God of All my Days

After a valiant fight with cancer, Mrs. Oh passed away last night into glory and is now with her Lord whom she worshipped and praised til her final breath. She had decided to go on hospice a month ago as her cancer was just too aggressive and her body was not responding to treatments. Mrs. Oh is now resting in the arms of her loving Savior with no more pain or suffering. Please pray for her dear family (esp. Mr. Oh, Justin, and Jenny) during this difficult time as they mourn the loss of their beloved mom, wife, and grandmom. Mrs. Oh was quite a woman of faith who was a blessing to many patients as a nurse, to the local Korean community as she often served as the “go to translator”, and to her dear family whom she loved so much and was so loved by. On a personal note, she gave me such practical advice from her vast journal of experiences including tips on how to tackle nausea and other side-effects, but more importantly how to fight cancer while trusting that God is sovereign a...

Many of you’ve been praying for these dear warriors. Thank you for standing alongside them in their respective battles.  Tabitha Tabby has been struggling with nausea and fatigue from recent increased intensity of chemo treatments. She’s been a trooper through it all!  💪 Ryan Ryan recently had his repeat bone marrow biopsy last week. Please pray that it is completely free from leukemia and that the donor's blood has completely taken over Ryan's blood and stem cells. He also could use prayers for the continued regeneration of his nerves in his ankles and feet which were affected from prior chemotherapy complications early on in his treatment. Lastly, please pray for Ryan’s appetite and sleep as he’s been dealing with insomnia due to weaning off some medicine.  Ron Ron has been gaining strength these past few weeks but is still waiting for his blood levels to arise. He also still has issues with his right foot drop and left hand weakness. Ron has a ...

Here’s a pic with Dr. Paralkar who took care of me this past December when I had first come to HUP. I hadn’t seen him since then so seeing and catching up with him the other day was so special. Dr. Paralkar’s bedside manner is impeccable and I’ll never forget the competent and compassionate care he provided during a time when my world had been flipped upside down.  😌   This is my beautiful view of Penn campus.    It’s the same view I had back during my admission in December when I first came here. Though I love it and enjoy the bright sunshine pouring into my hospital room everyday, I so want to go home. We have a mental countdown til that day in our minds but take it day by day knowing that every admission duration is different. We also keep a close eye on my blood levels.  My levels including my ANC (neutrophil count) recently hit rock bottom and is officially at “0” meaning I essentially have no immune system right now. It also means t...

Not very “gown-friendly”  🙅🏻 This IV pole has often been the bane of my existence while in the hospital. I’ve never used that term before but needed to stretch my vocabulary that much to find something that expresses my dread of it. For it’s often felt like a literal ball and chain stuck to my side, as I drag it along wherever I go. And it lets me know (painfully) when I forget it’s there like in the middle of the night when having to rush to the bathroom... OUCH! And, it reminds me of my weakness, my disability, and ultimately my cancer.  One day I was cold so I reached for a hoodie but I forgot about my IV pole. Btw, that’s why all my pictures in the hospital usually are with a T-shirt on! This IV pole is a pain but just like many other things I’ve gotten used to in this battle, it’s a necessary evil as it holds the bags of medicine and fluids that my body needs to fight. So maybe a better more helpful perspective might be to see it as my  body armor ... he...

Check out this video of my actual stem cell infusion... amazing!!  😌 Done! Grateful to God, Bo, and all of our faithful supporters who prayed for this!  🙏

1 Thessalonians‬ ‭5:16-18 reads: Rejoice always,  pray without ceasing , give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. ‭‭‬ ‭ A strange thing I find myself doing these days is literally talking to God (not in a usual prayer sense) but randomly when something happens, I’m walking around in my room, in the bathroom, eating (or not being able to!). Kind of like a good old friend. Maybe cause I’m in isolation, but it’s been nice and getting me through these tough days! In fact, I think my dad used to do that often and I’d ask him as a kid who he was talking to!  😌 Interestingly, the first song I listened to this morning was “Goodness of God” and the lyrics wrecked me: I love Your voice You have led me through the fire And in darkest night You are close like no other I've known You as a Father I've known You as a Friend And I have lived in the goodness of God, yeah With all the uncertainties surrounding Covid a...

Happy Re-birthday!  🎈🥳 My transplant last Friday marked a special day in my life which we’ll always celebrate. As many of you know, I suffered a massive heart attack almost 7 years ago, but thankfully by God’s grace, I was given a second chance. I was able to see my kids grow up and be with them through their childhood years. Anyway, I hope this one is the last Re-birthday I ever have! Along with my spiritual birthday, that makes four all together and that’s enough for me!!  😅 Words cannot express my heartfelt gratitude to Bo for what He’s done to help give me another chance at life. Lord-willing, I hope to see my kids grow up through their teen years and adulthood!  Here’s a pic of Bo and me when we were little. He was always like a younger brother to me, and though we’ve gotten older and distance has prevented us from seeing each other more often than we’d like, he’s always been and always will be on my heart.  “Worst day” 🤒 ...

As this first week comes to a close, it’s been a blur filled with mostly fatigue and nausea, side-effects of the chemo and other meds. Most of the past few days have been filled with sleep as I’ve been glued to my bed, struggling to get up only to try to eat, use the bathroom, or do some exercise.  I finished my chemo conditioning today and will be receiving my total body radiation tomorrow in preparation for transplant on Friday!   My cousin Bo’s stem cell collection went smoothly in Chicago and they transported it to Philly! Can’t thank Bo enough for his sacrificial giving of himself to afford me this life-saving transplant.  😌 Thank you for your prayers and esp. the many of you who prayed for me this past Saturday as I began my chemo conditioning this week.    It was a rainy day coming to HUP... the rain was fitting and symbolic as many tears were shed as we reflected on all God has brought us through to this point as well as s...

Many of you often ask how our children are doing and processing everything. I was encouraged by a recent conversation with my daughter Joy as we reflected on the past several months, and I asked her if she’d be willing to share some of her thoughts on my blog: I think that this time has really given our family a new sense of perspective in just the meaning and beauty in living every day. As you all probably know, my dad was scheduled to have his bone marrow transplant in March around the time that this crazy quarantine situation began. Looking back on that, we have come to realize how incredibly unprepared we were for the challenges of the transplant and recovery. The three of us kids were in the thick of the school year living insanely busy lives. With all the music lessons, hours of work, and sports practices each week, we all kind of just passed by one another although we lived in the same household. At that point, I don’t think we could say that any of us were really clo...

It’s been a busy past few weeks getting ready for my transplant with various tests and labs as well as meeting with my transplant doc and radiation oncologist.  We were very thankful to hear that my recent bone marrow biopsy showed that my leukemia is still in remission!  🤗   Bo has been getting neupogen injections this week to boost his cell count in preparation for collection of stem cells on Thursday.  The plan is still to be admitted this Friday for a week of conditioning chemo and radiation in preparation for transplant on 7/17. Can’t believe this is actually happening at last! As we look forward to transplant, our anticipation is tempered with fear. We covet your continued prayers as we know it’s going to be a fight. So appreciate you standing with us on the frontlines as we prepare for this next phase of battle.  🙏 Here are a few verses that I’m holding onto as I prepare for transplant: The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not wan...