At the end of April, Tim was told that he was ready for the stem cell therapy. The oncologist was very pleased with how well he responded to the new chemo drugs. His myeloma percentages went from 60% down to 5%! Praise the Lord! That is a huge drop!! Our goal was to get below 20% in order to begin the stem cell procedure.
On Friday, May 21, he began receiving injections of a drug that made his body produce more stem cells. He received these injections on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. On Monday, he also received another drug that would release the stem cells from the bone marrow and into the blood stream so that they could collect the stem cells through a blood draw.
On June 7 and 8, Tim will receive high doses of chemotherapy that will kill his bone marrow. He will have to be closely monitored because this will put him at risk of infection, fever, etc. (If this occurs, he will have to be hospitalized.) On June 9th, they will infuse his treated stem cells back into his body with the goal that they will return to the bone and grow new marrow - this should force the cancer into remission. The bone marrow only takes about 10 day to begin to grow, but the recovery time is anywhere from 2-6 months. June 6th is Tim's last day to preach for a few months. Not preaching may be harder on Tim than the side effects of this treatment! He has a passion for preaching God's Word and a deep love for the folks of CBC. It will be very hard for him to be away.
God has provided a pastor to fill in for Tim during the time he is away. Pastor John Aspray from Rhode Island will come down each week and conduct the services for CBC and ensure that the church continues to run smoothly. We are grateful to Pastor Aspray and his willingness to help us during these next few months.
Prayer Requests:
- that the cancer will go into a deep, long remission
- for Tim as he goes through this treatment and has to endure some difficult side effects
- for Stacie as she takes care of Tim and tries to keep things as "normal" as possible for the children
- for our kids- Matthew (17), Michael (13), McKayla (6), and Mark (5) - as they watch their daddy go through this difficult time
- our extended family as they come to help with the kids and other responsibilities
- for our church family to continue to grow and walk with the Lord while their pastor is away
Jeremiah 17:7 "Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is."
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