Another Milestone

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“I should listen to my wife more,” said every married man worth his salt, including this guy. My back has been badly hurting for two days and she’s been trying to get me to go the chiropractor since yesterday, going as far as to remind me how stubborn I am. I finally relented and went this morning. Although it wasn’t instant relief, I’m already feeling much better. I gave her a chance to say “I told you so.” True to her character, she passed it up, but there was a twinkle of vindication in her beautiful eyes.


Pick Your Poison


My back is the latest in a long line of ailments to interrupt my life during the last two weeks. I finished chemo on January 5th and started back to work on the 6th. It was a blessing to be able to work again. I’m still far from one hundred percent, so two or three days a week is my max.

Beginning Tuesday night I started feeling really bad. Just. Plain. Awful. Nausea mainly. I went to Lexington for a previously-scheduled CT scan of my lungs and blood work on Wednesday. It was a rough morning. I had a low-grade fever, which automatically sends alarms bells for an immune-compromised cancer fighter. Thankfully, the nurses allowed me to leave with a strict admonition to monitor it closely. I rested all day and by that afternoon, praise the Lord, my temperature was normal.

As I rested, of course, my eye began to hurt. It felt similar to the viral infection I had last month. Again—alarm bells. I treated it the best way I knew how and by morning it was fine.

Since my eye stopped hurting, my back took its place. I started doing some light exercises a couple weeks ago using a resistance band. Apparently they weren’t light enough. I woke up yesterday with a very painful strained muscle that strictly limited my movement and breathing. When another muscle started hurting today, I finally did what I should have done to start with and listened to my wise helpmeet.

It really is striking how pain and discomfort can affect one’s outlook. I had a very productive day at work on Tuesday, and left excited about the future. But by Wednesday morning that excitement had waned and I was just looking for relief.

By and large, I’ve found it. Thanks to the prayers of many, I’m felling better overall. My back is still very sore and there is still much healing to be done in my body, but, Lord willing, I’m headed in the right direction.

Milestone


It was a year ago yesterday that I was admitted into the hospital at MD Anderson to prepare for the transplant. During the next week I had very intensive chemotherapy and medicine to suppress my immune system even further. A week later, on January 22, I received an infusion of cells from my donor. This started the long process of healing.

To say that everything has turned out as predicted is beyond laughable. I certainly didn’t think I’d be dealing with some of the problems I’ve had, especially after being in such relatively good health when we left Houston in May.

The one-year mark post-transplant is a major milestone. Not only do your medical odds for survival increase, but my body and new immune system being to form a state of tolerance, thereby reducing graft-versus-host disease. I can’t really say whether I’m experiencing that yet or not, especially since I’m still dealing with a skin rash and bad eyes. 


What I can say I’m experiencing, however, is God’s ability to continually sustain me. Not one bad day I’ve had yet has killed me. I’ve always woken up the next morning, even if only to experience the same thing all over again, but at least I’ve woken up.

It’s been harder to believe and remain hopeful some days. The amazing thing is that His grace, power, and love are not contingent on how I feel whatsoever. His truth depends nothing on how I feel about it. Knowing that allows me to press on inspite of myself.

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1 Comment

  1. Linda

    Hello Jeff,

    I just discovered your blog today. I will keep you in my prayers. You have a very nice blog. God bless you, and warm greetings from Montreal, Canada.

    Reply

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