Monday, December 7, 2009

An Update for Today: December 7, 2009

Thank you for your continued prayers. I am still awaiting the sinus culture results obtained nearly a month ago. Ugh! Fungal cultures take so long to grow out, be identified, and determine which drug is the most effective. I have had a cough and something lurking in my lungs for a couple of weeks now. It has not sounded like pneumonia to my doctor, so we continue to keep a close eye (and ear) on it.

I continue to battle the neutropenia (low neutrophils that fight infection). We are spacing the Neupogen injections to every 3-4 days, trying to get the most "bang for the buck"! Each injection costs over $400. We calculated the other day that our prescription card, through our insurance company, is paying for over $15,000 worth of medications per month for me (not counting our co-pays that we pay). I imagine I am on the insurance company's "we hope this patient dies before she bankrupts us" list.

Pain continues to be a troubling concern. I am battling pain on multiple fronts and without any narcotics pain medications (yet). Only by God's grace and strength can I endure it. There are days when I have to repeat over and over, "God help me. God help me." I know He hears this one-lined prayer breathed by His suffering child. And He does keep me going, somehow, someway.

Most concerning prayer requests that I currently have are: (1) tonight a red lump has arisen on my left eyelid and that is a new problem (infection?); (2) my hemoglobin was down in the 9 range on my last lab report. This makes breathing difficult and causes one to be extremely fatigued since hemoglobin carries the oxygen to the different organs and tissues of the body; (3) my platelets have dropped below the 100 level, so that promptly kicks me back to Stage IV leukemia.

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