Happy birthday to me! A few of you who know my actual birthday are confused right now. Maybe it’s the medication, you’re thinking. No, Happy Second Birthday to me! We’re celebrating the day, January 22, 2014, that I received my stem cell transplant. It’s the day I became a new creation.
After receiving four days of chemotherapy and three days of immuno-suppressing drugs that nearly did me in, the stem cells finally came about 9pm on the night of the 22nd. The procedure is really anticlimactic and works just like any other infusion of blood products. I get a dose of Benadryl to stave off a reaction and the nurses regularly check my vital signs. The stem cells were pumped into my body just like platelets or blood over the course of about four hours. I even fell asleep for a bit.
The doctor said that the procedure went well. My blood counts will be monitored closely for months to ensure that the stem cells have moved into my bone marrow and begun producing normal blood cells, a process called “engrafting.” At the same time, I am still receiving different immuno-suppressing drugs to ensure that my body doesn’t reject the cells. This is called “graft-versus-host disease”, or GVHD. There is almost always some evidence of GVHD –in fact you want some degree of it to let you know that your new immune system is different than your old one—but it can also cause some serious complications. Pray for a little, but not a lot.
The real test of faith begins now. It will be months and even years before we know if the transplant was really successful. Not only do the stem cells need to engraft, but also the leukemia must not relapse. The fact that I was in remission before the transplant is promising, but the genetic mutations causing the leukemia in the first place still exist. The idea is that the new stem cells will not have those mutations, and if there were some old stem cells lingering, then the new white blood cells would attack any cancerous cells and kill them. The milestones we’re looking at are 30 days, 6 months, one year, and two years. Typically, after two years, you’re in the clear, although medically-speaking the chance for relapse always remains. And we thought getting to this point required faith!
I expect to be in the hospital another three weeks or so. After that, we’ll remain in Houston until about the first of May. There will be many ups and downs between now and then. We’ll spend lots of days at the hospital for checkups, blood and platelet infusions, bone marrow biopsies, and even another lumbar puncture. But, by the grace of God, my family and I will be together and have the incredible support of so many of you.
So, with this transplant I have new bone marrow, or at least I will. I have new DNA in my blood. I even have a new blood type (O-positive). I am, in a sense, a new creation. The old marrow has gone, the new has come. This doesn’t really change who I am though. It merely makes a change to my body.
My esteemed pastor at River of Life Foursquare Church, Tim Lawson, preached on this topic, using my story, back in the Fall. There is no way I could say it any better than him, so I recommend that you listen to it here: Transplant.
This is the second time that I’ve become a new creation. And it’s the least significant. Just like I am getting a second chance at life after this stem cell transplant, I got a second chance at eternity when I decided to become a follower of Jesus. This time might save my life, but the last time saved my soul. Simplistic analogy as this might be, it is nonetheless true and profound. As much as my family and I plead with God for it to be successful, bringing about a transformation to my bone marrow, what brings us hope is the absolute certainty of our transformations in Christ.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! (2 Cor 5:17, NIV)
Hang in there Sir., you got this whipped. keeping you and your family in my thoughts. Sgt. Daniel
Jeff, I know how you feel about the transplant. I received my miracle January 29, 2013, a new kidney!! It truly is a birthday to remember!! I admire your faith, strength and determination; I will keep praying for you and your family also.
Thanks, Joyce. I appreciate that note of encouragement.
Hang Tough Sir,
God Bless
Keep up the fight Sir, you will be in my prayers.
Burke
Hooah
Sir, thats great news and an awesome testimony! You and your family are in my prayers.
SSG West
Thanks, SSG.
Jeff God has so blessed you with faith I cannot fathom with the sickness you had, keep up your strong faith in God, words cannot express the spirit of God when reading your blog. We at Gray Hawk Baptist Church pray for a complete healing. I have a cousin’s husband had the same disease as a young man, he had the stem cell transplant and now is married and has three children and is cancer free. He is a follower of Christ also. God Bless!
Wow, thanks. That’s very encouraging. You all at Gray Hawk have been very faithful in support of us. We are very thankful!