle
consult. We shared our thoughts and our
reasons, and knew she understood us when she said, "Well, you’re pretty much
banking on a miracle." She shared her
professional opinions with us, and candidly let us know that she thought it was
a terrible idea, but was very respectful about us making the decisions that we
thought were best for us, and very reassuring that she wasn’t upset about our decisions,
just anxious for us. We agreed to hold
off treatment that day, delaying my third cycle by a week until we talked with
the myeloma specialist at our next appointment a few days later… just in case
he said something that would change our mind.
The intensity of the peace I felt about our decision at times, and the
intensity of the anxiety I felt other times, grew over the next few days before
we drove to U-Penn Philly for our consult with the myeloma specialist we were
going to schedule the bone marrow transplant with. We sat in the sterile little room waiting
for him, and it was pretty crazy when he came in and one of the first things he
said to us was that he didn’t believe my numbers, referring to my "complete
remission" (or complete healing as we believe) in less than a month of
treatment. I reminded him that I have
had three tests over the last three weeks, and he said he understood, but still
didn’t believe the numbers were true, so he was going to test me again here at
his facility. Talking with him was a bit
more scary because he went over, in great detail, how the chemo and bone marrow
transplant work against myeloma, and how even though the drugs and treatments
they have now are great for controlling the disease in many patients for many
years, there are some myeloma cells that are immune to any kind of chemo… so it
never goes away… ever. Which seems to be
the kind of thing that’s right up God’s alley.
There may be no cure for myeloma with drugs or treatment, but nothing is
impossible with God, and I believe, my friends, that I am part of something
miraculous. My specialist obviously did
not recommend stopping treatments, and told us that as much as he respects God,
he has never seen a miracle when it comes to myeloma. Both doctors gave me about a year max before
they thought it would be back, showing up again in my protein light chain
numbers. I’ll be tested every month to
monitor.
The
one thing we are going to continue with, which both doctors suggested, is to
collect my stem cells and bank them now; part of the original plan. The procedure seems pretty simple. They’ll hook me up to a machine that takes my
blood, pulls out the stem cells, and then pumps everything else back into
me. I should be on the machine for two
to four hours a day, for two or three days.
This will be done within the next couple weeks, and after that, I’ll be
down to one blood test a month…
I do
have to say, it’s hard to believe in a miracle I can’t see… and I have to admit that as much as I am
stopping treatment because I believe that God already did a miracle in me, I am
stopping to see if it really is true… I
could probably write a thousand more pages with all the thoughts bouncing
around in my head, but I will just say one more thing for now… I will never
regret following where I believe God is leading me, no matter how foolish I may
look, or how much the odds may be stacked against me.
So
if you want to see a miracle… keep praying and stay tuned…
1/10/2013 - a humbling experience
I
have been humbled much by myeloma, by physical limitations, by the overwhelming
support of friends and family, by the peace and guidance and miracles from
God's hand... but I have been humbled recently in another way, that again
is just overwhelming. It seems as if myeloma has chosen the wrong host by
the way God is guiding us to the right doctors, the right drugs, and using the
power of His grace in amazing ways as we see wonderful healing progress.
There is much to go through yet, but up to this point, for the affliction
that I have to endure, we can't ask for better news over and over, from
the early detection, to the slightest of side-effects, to the lastest results
that the doctors did not expect in the least. I believe that God has prepared
me, in my heart and in my mind, through the encouragement of His Word, for
whatever the world, or Satan, or just the natural course of life hands
me. I've known and heard of God's children healed from the worst of
afflictions for His glory, but I've also known and heard of some of God's
sweetest, most faithful children walk gracefully a path without healing for His
glory. I have been humbled recently by the blessing after blessing I am
receiving on this journey, while I pray and see and hear of others on similar
journeys, with more harsh and aggressive afflictions, without the same good
news... unanswered prayers... more uncertainty... And even
though I know the ultimate blessing is not found here in this life, that
comfort doesn't last, that the healing of our bodies today doesn't promise us a
tomorrow without some other affliction... even though I know
that the ultimate blessing is what God offers us though what Jesus did on
our behalf, and through His power over sin and death, for when this life is
used up… a renewed, eternal life with Him and without affliction, a life after
ultimate, total and complete healing… even though I know all these things, I
still want to see the healing and the blessings and the good news for all of us
today, and I am humbled that I enjoy so many through this journey. And it
might sound like I feel bad or down because of this, but though I have
been humbled, I am still filled with joy for what I have been blessed with...
I actually think I appreciate them even more. I am still ecstatic
talking to people about the test results, I still celebrate the wonderful
blessings me and my family receive, and still cherish every prayer and
encouragement and blessing from all you who have come up along side of us
through this... even those of you we have never met face to face (little
shout out to the Sunday School in Kingsport, the church in the Ukraine, the students
in La Limonada... I wish I could write about everyone... I wish I
knew every one). I wish only the best outcome for every
affliction, but it is not up to me to decide, that belongs to God and I believe
there is purpose for every journey, wonderful purpose that is most likely
difficult to walk in, but so worth it in the end. I have been commended
quite a few times for my faith as we go through these trials, which is humbling
in itself because that too is a blessing from God which I can't accept credit
for. The Apostle Paul, of who's faith I would consider myself near-zero
in comparison to, says, "For by the grace given me I say to every one of
you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of
yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has
given you." (Romans 12:3 - NIV). He recognized that the faith he had
was a measure given to him by God, and I am beginning to recognize that truth
in myself. Thanks to all of you, for being part of a humbling process
that has drawn me even closer to my wonderful God of all comfort, the great
Physician, my King, my Savior...
brady... a man no more deserving, no less deserving, no better, no worse... just blessed for a purpose much bigger than myself...
