November 21, 2005
Dear Friends,
This Thanksgiving we have so much to be thankful for. We wanted
to keep you all informed of what is going on with Mike’s
treatment for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and its relation to
our faith journey. In our last newsletter we talked about good
news in the treatment, having had excellent response to the first
four courses of chemotherapy. Mike had reduction of more than
80 percent in tumor size and activity. After two more courses
everyone expected the tumor to be gone, but there was no further
improvement. This indicates an area of tumor resistant to this
chemotherapy.
The oncologist recommended a change in therapy that begins with
two three-day courses of a more toxic inpatient chemotherapy.
Mike has had the first course, and hospital admission is planned
for November 21 for the second course, with discharge on Thanksgiving
Day in time to gather with our family for the “Thanksgiving
Feast.” Two weeks after this he will have scans to determine
whether the tumor is sensitive or not to this new chemotherapy.
This will be followed by high-dose chemotherapy that is marrow
ablative (will kill his bone marrow) followed by bone marrow transplantation,
or more correctly, “peripheral stem cell transplantation.”
If the tumor responds to the new chemotherapy, Mike will receive
his own marrow stem cells. If the remaining tumor doesn’t
respond to this chemotherapy, he will receive stem cells from
a donor. Cancers result when your own immune system cannot recognize
and fight the cancerous cells that develop in all of us. Mike’s
immune system cannot fight this cancer but the immune system of
most people can. By transplanting the marrow of a suitable donor,
Mike would have a new immune system that just might cure this
cancer. The most suitable donors are brothers and sisters, and
Mike’s brother and sisters have all volunteered for this
should it be needed.
Now, this is a complex and daunting course of therapy. High-dose
chemotherapy is dangerous, as it doesn’t just go after your
marrow but causes a lot of tissue injury. After killing the marrow
there are several days when you have no functional immune system.
Mike will become the “bubble boy” during this time
and be very susceptible to infections from the very viruses and
bacteria that are a part of all of us as well as from the environment.
If he can receive his own marrow, the risks are fewer.
When you receive a transplant from anyone else except an identical
twin, the donor organ, or cells, are different from yours. If
someone gets a kidney transplant, their immune system will recognize
the new kidney as a foreign material and try protecting the recipient,
the “host,” from this new organ, the “graft.”
Here we have a “host” versus “graft” effect.
In this case we give medicines to fight this immune effect and
protect this new kidney. When you get transplanted with marrow,
the “graft,” it produces a new immune system. This
new immune system recognizes the rest of the body, its “host”
as different, as foreign, and tries to protect itself from its
new host. This is called “graft” versus “host”
disease. This can cause serious damage to the “host”
organs, such as their kidneys, liver, etc. It is necessary to
suppress this: however, it is also necessary for some of this
to occur to go after the cancer, as the cancer is made of cells
of the “host,” and the “graft” recognizes
those cells to be foreign. This is referred to as “graft”
versus “tumor” effect. What an amazing battleground!
It both gives a chance of life but is very dangerous. A bone marrow
transplant from another person, or “allogeneic transplant,”
carries a 30 percent risk of mortality secondary to all of these
risks. Those who survive the initial few days of the process—where
infection and severe graft versus host disease are the most dangerous—and
get to the months that follow with lessening but continuing risks
are still at risk for recurrence of the tumor in about 50 percent
of the cases. A scary process but one that gives a chance at survival.
We have been frequently questioned about having a support system.
You, our friends, are that support system. We continue to receive
so many wonderful words from you. You keep us in your prayers
as well as continue to support the work of the church in mission.
We are so grateful to you for these things and it is in this community
spirit that we would like to share some thoughts with you. God
graces us in ways that we may not recognize. We cannot know God’s
plan, but live in thanksgiving according to our faith, seeing
great blessings even in our sufferings. We all will die, and we
all know it. We have all heard the sermons of being prepared.
How many of us are prepared and how many of us have been given
so clear an opportunity to put our affairs in order?
These affairs are both worldly and spiritual. Our worldly affairs
include those matters of property and relationships. We must make
sure our will is in order and that any financial obligations are
fulfilled so that we don’t complicate the lives of others.
Another matter is the “stuff” that we have acquired
through our lifetime. We all have this stuff and we go and die
and leave our mess for our loved ones who are grieving. Aren’t
they burdened enough? We have the opportunity to lift their burden
by getting rid of what we really don’t need should we survive.
We all have those things that we have held onto for the future
or “just in case.” We have things that seem to have
value to us but that others might not recognize. They feel guilty
throwing it or giving it away (since it seemed to have value to
us) so they hang onto it trying to hang onto a part of us. Some
of this stuff may have real value to other people. It could be
clothing, tools, maybe a toy that one has kept for its sentimental
value. We remember Matthew 6:19: "Don't lay up treasures
for yourselves upon earth where moth and rust consume and where
thieves break through and steal. Give the stuff away! Unburden
yourself before God and give your family a break at the same time.
Our lives are filled with relationships with others. Some of
these interactions haven’t gone well. We have been wronged
or have wronged. We pray often: Forgive us our debts (trespasses)
as we forgive our debtors (those who have trespassed against us).
Don’t just say it, Do it! We have the chance to put these
affairs in order. We know that we will be forgiven as we forgive.
Be always in prayer. How many of us pray for things that benefit
us? We pray that our kids will get good grades in school, that
we or, maybe a friend, will get a job, that our car will start
on a cold morning, and so on. How do we know that these things
are in God’s plan? Maybe that job isn’t the job that
will allow you to best fulfill God’s plan. If we take this
logic to the last step, we might ask ourselves, “Maybe my
physical life on earth will not fulfill God’s plan. Maybe
the love that I can show others in accepting His will even in
my death will touch others in such a way that God’s plan
is furthered.” Then pray that “God’s will be
done on earth as it is in Heaven.” We do this not in trying
to negotiate with God for what we want, for our way, even for
our own life, but in serving Him as we endure the trials and tribulations
of this earth in a way that gives Him thanks and praise. We remember
Matthew 16:25: “For whoever wants to save his life will
lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.”
God has given us clear directions as to how our affairs may be
put in order, and He has blessed us with the time to do it. Now,
does all this mean that we have given up hope? Quite the contrary!
We are often confused by the difference in hope and expectation.
We put expectations on others and even on God. Disappointment
is the result of expectation not fulfilled. This can lead us even
to be disappointed with God. God is light and this light gives
us hope. Maybe God’s plan is that Mike survives his cancer.
To this end we are so blessed to have these healthcare opportunities,
as scary as they may seem. Sadly, so many others in this world
do not have the opportunity to have this health care.
This Thanksgiving we give thanks for being able to know God and
for our many friends with whom we share our faith journey.
Mike and Nancy
The 2005 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p.
318 |
