Since my last update we have had some setbacks.  Two days before we were to go to Nashville for my stem cell harvest last month I was diagnosed with Covid.  Hearing that diagnosis put fear in my heart and great disappointment.   I was mentally ready to get on with the procedures but now we were on hold.   The fear came from the fact that 40% of the people with my cancer die from Covid and 80% end up in the hospital. The enemy made sure I knew those statistics, but he forgot that we had the great physician working for me and I beat the odds with all our great prayer warriors interceding for me.

While we were disappointed in the set back, I realized it was a major blessing.  The day I received my negative Covid test results, I received a call from my transplant coordinator letting me know they were postponing all transplants due to the Covid outbreak in Tennessee.  If we had been on our original schedule, that day we received the call I would have been in Nashville being admitted for my transplant.  We would have paid out thousands of dollars for housing, travel, food, etc., and I don't know how I would have handled it arriving at the hospital only to be turned away.  All the preparation physically and mentally is draining.  Because of the set back though we did not lose any money and we saw  God was definitely fighting against the enemy for me. 

Fast forward to now.  We  returned last night from Nashville for my stem cell harvest.  It was a very long 10 day trip, with many medications administered to stimulate stem cell growth and harvesting.  The side effects were rough for me, and I think tougher on Tom as he cannot bear to see me in any pain.  He wants to take care of me as he does so well, and there was absolutely nothing he could do to take away my pain.  We did manage to have a few short fun outings, otherwise we were either at the cancer center, hospital or at our hotel resting.

The goal for the harvest was to collect five million stem cells, which we started on Monday.  My aphersis nurse calculated we had collected about 6 million by early afternoon so he removed me from the apheresis machine.  We waited for the official count and found out we were 560,000 short of the goal, which meant I had to get more shots that evening and return the next morning to get more shots and go through the whole process again.   I was so sick when we left from all the injections I had been receiving for five days that I did not think I would be able to make it back to finish the collection the next day, but once again God showed up.  I had my first night of good sleep in eight days, my migraine diminished along with the nausea, and my bone pain was gone in the morning.  We finished the collection process yesterday and I was thankful to have the port in my neck removed. 

Tomorrow I restart chemotherapy for two rounds and hopefully get my transplant after my second round.  I have to go through the side effects again, time and expenses on transportation, weekly doctor visits, lab work, medications, chemotherapy infusions, daily chemotherapy at home, and Tom having to watch me go through everything and take care of me.  God took care of  me during my previous chemo treatments and I don't expect anything less this time around.

I cannot help I have this cancer, it is an attack from the enemy.   This attack is backfiring on him as I will always praise my Lord and serve.  I am one of the blessed that survived Covid in my condition.  I am asking for every child and adult that is fighting for their lives already with a disease, if you feel sick PLEASE stay home.  When people get Covid many think they just have a summer cold, allergies, bronchitis, flu, etc and it does not effect their lives much, but it effects others like me and can cause irreversible damage and/or death.  

Tom and I have been so blessed by so many reaching out to support us with prayer, encouragement and much love.  We love and appreciate every single person in this battle with us.

"May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Chris Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."  

Romans 15:5-6