Wednesday Morning, March 28, 2007 12:15am

Greetings to all!

Sorry is has been so long since we put the last one on, we know some of you have been wondering what happened to us. Well, two days after the last one ,we left with the family for a week in Flordia. A member of the faith commuity let us use there condo ,,in Orlando, for the week. So, on Friday we went over and picked up Eric and Erin and started our drive. We arrived Saturday night and Jennifer and the boys arrived on Sunday night. Monday was a great day at the Magic Kingdom and Tuesday was at MGM and Epcot. Then ,Wednesday, Jennifer and the boys had to leave, Marty and Jack stayed at the condo, and Eric and Erin spent the day at the parks. By Thursday and Friday Marty and Jack were back with Eric and Erin at the parks. It was a busy and fun time. We are confident that the three older grandchildren will remember it, but Cole ,being only two ,will probably not.

Marty held up for the trip pretty well. We made her ride in a wheel chair and had a pass that allowed us to enter the rides through the exit path, that meant we did not have to wait in the long lines. It was really great - on Monday ,the kids got to ride about 17 rides in the MK ,which is really a lot. They really thanked Marty for not having to wait in the lines.

Yesterday Marty had the tests done that we talked about in the last blog and tomorrow we will see the bone marrow transplant doctor. Then ,next Wednesday, April 4th we will see Dr. Lee and talk about the options. If he is like he was the last time, it will be up to Marty what she wants to do and when she wants to do it.

Presently, she is having a lot of tiredness. as she was even before we found out she was not in remission. She is having pain in the right clavicle again, and her lower legs are hurting all the time, not just to the touch. It seems like these were all things that were going on before when she was active. Today she has had a sore throat, but has not been running any temps. We are only to contact the doctor for a temp of 100.5 or higher.

We have been doing a lot of reading about the transplant and other information to be open to discern God's will in this situation. At the present time, we are just not sure, particularly since none of the options sound good or easy and of course they only again seek a remission that again may or may not come and may only last a short time, like the last one. This is indeed a tough disease to deal with. Please keep praying for us to be open to God's guidance and to do God's will.

Last week Marty's daily scripture calendar had this awesome verse from Revelation 19:6,7: "Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory!" That says it all, doesn't it, God reigns, be glad, give him glory. Praise the Lord! Be open and allow his will to be done! Be God's faithful children and all will be good. For God is good - all the time. All the time - God is good.

Have a positive day and God bless.

Marty and Jack
John 3:16

Wednesday Night

Greetings to all!

You are probably with this blog the way we were with the doctor today; just give us the straight information, what are the results. Well, here is the straight information MARTY IS NOT IN REMISSION AT THIS TIME. Dr. Lee said that Marty was in remission back in December when the biopsy was done after the Remission Induction was done. At that time there were 3% blasts and it was hoped that the consolidation treatments would take those out. However, the biopsy done last week, after the three consolidation treatments showed a 5 – 6% blasts. That leads to a diagnosis we have heard before, namely Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS). That is the first diagnosis Marty was given last September because her blast count was 10% which is right on the line between MDS and Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). But the time she went into St. V’s for treatment last September her blast was 13 – 14% meaning she was then AML. At any rate with the present blast percentage she is considered to be active MDS. Will it again become AML? That no one can answer at this time: that is a wait and see question.

So what is the plan for now? Over the next month several things will be done:
We are to go and see the bone marrow transplant doctors again.
Since it is 48 months since Marty finished her breast cancer treatment, there are some tests that need to be done, to see that is all is still in remission.
Dr. Lee will be in contact with our insurance company to see if they will pay for a new drug that is out, but not even in the stores yet. If they will, he will find a place to get it for us.
We will see Dr. Lee in a month; see how Marty is doing then and if possible come up with a plan to deal with the situation. It is hoped that by that time, there will possibly be some kind of indication if it is going to remain MDS or again become AML.

So, that is where things are for now. We are not necessarily surprised because of last weeks CBC results, but we are indeed disappointed ,since she was in remission, that it only lasted that long. But, God must have another plan in which He wants to use Marty in a very special way. So, we will have to remain alert to be able to discern God’s will and plan.

The calendar scripture verse for today is Proverbs 11:27 which reads: “He who seeks good finds good will….” Let us indeed all seek good, so that we may find good will with all who we come in contact with. What a blessing it would be to find good will in all of our contacts. It says that if we seek good, we will indeed find good will. That is not saying that you will find the good will that you think is right for you, but the good will that God has in store for you. Indeed some times that can be a problem for us, because we do not get what we want and therefore do not think that God has answered and/or is there to help and care for us. No matter what happens we must look for the Lord’s will and follow it. If we are within God’s will, we will receive good will, what ever the situation. Just be open and receptive to God what ever the situation. Praise the Lord! God is good – all the time. All the time – God is good.

May you receive a really good nights sleep and be positive tomorrow. Take care and God bless.

Marty and Jack
John 3:16

Tuesday Night

Greetings

Well tomorrow is the day, Wednesday 03.14.07, and noon is the time for the appointment. We will let you know as soon as possible (but probably not until evening) what the results of the biopsy are. We know that the doctor has the results and knows, so we are just waiting to hear. God has been so good to us and we know that His grace and love will continue in whatever His will may be. It will all be to His glory. Praise the Lord!

Have a positive day and God bless.

Jack
John 3:16

Friday Afternoon

Greetings and God's blessing on you!

This is going to be a really fast, fast, fast update.

