Personal Stuff
Miracles and Medicine: an update
As I write this update on Beth, we are still overwhelmed and blessed by your prayers, encouragement, and support. Thank you!
We strongly believe in God’s power to heal — by miracle and by medicine. And while we are desperately and persistently praying for the former, we have to prepare for the latter. We know God gives the victory; how He does so is up to Him (Proverbs 21:31). The uncertainty and waiting are tough and often God gives only enough grace for one day — today. So here is we are as of today:
- Physically Beth’s white blood counts (infection fighting) and platelet counts (clotting; healing) are low. Both counts have dropped even further this week (this is our most immediate concern). She has to eat a low microbial diet and take other precautions (like lots of hand washing, house cleaning, etc.) to guard against infection.
- Pray for her counts to stabilize and increase as well as her to be protected from infection.
- While we know that Beth has MDS, we do not know how quickly it is progressing. The nature of FA makes this whole thing more complicated. We have another bone marrow biopsy next week and the doctors are acting like it is progressing quickly.
- Pray for this biopsy to be pain-free for Beth.
- Pray for this biopsy to show RADICAL and COMPLETE healing, only explained by the Hand of God!!
- She has been matched with 3-4 would-be donors who are all “10 out of 10″ matches — GREAT NEWS!! Now one of these individuals must agree to additional testing and then the actual transplant. If this goes as planned, the transplant process could begin in 3-4 weeks … more potential great news!!
- Pray for the matched donors to say “Yes!” and for the transplant to occur as soon as possible.
- Thank God for those who are willing to be bone marrow donors! Their decision really is a “LIFE GIVING” one!
- Our doctor, Dr. Boulad of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in NYC, continues to be an answer to prayer. His compassion, expertise, and “hands on” approach to medicine gives us a lot of confidence and comfort.
- Pray for Dr. Boulad and for God to continue to use him daily and if necessary to eventually heal Beth through the miracle of bone marrow transplant!
Update from NYC
First of all we want to thank you so much for your prayers, love, and support. They have lifted us up and increased our confidence in our awesome God.
Today we met with Dr. Boulad, a pediatric oncologist who also specializes in adults with Fanconi Anemia. He confirmed Beth’s diagnosis of MDS. He outlined our treatment plan:
- We fly home tomorrow
- Because of the risk of infection (Beth’s white count is very low), she must remain at home and relatively isolated.
- Beth has another bone marrow biopsy in 2-3 weeks to determine the rate of MDS progression.
- We are moving to have a bone marrow transplant in 6-8 weeks.
- The donor search starts now.
- Once Beth is matched with a donor, the transplant process will begin.
- This process will require Beth to be in the hospital here in NYC for 2 months and remain in the New York area for 4-6 additional months to be closely monitored.
Prayer Requests:
- For God to be glorified in ALL of this!!
- For miraculous healing!! That the biopsy in 2 weeks comes back NORMAL!!!
- For Beth to stay free from infections.
- For Edwin who is an FA patient who started the transplant process today … pray for his healing.
- For John, another FA patient fighting mouth & throat cancer … for healing & recovery.
- We were blessed to meet both John & Edwin today and pray with them and their families.
- For the donor match process to go quickly and smoothly.
- We can only be matched with someone already on the registry.
- Many people have asked about being a bone marrow donor for Beth. While this is not possible, you can still become a donor and help save someone else’s life. Go to BetheMatch.org to find out more information.
- For our families.
Prayers Mean So Much!!
The emails, texts, Facebook messages, etc. etc. MEAN SO MUCH!! YOUR PRAYERS MEAN SO MUCH. THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF OUR HEARTS!!! We wanted to share one such email/prayer from a friend –
Just saw your blog; wow, the warfare is on………….a pastor’s wife at a church here in {xxxx} has cancer in her jaw and involves radical amputation. Interestingly enough, my daughter found my wife unconscious in the bathroom early one morning, this week, and gave us a scare. Pastor of a church plant that is 5 years old, out in the country in {xxxx} County has a brain tumor and progressively going down fast.
Here’s a word for you guys that is in my heart this morning: My heart is bothered by this news about Beth, but not burdened. This trial is to take you guys higher, holier, and more healthy that you already are. It will cause so many who love you both, to drop down to their knees, weep, groan to God, and for the first time, experience a fellowship with our King.
Be encouraged…………..It will be fine! You win! … God is getting ready to take Rock Bridge and your lives to the next level. I know it’s health here, but it’s also warfare. You can’t progress and attack hell without resistance………..you are getting it. Praise can be the greatest weapon in this battle. It works!
