Friday, June 28, 2013

Abrupt left turn

Say What????? The Dr. called yesterday to say that the numbers from the bone marrow biopsy are such that he wants to hold off on the chemo and monitor the numbers of the disease. I am soooo confused. The more I learn about this disease the more I see that it is not to be understood. It becomes more of a mystery the more I learn about it. My logical reaction should be to be joyful about this news. But in reality, I am totally perplexed. The numbers of the disease have definitely gone up, which is bad, but it doesn't need to be treated yet. There was no hint of a question from the Dr. last week when he said that we need to begin treatment. If there had been, I don't think it would bother me so much , but he was very direct and positive when he said we need to start treatment again.
Glenn is fine with this news. He was dreading the steroids and their effects. And I don't blame him for that. Those drugs can do evil things to the body, while they work to do good. I hate that I am not happy with/for him, but I am just so frustrated with this thing. I did ask God for deeper faith  last week, and I KNOW this is a direct answer, or beginning of an answer, for me, anyway. I think he is telling me that I don't need to be able to predict the course of this thing and, of course, let him do what he will do, and go with that. So now, I need the peace that I asked for when I asked for deeper faith.

Friday, June 21, 2013

Being reminded

"Now listen, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.' Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, 'If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that.' " James 4:13-15

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Here we go again

Hello all, New updates here. We went to G'ville for Glenn's regular check on his labs. His platelet count remains in the low area, (46,000 with normal being 150,000 to 200,000). Nothing new there. His anemia seems to be stable with the shot he gets every week for it. But is seems that the numbers for his disease are on an upward trend, enough so that the Dr. wants to start chemo treatment again. We go back to G'ville tomorrow for Glenn to have a bone marrow biopsy to determine what the course of treatment will be. We should have the results by Friday so we can know what we're looking at. He will not be hospitalized for either the biopsy or the treatment and it's not going to be another stem cell transplant, but some combination of chemo and steroids. We don't really know what the effects will be on him. Just have to wait and see. It kind of took the wind out Glenn's sails because he has been doing so well. The disease doesn't really make him feel bad, at least not so far. What was making him feel bad, besides the chemo, was the effects of the kidney failure. But since he's been on dialysis he's felt much better. Really, though, we expected this would happen sooner or later because the disease isn't curable, but the goal is to manage it so that it stays in remission for a period of time and doesn't affect other organs. So that's what we'll be working for now with the new round of treatment. 
 This kind of puts a big question mark on what he will be able to do while on the treatment, like will he be able to do more seminars, and other things he has planned relating to customer service. Also we are wondering how this will affect our trip out west in October. We are back to day-to-day living. We're not complaining at all, just having to readjust our thinking of expectations.
You all are such a comfort to us, knowing that you are following his progress with prayer and concern. I will not stop telling you all how much we appreciate you and your love and concern shown to us. So you just need to get used to that! What would we do without you all, I don't know.  <3