Heart and Leukemia Journey Update

As we made our way down the familiar path to school for back-to-school night last night, I couldn’t help but think how we even got to this point and how we are at the brink of another school year! Dan and I were talking about what our summer looked like and it was filled with all the things we dreamed of doing together as a family again. There is never enough time, and as much as I want to make up for lost time, the best time is just to enjoy the present.

It’s also high time I share an update! My leukemia continues to stay in remission! Every 6 weeks I have testing done to ensure it is, and each time, I cry when I’m told it’s negative. My emotions are still recovering from the past couple of years and the familiarity of relapsing is all too fresh. It’s been quite a year. Being isolated for months on end, but then welcoming summer and outdoor activities, has opened up new opportunities for our family and also our social life. Two things that I missed severely. I am feeling well, blood work is near perfect, and God continues to protect this body from cancer! Nothing of our doing, but only Him!

Mazy was talking about being invisible the other night and I couldn’t help but reflect on my own life, and think how many times “I’ve beat the odds”. But it’s not me, it’s God. It has taken some grit, tears, and pain, but HE has continued to sustain my life. Each day is a new moment to serve Him, and I continue to pray I can do that well with each day He gives me!

Unfortunately though, my heart took a hit from the intense chemo I had to go through for my bone marrow transplant. Recent tests have shown that my heart function is back to where it was a little over a year ago, making it feel like we are back at square one. BUT. We know God can heal my heart and increase my heart function unbeknownst to us, like He did when I needed a certain ejection fraction to have a BMT. A year ago, we were thinking I’d possibly need a double transplant – heart and bone marrow, and have to move to a different state to have this done. Can you even imagine? I can’t. This was purely protection from God. God healed it just enough for that moment, to hopefully be cured once and for all from my AML. Even though it was disheartening to hear that my heart is back to where it was, we know He can do it again! And again, look at what he protected us from!

Extra beats continue to burst from my heart, so I will hopefully have another heart ablation this fall. Two years ago I was put under for my 4th, but never had it performed because that’s when my leukemia was found. I’ve made it this far without needing one, so we are not surprised and we are ready.

It goes without saying that we would like a little breather from medical issues, especially since I’m still in the crucial months after a BMT, but like I said earlier, God continues to sustain! I am 7 months post BMT, with no graft versus host disease in sight, with minimal side effects (just get tired more easily), and a heart that is still trying to figure itself out. Even so, God gives me the daily grace I need to live life with energy and excitement, to see what He has in store for us next!

I am not able to go back to school QUITE yet as a paraprofessional, but we know this too, is in God’s hands. We are hoping maybe late 1st semester or 2nd semester, but it’ll depend on the needs at the school and what God’s thinking. He hasn’t made that clear quite yet. I try not to think about it too much, but I also grieve not being able to be there. Though again, God’s got this CRAZY plan and each day ya never know what he’s going to bring!

And isn’t that true for all of us? We never know what the next day will bring. That can feel uneasy, scary, and worrisome, but we serve the One who is in control of it all! How relieving is that? We may get a new diagnosis, a child might struggle in a new way, schedules may seem out of control, but guess what? Someone already is holding it all, has it all figured out, and knows what’s best. And we get the privilege of just humbly walking with God, letting him lead us on this journey.

Don’t look to the right or to the left. In doing so, only brings uncertainty and comparison. Keep looking forward and God will write this insane story for your life, that you couldn’t dare dream of, but that is for your good and for His glory.

P.S. In the picture above, is a beautiful ribbon tied around my neck, holding my holter monitor reader, with 10 leads attached to my body. My body breaks out severely every time I wear this device, but it’s completed and hopefully will give my surgeon the information needed to complete the ablation! Thank you for your continued prayers! We love you ALL!