count your blessings

Hello everyone,

I hope this update finds you in good health and good spirits. :)

Mike was admitted to the hospital last week due to a fever that went over 104, caused by 2 bacterial infections: e-coli & c-diff. When admitted his white blood count was .02 which means that he had only about 20 white blood cells, where a normal person has 4,000 – 10,000. They have basically set him up with an artificial immune system between 6 antibiotics, vitamins and fluids. Over the weekend I was told that he might be able to come home within a few days, but last night I was told very differently. After a full week, the infections are gone, but his wbc count has only come up to .09. Tomorrow he will have intrathecal chemotherapy which will compromise his counts again and he will need to be monitored closely for up to several weeks in the hospital. At that time, they will also check for leukemia cells in his spinal fluid. After his counts stabilize a little, (wbc need to be over 1000) they will send him for another bone marrow biopsy to see if this round of treatment has killed all of the leukemia cells in his marrow. His marrow has to stay clean for 60 days after that point to even be considered for transplant.
Mike has had a very rough week. The nurses are in and out of his room almost every hour so he is not able to get consistent sleep. He has been unable to swallow easily because of the infection that caused sores & layers of skin to peel off inside of his throat and his mouth. He has lost almost 70 pounds since the first of the year. At times his body goes into some type of shock and will begin to shake violently and he feels like he is freezing. The nurse said this happens because his body recognizes that he does not have a natural immune system and tries to fight. He had almost a full week of upset stomach and uncontrollable diarrhea. His body has been very weak, so to even turn over in his bed takes all of his energy, much more trying to stand or get a shower. He has been in and out of consciousness, talking in his sleep and not remembering much. On top of all of that he has been unable to move his right arm. No one is really sure why, but he has had an x-ray and sonogram to check his bones and make sure he did not have a clot. Last night he was sent for an MRI, but we have not gotten the results yet. This has been causing him a lot of pain. When I called to check on him this morning he told me to call his nurse because he was too weak to talk. The nurse said they had problems accessing his port last night and he has been unable to receive all of the meds that he needs – including pain medication.

I tell you all of these things so that you might thank God for your health or take a moment to count your blessings. Mike has been through Hell and every time I talk to him all he wants to know is how everyone else is doing… and if everyone else is ok… He cares so deeply for people, so much that he looks past his own situation and offers prayers for the ones he loves. I am so broken by this because I’m seeing, more and more, the man that he truly is. One day when I laid across his lap on the hospital bed crying, and even in the midst of being barely awake, he spoke very clearly to me saying, “I was just talking to Him and He said not to shake in your armor”. I know that God is with us. I know that we are in a war and I can tell you that we will continue to fight with all that is within us. I believe that God is doing something amazing through this entire thing and not one day will go to waste. Mike is going to come out of this with such a tremendous testimony – it is going to amaze and inspire everyone who hears it.