Another round of chemo, another stay in the hospital. This past Sunday, Father's Day, Mike returned home after spending two and a half weeks in the hospital. He started a new, different round of chemo before Memorial Day and it hit him very hard. He had a fever of over 102 degrees just 12 hours after the first dose, but which his doctor assured him was a "normal" reaction to the chemo. He only received half of the normal prescribed dose of this drug and it still wrecked him. A few days after Memorial Day, he was getting more fevers, chills and felt totally wiped out. We went into the clinic and they admitted him to the hospital on June 1. What we thought would only be a few days' stay turned into 19 days. It was so hard to know when things would get better, and what the coming days would bring.
During this time, I reached out to a woman named Rene, whose testimony I read in a book about God's protection and deliverance. Rene was diagnosed with late-stage lupus over 10 years ago, and was given only months to live. Through an array of ups and down, hospitalizations and many instances when doctors told her she was dying, she stood on God's promises of healing and was eventually healed of her disease. She now has a ministry, lectures, and is finishing a book about her experiences. We began corresponding and she has been a tremendous sources of strength for me. We finally spoke on the phone last night where she told me more of her story -- her testimony in the book didn't even tell half the story of how bad off she was. Rene encouraged me to stand on God's promises, be bold, and she told me regarding Mike's deliverance from this situation, "God is gonna do this."
Below are the e-mails I sent to friends and family during Mike's hospital stay....
June 7:
Hi, everyone. If you're getting this e-mail it's because I know you are brothers and sisters in Christ and we are asking for your prayers. Mike's been in the hospital since last Wednesday with fevers and infections due to low blood counts following a chemo cycle. They have identified the bacteria in his body, but he continues to get fevers, nausea and vomiting. He does have some pneumonia and a possible fungal infection in his lungs. Some moments he feels well and is up and around, and other moments he feels very washed out. Again, the fevers -- in spite of lots of antibiotics -- are cause for the doctors' concern. That, along with the low blood counts that have yet to rise are a problem.
Please pray for Mike's recovery. Please pray specifically that the fevers permanently break, that the infection(s) clear, that his blood counts rise, and that the doctors and nurses receive wisdom so that this can be figured out.
Please add him to any prayer chains or prayer lists, and please enlist the help of any fellow prayer warriors.
Thanks to everyone.
Love,
Lauren
June 11:
Hi, everyone. I just wanted to pass along the latest about Mike.
A bronchoscopy the other day did show some bacteria in the lungs, which is what the doctors were suspecting. Since they found bacteria there, they didn't feel it was necessary to pull out the port in his chest (which can harbor bacteria, and was the other leading suspect for causing the fevers).
In the past few days, the fevers have come down significantly. I think the highest he's hit in the past 24/48 hours was 100 -- a huge improvement from the 101/102 temps he was getting. The doctors are very happy about the fevers breaking, but Mike's blood counts are still very low. They're not sure why his white cells are taking so long to rejuvenate, and it's very frustrating for us as Mike's never taken this long to rebound from chemo.
So, he's still stuck in the hospital and is getting very antsy and emotionally spent. Please pray specifically that the fevers continue to stay away, and that his blood counts begin to rise. We really need the white cells to start coming up. They were up a tiny tick this morning from yesterday, but we still need a big improvement in numbers to jumpstart the immune system. Please pray for his bone marrow and healthy cell production!
In the midst of this recovery, please also pray that the cancer stays quiet, and that it retreats entirely!
Thank you all, and I'm sorry that I haven't gotten to individually respond to the e-mails some of you have sent me. I appreciate all the kind words!
I'll continue to send updates as things improve.
Love,
Lauren
June 15:
Hi, everyone.
Just wanted to pass along the latest. We're still at the hospital. The fevers have subsided, but the blood counts are still stagnant. They started daily neupogen shots yesterday to stimulate the marrow to produce white blood cells. Today the white count was the same, but the neutrophil count was up. Neutrophils are a component of the white cell count, so seeing that rise is probably a good sign that the overall white count will soon increase as well.
They're in the process of switching Mike's IV antibiotics to pills, so that when his counts rise he'll be ready to go home. We still don't know when that will be -- we're hoping no more than a couple more days.
The doctors still don't know why his counts haven't begun to rise on their own after all this time. They don't think it's disease related, and they said a marrow rejection this long after transplant would be unusual. But, whatever the cause, it looks like there might finally be a little improvement.
Other than being completely stir crazy and frustrated, Mike's doing pretty well overall.
Please continue to pray for those blood counts -- that's the only thing keeping us here and each morning's blood draw brings a lot of stress and frustration waiting to hear what the numbers are. Lots of healthy white cells and a strong immune system are at the very top of our prayer list! I've committed to praying Psalm 91 over Mike's situation throughout this journey. Everyone is welcome to pray it along with me!
I'll continue to keep you all updated.
Love,
Lauren
June 19:
I am thrilled to say that Mike was released from the hospital earlier today and is enjoying the comforts of home! His counts made a very good jump in the last couple days, and the doctor didn't see a reason to keep him any longer. He'll go to the outpatient clinic one day this week for a checkup, but he doesn't mind -- we are home and resting up from a very long, and unexpected, two and half weeks in the hospital. What a great Father's Day gift to both our dads.
Thank you all for the prayers and support. Please continue to pray for continued recovery from the treatments and infection, and that we are finally on the road to divine health.
Love,
Lauren