1. Marty being the loving giving wife, that she is, has been so kind to me as to share her virus infection with me. She does seem to be improving, and I am kind of at the beginning of the road.

2. The biopsy went well yesterday. The doctor did say that there was a little more bleeding than he likes, but everything would be okay. And indeed it seems to be doing fine. There has not been any more bleeding and all seems well. Praise the Lord!

3. The CBC that was done yesterday was not as good. All three were down from where they were on 2/21/07, when the last CBC was done and all were below normal range. The WBC is the most concerning becasue it was down from 9500 to 1940 with normal range being 4000 to 10500. Dr. Lee said that a virus can cause the WBC to go down. So, that is indeed our hope. But the report also memtioned some "blasts" (adnormal cells including cancer cells) which the doctor did not mention to us and we did not see the report until after we had0 left the room and therefore could not ask about it. It is a challenge, but let us all remember Romans 8:28 and God's grace. Praise the Lord! God is good - all the time! All the time - God is good.

Let us continue to be positive and praise God for how good He has been in this whole process.
Thank you Lord!

Have a positive evening and God bless.

Marty and Jack
John 3:16

Tuesday Night

Greetings to all – at long last!

Sorry, it has been about 4 days since I last wrote and we published. It has been kind of busy and I just kind of needed to get “around to it” and as you well know I never did.

Marty is doing better as far as her infection in her sinuses which did go down into her bronchial tubes. She has been doing a lot of night coughing, but her throat, voice and all are doing better. She is planning to sleep in the lazy boy tonight, in hopes that she will not cough as much. We will see how that works. She has been doing some cleaning today, and thus showing more energy than she has had since getting home from the hospital the last time. Praise the Lord! So,she should be tired enough to sleep pretty good tonight.

We are now at 2 days and 8 days away – 2 days until the bone marrow biopsy is done and 8 days until we get the results. It will be good to get those results and confirm Dr. Lee’s feelings and the fulfillment of our prayer requests.

The calendar verse for today is an awesome one. It is from Psalms 145:1 and reads: “I will exalt you, my God and King; I will praise your name for ever and ever.” For me it is such an awe-some verse because I really do feel the verse in my heart and life. It is very personal for me, because of God, of Marty, of you, of the congregation, and all of the prayers and support we have received from so many. God has seen to it that we have been surrounded by His grace and love and that is to be exalted. I am also so grateful for the strength and all that Marty has had during the treatment she has endured; what faith and stamina and determination and positive thinking, and love for God and for life she has shown. Again, God is to be exalted and praised for the ways Marty has let His light shine. Praise the Lord!

Two of the messages, among a number of them, that I keep thinking about that I believe God has sent to me are: first, when the doctor asked Marty to talk to one of her patients because Marty had come through the treatment so well, had done all the right things, and had the right attitude and this patient was having a lot of trouble. The second one is from the last day at St. V’s and a nurse, who has been working on 6 south for 8 years now, told me that in that period of time she has seen very, very few patients, other than Marty, that have gone through the treatment that Marty went through that did not end up in ICU at least one time during the treatment. Praise the Lord! God speaks to me through these experiences by saying that when we put our faith and trust in Him, when we do our part, we will know His presence, He will use us to glorify Him, and He will see to it that His will is done. For all of this “I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever.” Amen!

Obviously, I have written this from my perspective, my heart, and Marty may wish to express her feelings and perspective at some time in entirely different words and phrases but we are indeed both in agreement that we exalt God for His important part in our lives the last 6 months. We look forward to the results that we will receive in 8 days with gratitude to God and with the expectation that God has more for Marty to do on this earth, and that His will to accomplish that has been done. Praise and thanks be to God!

And again we express to you and to God our thanks for your support, prayers, and love that have been so encouraging and helpful. And we pray that they will continue to be there as Marty continues to gain strength and as we pray for it to be God’s will that the AML be and remain in remission for a long time to come.

By the way, much earlier on in the blog we indicated that a bone marrow transplant would be a cure for AML if it could be done successfully. Well, we are now learning that is not really correct. It seems that a transplant, even from a sibling, is just another way to put AML into remission. However, there does seem to be some evidence that it might last longer than any other method, and a sibling transplant will usually last the longest and be the easiest to do successfully. At this time we do not discern that God is leading us in that direction. At this time, we believe that God wants Marty to get her strength back, do her nursing, and glorify Him with her ministry and life. Praise the Lord!

We will probably be back before, but if not we will let you know the results in 8 days.

Be positive and God bless.

Marty and Jack
John 3:16

Thursday Night

Again a short note!

(Soon I hope I will have the time and energy to write and publish a longer blog.)

Marty says that she is feeling better, but she still sounds really bad. She says that her throat is not hurting, her cough has improved (still not bringing anything up), and her head is doing better. Praise the Lord - still no temp. - thank you Lord!

Also she has just started to use some of the lupus med. that she had left over on her legs and guess what! - it is helping the discomfort that she has had for so long. We are not sure what that means, but it is working so again Praise the Lord!

Since she has been sick all week her energy level has not improved much, if at all. Marty is still sleeping about 12 hours and then napping maybe about 4 to 6 hours. When she gets over this infection hopefully that will all start to improve faster. God is good! All the time! - All the time! God is good!

This has been a long day and another one tomorrow. Thanks for your continued interest, support, and prayers.

Hope you are sleeping well, that you have a positive day tomorrow, and God bless.

Jack
John 3:16