A Reason for Thanksgiving (Belated post from February 12)

 

Dear friends, thanks for your love and support. This is a belated post I had intended to share on February 12, 2021, with good news and thanksgiving: 

17 I will not die but live,

    and will proclaim what the Lord has done.
18 The Lord has chastened me severely,
    but he has not given me over to death.
…

21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me;
    you have become my salvation.

(Psalm 118:17-18, 21)

 

God has shown mercy.  I want to thank all of you who have been praying. God is answering prayer. God has spared my life; the tumor has not changed or grown since January. We can continue praying and asking God to make the healing purchased through the sacrifice of Jesus (“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed” Isaiah 53:10) manifest in my body by healing me of the pancreatic cancer.

 

God has spared my life many times in this adventure. Having the stent placement was an instrument of sparing my life (ensuring that I can eat). Having a biliary drain placed saved me from rupture of the distended gall bladder. When I came down with sepsis and my blood pressure was dropping, God miraculously spared my life and healed me of sepsis. Even with the recent thrombosis in the left renal vein of last week, God prevented the clot from causing a stroke, heart attack, or other severe harm.

 

I saw the oncologist today. He also noted that tumor appeared to be stable over the last month. Thus, he recommended two options: a) keep the tumor under observation and check again in a month; b) begin with a lower-dose chemotherapy, see how I do, and increase the dose as I tolerate it.  

 

I asked about cancer stem cells and if chemo just shrinks the cancer or can get rid of it completely. I also shared that in my reading, I had come across a concept of cancer stem cells that are somehow different from the peripheral cells of a tumor, and from my reading, that the chemotherapy was more effective against the peripheral cells but not as effective against stem cells, and that under chemo treatment, stem cells were known to mutate into new varieties and were more likely to spread. The oncologist confirmed that understanding of the risk of chemo. Basically, chemo can shrink the tumor, but the stem cells would need to be removed surgically. He said that with nonresectable pancreatic cancer, the chances of chemo shrinking the tumor enough to make it resectable (surgically removable) is very small.

 

I said if the first option was available, that would be my preference. So that is the plan for now, we will wait and monitor it, trusting God for a full healing.   

 

So, thank you, all of you who have been supporting me and my family in so many ways. I am grateful to you. I am grateful to God for his gift of life today and trust him for all the days to come.

 

1 Praise the Lord, my soul;
    all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2 Praise the Lord, my soul,
    and forget not all his benefits—
3 who forgives all your sins
    and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit
    and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things
    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

(Psalm 103:1-5)

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