Concern is Growing

Isaiah 6:8
"Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?' And I said, 'Here am I. Send me!'"

Tammy went back to the hematologist today as he saw some elevated numbers he couldn't explain from a blood test 9 days ago. Today, the numbers were most of the way back down, so he was not planning on changing his approach to treatment.

The "blast" cells (the cells that become white or red cells, or platelets) showed up in her blood, which is not a good thing. Blast cells are supposed to reside in the bone marrow until they transform into regular cells. The fact that they're in the blood can mean that the leukemia is progressing.

If the numbers go back up, the doctor would reconsider being more aggressive with treatment. We will continue to go for weekly blood tests, and he will monitor things closely. Tammy is still tired, which is her only consistent symptom. We are progressing in the bone-marrow search, so please pray that a match can be found soon.

If you are in the Kansas City area, we invite you to join us at the bone-marrow drive at our church (Cedar Ridge Christian Church, 8835 Lackman, Lenexa, KS) this Saturday from 10-2. Our good friend Gerianne--Tammy's wingman--has done a great job of organizing it, and we are expecting a big crowd. The local media is even getting involved. One major radio station will be talking about it later in the week, and the local Fox affiliate will be sending their medical reporter to our house tomorrow to interview Tammy. She even encouraged Tammy to talk about her missions experience.

Tammy is looking at this as an invitation to share her faith on the local news as she talks about how God has used her through missions and now through this journey. It's another answer to prayer--to "be used in a mighty way." We'll put up another post tomorrow night regarding what night the segment will air. For those of you outside of KC, we'll find out if they will put the story on their web site.

Please continue to pray. God has blessed us with grace to accept each piece of news we have received. It's been tough, but He has been faithful to support us every step. We thank you for the many prayers that are being uplifted.