There's a great song that prompted some of these thoughts you can find on YouTube by searching for "mercies in disguise." It's worth a listen.
brady... a man no more deserving, no less deserving, no better, no worse... just blessed for a purpose much bigger than myself...
There's a great song that prompted some of these thoughts you can find on YouTube by searching for "mercies in disguise." It's worth a listen.
1/3/2013 - Powerful Prayer and Amazing News
I don't want to do too many updates too close together, but
we just got some amazing news today that I've got to share... for God's glory! According to what the experts were expecting,
who work with hundreds and hundreds of myeloma patients constantly (I mean
seriously, they are myeloma doctors, that's all they do), my bloodwork results
today are nothing shy of miraculous as far as I'm concerned. I could be surprised, or not surprised, if
the possibility of divine intervention doesn't come up talking with the experts
about this, but I am very interested to find out... so let me tell you what we were expecting to see
today, according to my local doctor, and the two myeloma doctors from U-Penn
Hershey and U-Penn Philly.
A little history to set the stage:
My myeloma presents itself as certain proteins present in my
blood, and the tumor (plasmacytoma) in my vertebrae. The tumor was easily found because it shows
up on x-rays, CAT scans and MRIs. It was
treated pretty easily with radiation because of the size and location, and
we're over that hump already. The
myeloma is a different animal because unless they suck out and test every bit
of my bone marrow, they don't really know how much of my bone marrow is
cancerous. It is not distributed evenly throughout,
so a bone marrow biopsy could truthfully give a 0% cancer cell result, or a 50%
cancer cell result depending on if they hit a pocket of cancer cells with the
biopsy needle or not. So... they use cancer markers, which are very good
for myeloma, to tell if cancer is present because the cancerous cells produce
these proteins that go into my blood and can easily be measured. Mine happen to produce Kappa Light Chain
Proteins (as opposed to Lambda ones).
Whereas a normal person would have about 1.0 mg/dL (or between 0.3 and
1.9 mg/dL), mine were much higher. Along
with finding 5-6% cancerous cells in my bone marrow biopsy, that is how I was
diagnosed with myeloma. Since all (and I
mean all) other indications that myeloma could present itself with are
absolutely normal in all the tests they have done, the Kappa protein level is
what they use (and is actually better than a biopsy) to track the presence,
activity and aggressiveness of the cancer.
And now, you are an expert too :)
Leading up to today:
10/14/2012 : Kappa level of 754 mg/dL
10/16/2012 : Bone marrow biopsy, 5-6% cancerous cells
11/08/2012 : Kappa level in 800's mg/dL
12/04/2012 : Kappa level of 1310 mg/dL (large jump, level
pretty
high and consistent with other patients
with kidney
failure on dialysis. Though my
kidneys
were functioning perfectly according
to their
tests)
Expert expectations:
After meeting with both myeloma doctors for a Bone Marrow
Transplant Consultation, and other research I had looked up on clinical trials
that have been documented, the effects of the chemo drug treatments usually
show up 6 - 8 weeks after treatment starts (I am on a 4 week cycle
regiment). So they told us not to expect
to see the numbers to go down after the first cycle, and they may still go up
before seeing results in the second or third cycle. Not every drug works for everyone, in which
case it wouldn't be effective at all and the numbers would continue to go up
instead of slowing or going down after the second or third cycle. I was prescribed four cycles, but if more
were necessary at the end of four, we could possibly go five or six. Remission would be considered achieved when
my Kappa level dropped to half of the highest number they found previously, so
starting my treatment, we were shooting for something below 650 mg/dL unless it
came back higher after my first cycle, and they anticipated that it would take
four cycles to get there.
Today's results:
Well here's what the doctor said when I went in to see her,
"Numbers are fabulous... they're freaking amazing actually... you went
from 1,310 to 1.2." And after I
cleared up that she actually said 1.2, I was floored... which I shouldn't have
been, since hundreds of people are praying for me and I believe that God does
amazing things, miraculous things, to let the world know He's there and He's
the One. The doctor was very surprised
as well, but wants to stay the course of treatment until she gets some feedback
from her colleagues and the myeloma experts we met with. We also really want to talk to the experts
with the news and see what their take is on this amazing news.
What we need:
Wisdom. Studying the book of
James in Sunday School is very appropriate and timely, since it talks much
about wisdom. We would appreciate
prayers for wisdom over the next few weeks as well. We have a lot of big decisions to consider,
and with this recent development, we may be under a little more pressure to
make them before we thought we had to.
Thank you, thank you, for all your prayers... for those that
were specifically for today’s results, for those for my family and all they are
going through because of everything happening to me, for those for my strength
of body and spirit, and for those I don't even know about that lift me up every
day. Today was healing in more than just
my body... I needed a day like today,
and my family did too... my cheeks hurt
from smiling so hard and my spirit was soaring.
Since I took my steroids today, and my brain was going about a bazillion
times faster than normal (a little like what I would expect ADD to be like),
and I was given utterly amazing news, I don't know when I've felt more giddy
and excited.
What a great day! I
pray everyone has days like these J…
Brady
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