Day +50 Reflections

So today I'm officially half way to my big day +100. We had a little scare last night, it was around 12 and I took my temperature and I was 100.7, and a fever for me is 100.4. I called the doctor and he recommended that I come into the urgent care unit at Sloan and be evaluated. So Mindy and I packed our suitcase for about 3 days because we anticipated being admitted. When we arrived there they took my temp and I was 98.0. We kinda thought that our thermometer was acting a little strange but that was great news and meant we weren't going to have to stay. I had some blood cultures done, a urine sample, and a chest x-ray all which came back good.

So Mindy and I got to talking last night about how far we have come in the past 9 months and how big a part God has played in our lives. I know we are always on to the new thing to pray for and I want to take some time to reflect on some moments since I was diagnosed with cancer.

Jan. 29: The day I was diagnosed with AML. My white count was 122,000 normal being 4-6 thousand. I was admitted at Hershey around 8 and that night I had a catheter put into my groin to be able to run my blood out of my body through a machine and back in to kill down my white cells because they were dangerously high. I hated that surgery. The Lord was there with me that day just letting the doctors find this disease in time before it could have killed me.

Maybe 3 days later: I was told I had the worse type of AML, and I would need to have a stem cell transplant in order to live.

The most common death for AML transplant patients is those who can not find a suitable match to have a transplant.

I was able to get my leukemia in remission after my induction chemo which was another huge step, and I praise God for that.

Then there was the dreadful day about 5 weeks after my second round of chemo, when they found masses in my testes, and I was having problems with my eyes that they thought it might have spread to my brain and central nervous system. If you remember reading these days you remember that about a week later I had my testes ultra sounded again and the masses were completely gone. The doctor came in the room and said there is no explanation for this unless you've been praying a lot, which we were, but how cool was it the the Lord took these masses away and made this doctor realize there is a God and he can heal.

May: Mindy for no reason decided to look up other hospitals that do transplants, I say for no reason because at this point Hershey was where we were planning on going and there wasn't really any thoughts of anywhere else. Mindy came across Memorial Sloan Kettering in NY, one of the world's best transplant centers that specializes in AML my specific type of leukemia. God bless her.

June-July: We went through so many ups and downs with a donor, we thought we had one, and then they were no good, and then one backed out, but finally God brought us a 22 yr old male. I mean do you think that is a coincidence that I'm 23 and we were going to go with a 46 yr old woman but waited and this guy came up, and God bless him for joining the registry and going through with donating his stem cells. I thank God so much that I was able to find a match and have a transplant.

We had plenty of ups and downs with my pneumonia and I had to have a lung biopsy before they would clear me to be eligible for a transplant. I was cleared and on July 14 was admitted to MSK for my transplant.

I spent 26 days in the hospital, the fastest that most doctors have ever seen. The average is between 35-50 days, most people we talk to were in for at least 40 days. God was with me the entire time and there were some very hard days at MSK but I had my angel Mindy with me and the Lord.

So today at day +50 I want to give thanks and praise to the Lord for all that he has done for me in the past 9 months.

I wanted to give some advice to everyone who reads this because it's something I have learned since being diagnosed.
Don't sweat the small stuff in life. So many times Mindy and I find ourselves in situations were in the past we would have reacted differently or complained to each other and now, we just shrug it off because it is so insignificant in the grand scheme of life. Don't get upset if you get caught in a traffic jam, don't have any road rage at all, if that person cuts you off, who cares. Maybe your waiting in line and someone cuts right in front of you, who cares it doesn't matter. Just be thankful for everything that God has provided for you and blessed you with. Your health being a main one. Never take days for granted because tomorrow is never promised to anyone.
Stay faithful. I usually close my posts with a pray request, but tonight I am asking you to take a moment to give thanks and praise to God!