“Lord Jesus, we bind and attack fear and anxiety right now in Matt and Beth. We give you our minds because it all begins right here. According to the psalmist, ‘you have answered us.’ Do it again. Give us the desires of our heart, but you are also sovereign and we give you our voiced liberty to do what you will. Father, Matt and those boys need Beth……your local body needs Beth. If you’ve ever worked mightily on our behalf, do it now. Do it now……….we pray for wisdom, for favor, for mercy, save some grace for us, and we plead the blood of Jesus Christ over Beth for the miraculous. I pray explosion that is unexplainable happen in worship tomorrow for Rock Bridge. We give you glory! Father, for the answer, we ask all of this in Jesus’ name.” -Amen
What We Are Facing
Several weeks ago Beth’s blood counts (white cells and platelets) started dropping. This trend continued and prompted our doctors to order a bone marrow aspiration and biopsy this week.
Today we received the news we did not want to hear: Beth’s bone marrow is in a state medically known as “MDS” or preleukemia. Obviously, this is very serious and we are now facing a major battle.
Our next step is to travel to New York City where we already have a relationship with an amazing doctor to begin the steps for Beth to receive a bone marrow transplant.
At this point there are no guarantees or certainties, except that this is very tough, hard to accept, and hard to understand … but God is our hope and strength … and we are committing this for His glory.
Until we know more details, all we can ask you to do is to pray.
The Rundown (4.20.2010)
Been a long time since we did a “Rundown” blog post … but let me just say it is GREAT TO BACK in AMERICA and at ROCK BRIDGE!!! I can’t wait to preach again this week!!
Being a parent is awesome, challenging, exciting, and a sacred stewardship from God!
“I will praise the Lord no matter what happens. I will constantly speak of His glories and grace.” {Psalm 34:1}
Ethiopia Update #4: HOME!
We’ve been home for a few days now and things are good … very good. Hearing our toddler say “Dad-dy” & “Mom-my” with his little accent is awesome! The kiddos seem to be adjusting well to their new home. We’ve got some medical appointments over the next week dealing with everything from teeth to nutrition.
The trip home was exhausting: 24 hours on planes and in airports with a 3-year old and infant … not the greatest experience but one we’ll definitely remember. Neither of us slept much at all. We are still playing catch-up while trying to keep up with our boys
Some random stuff:
- We are very grateful for America.
- The Ethiopian people are amazing: humble, kind, & affectionate.
- Ethiopian coffee = very, very strong.
- Jet lag stinks.
- Parenting is awesome.
- It is amazing how much Eyasu (toddler) is understanding us.
- We cannot begin to thank everyone for all the kindness, support, gifts, and prayers!!
- I am more convinced than ever of the sovereignty of God. His hand at times was hard to see but in hindsight His presence and plan were woven throughout the entire adoption process and our journey to Ethiopia.
Ethiopia Update #3
We have had full custody of the boys since Saturday afternoon. It has been exciting to see them start to bond with us and start acting like “typical” children–laughing, playing, crying, feeling “safe” with mom & dad, and yes, testing their boundaries.
We are tired and ready to be back in America … so thankful for the USA!! Today we took a trip to the American Embassy (awesome!) to get the boys’ visas. All went well except the web server to D.C. is down … so no visas unless it comes back up. We need those visas in order to fly out tomorrow night — praying the server to be restored!!
Thanks for the prayers and support. We’ll probably lay low for several days when we return … overcoming jet lag, establishing a routine, getting rested and rejuvenated are the immediate goals. We heard Easter services went well … so thankful for our amazing staff and volunteers that make Rock Bridge happen through the Holy Spirit week in and week out. God bless!
P.S.–On a personal note, seeing Beth as a mother makes me love and respect her even more!! She is amazing with the boys!!
Ethiopia Update #2
We traveled to Awassa, a town 250 km to the South of Addis Ababa. The orphanage where our boys were first cared for is located there. The trip was a 5 hour drive through various towns and rural areas of the country. We were never bored because of what we saw: beautiful country but devastating poverty … very hard to process.
The boys’ orphanage is run by Christians of great faith. We were welcomed with a traditional coffee ceremony and the director prayed for us and the children. We were thanked numerous times as we toured the simple yet clean facility. We were able to see Abreham’s crib and Eyasu’s bed (he slept on a top bunk) and meet the nannies who cared for them.
Then we met their father … a moment that we will always cherish … God’s hand was there in a way that we still cannot fathom … all we know is that it was nothing short of a miracle.
We arrived back in Addis Ababa today and tonight we are going to a traditional Ethiopian dance performance.
We also learned that we will take full custody of our boys tomorrow– GREAT news on Good Friday. The first morning we will wake up with our boys will be Easter Sunday … this celebration will be extra special.
A few prayer requests:
- Taking full custody of the boys tomorrow.
- We are very tired … between jet lag, traveling the past 2 days, hard beds, and all of the emotions we are experiencing … we need a good night’s rest!
- For Eyasu & Abreham as they enter our family.
- For Easter services at RBCC … we are praying from the other side of the world!
Legally Parents!!!
Our adoption agency just called … our court case was heard on Tuesday and we passed!!!!!!!!!!!!
We are now the legal parents of Eyasu-3 years, (uh-ya-sue) and Abreham-5 months!!!!!
