As many of you already know my stepdad, Dwight, went to his doctor for a routine check-up last week. He was called in again on Wednesday to repeat some bloodwork. The second blood tests confirmed the first results, a dangerously low white blood cell count. He was sent immediately to an oncology office & on to the hospital. He's been diagnosed with acute leukemia, subgroup M3 or APL. He will spend the next four weeks at Northside Hospital in Atlanta receiving chemotherapy & monitoring. In fact, the first chemo was given yesterday. He's supposed to receive another dose tomorrow & then again on Thursday. He'll likely get a blood transfusion tomorrow. This was attempted on Saturday & during the transfusion he had a reaction. They're still not sure if the reaction was to the blood or to the oral chemo drug he had been taking. The oral chemo has not been restarted.
My family needs prayer. So far, my mom has been staying with Dwight round the clock. She's not sure yet when she'll return to work. I plan to travel there Sunday to visit & help however I can. This came as such a shock. Dwight wasn't feeling bad when he went to the doctor. It was purely routine. It seems we always want to know where this came from & how did this happen. Could it have been prevented? Does it come from genetics, the environment, all the radiation we are exposed to, pollution, etc? Is this punishment for some sin? The Bible says the earth groans in pain due to sin, waiting for the glory of God to be revealed. Does this affect our bodies? Only God knows, but sin is the culprit behind all illness. When sin entered the world so did death & disease. We are inwardly & outwardly decaying because of sin. Is there any hope for us? Absolutely. There is a Savior, Jesus Christ, who paid the penalty for our sin to rescue us from its destruction. Faith in Him as Lord results in inward healing & the promise of outward healing after this life. We can look forward to the absence of all disease in heaven.
But that doesn't mean He cannot heal our bodies on earth. He is the Great Physician & knows how to heal better than any medical doctor. Pray that He will be glorified through Dwight's illness.
Recent Events
My best friend Jennie & her husband Chris came to visit last week for a couple of days. I was so happy to have them here. Chris went with Andrew to his personal evangelism class & has hopefully won many Jehovah's witnesses to the Lord as a result (class topic that day). The guys also spent lots of time trying to beat the Prince of Persia game on our Wii. I thoroughly enjoyed talking with my Jennie & Melissa & Charles also came over for a meal. The only real Louisville places they got to see were the Dirty K (my local Kroger) & Lynn's Paradise Cafe (pictures to follow on a later blog). So, we didn't do anything really special, just spent time together & they loved on Christian big time with lots of playing.
Easter Events
Last week at church it hit me that I had to work on Easter Sunday (I have to work every 4th Sunday, just happened to fall on Easter) & Andrew & Christian would have to spend the day alone. I nearly cried thinking about it & started praying that someone would open up their home to them. The topic came up in conversation when I picked Christian up from Leah's house Monday evening after work as we were talking about the babysitting schedule for the rest of the month. Leah immediately offered for Andrew & Christian to join them for lunch. They had a great time & Leah even sent Christian home with an Easter basket. To view photos from Easter lunch at Evan & Leah's house, click on the link below:
http://evan-leah.blogspot.com/2009/04/easter.html
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