God of All my Days

First snowfall!!  ☃️ What a year!  Today is my 1 year anniversary (or “cancerversary”) of when my world was flipped upside down... when a visit to the ER for shoulder pain ended up revealing a sky-high white blood cell count indicating I had leukemia. There began a journey that included many hardships as well as countless life lessons that have impacted my life.  One of the hardest things to reconcile throughout this past year was why all this suffering happened when God could have prevented it. I firmly believe that God is in control of all things. Not a beat of my heart nor a change in blood count happens without His knowing. Yet I’ve often wondered why my heart stopped beating 7 years ago and why my white blood cell count was so high a year ago which could have led to imminent death if it had gone undetected much longer. But this is cause of my limited view and understanding of God’s sovereignty and love. It’s not like He lost control when those things occurred. In fac...

Ryan Please lift up Ryan and his family as they recently got gut-wrenching news that his leukemia is back. He was 8 months post-transplant. Thankfully there is a solid plan in place which will include Car-T therapy, a 2-week treatment that will take place at CHOP.    And if a 2nd stem cell transplant is needed, Ryan is in good hands as he had 15 donor matches in the national registry! In the mean time, he is going to to re-start chemo locally.  Maria Please keep Maria in prayer as she started chemo this week, for strength, faith, and hope in this journey. She recently received encouraging news that her sister does not have the chromosomal mutation that she has, which means that they can proceed with her as donor for transplant in the near future! Hallelujah!!  🙏🤗 Tabby Despite struggling with fevers, bloody noses, and mouth/throat sores, Tabby has been a trooper, recently having completed the last chemo of her final cycle of frontline treatment. She’ll start her ma...

Along with my leukemia, I was diagnosed a year ago with a chromosomal mutation called the Philadelphia Chromosome (cause it was discovered in Philly!) This mutation was one of the main reasons I needed to get a transplant. Back in the day, being found to be Philadelphia Chromosome positive was bad news with a poor prognosis. But thankfully due to the discovery of a targeted chemotherapy (which I’ll actually continue to take for the next five or so years) on top of my transplant, we’re able to keep this at bay.  My most recent genetic test from my bone marrow biopsy showed that the Philadelphia Chromosome was undetectable. Hallelujah!!  🤗   We’re very thankful that I haven’t gotten sick with any viruses or infections this past year esp. as I’ve been immunocompromised. Recently though, blood tests revealed that a latent virus that I had (prior to cancer) was reactivated in my body, which is apparently common post-transplant due to being immunocompromised. Thankfully, it’s ...