My mind has been so consumed by Rodney's diagnosis of leukemia. After being admitted to the hospital on August 26, the news we received each week was always worse that we ever imagined it to be. He didn't just have acute leukemia...it was AML and the worst subtype. He didn't just have AML...he also has MDS. He didn't just have an infection...it was the worst kind of fungal infection. Where was God in all of this? It felt like he just wasn't hearing the prayers of so many of his people. How could his decline be happening so rapidly? His little girls and his wife really need him. There were certainly more questions than answers. And for about 7 solid weeks, we received not even a stitch of good news. I felt so deflated myself and couldn't even begin to fathom the sheer fear that my sister, Rodney and their girls were dealing with.
One morning Nathan had come home from work. We were debating about whether to make another trip to SD because our kids were sick when we received another painful phone call. Rodney had pnemonia and the doctors were giving him 1 to 7 days to live. I went into a panic. We needed to be home...fast. 2 hours later, the van was packed and we were on our way out. It didn't matter that Dorian had just come down with pink eye and Levi had a bad cold. The next morning Nathan was able to visit with Rodney in person, which he hadn't been able to do since his diagnosis. I was having a hard time accepting that he wasn't going to pull through this. I couldn't believe that God was really going to take him so soon. He didn't have enough time with his family. I wanted to believe that God was going to perform a miracle. It was my way of dealing with all of it.
After we'd been there for a few days, he was remaining stable. The nurse who first checked his lungs said a few days later that it actually sounded like his lungs were clearing up. She was amazed. Kerry had a very restless night pleading God for Rodney's white count to go up. And that next day we were cautiously optomistic because his count went from .1 to .2! Not enough in the grand scheme of things...however, this kept happening! Everyone was becoming more hopeful. Then he had a bone marrow biopsy and the results were astonishing! His blast cells were down to 7% and last they checked, were still around 50-55%. A miracle! His white blood cell count continued to come up and is now within the normal range! Doctors and nurses are continually amazed that when his body was so weak, that he made a complete turn around. Lord, we can't thank you enough for this miracle. We want to see him return home to his wife and children. We want him to be at our family gatherings. We love him. He is home from the hospital this weekend and we are praying that his counts remain good so eventually they can do the bone marrow transplant that he needs yet. Oh Lord, please help us all to trust in your timing and your provision for all of our lives.
