Need a Few Prayers

Mike had his usual every-other-week checkup today. Everything seemed fine -- they even took him off one of his many daily medications and lowered his dose of Prednisone. But his doctor just called with his blood test results and his neutrophil counts are down. Neutrophils are a type of white blood cell that are part of the immune system, and which seek out infection. A couple months ago his neutrophil count was around two million. Today it’s around 350,000. That means he is just above the neutropenic level, and when you’re neutropenic you can spike fevers – and in Mike’s case, end up with a little vacation in the hospital. Normally neutropenia happens a week or two after a round of chemo, when blood counts have bottomed out. In Mike’s case, they’re thinking he might have contracted something viral, and his system is trying to fight it off. The doctor said not to be terribly alarmed, that sometimes this happens, but to watch for any fevers and to call them if Mike’s temperature spikes.
And all this after he was even cleared today to return to full-time work status (still from home, of course).
We believe in the power of prayer. Please pray that Mike’s counts don’t get any lower, and that he doesn’t spike any fever. Please pray that his counts start to rise and he fights off whatever is running throughout his body.