Saturday,

Here we are a week and a half has gone by and no news on my progress. Remember, no news is usually good news! I have been reading the New Testament since I’ve come down for the BMT here in Detroit and I tear up at Paul’s words from various verses in Romans Chapter 1: “ I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you.” “I remember you in my prayers…I pray that now at last by God’s will, the way may open for me to come to you. I long to see you!”

I miss all of you so much and can’t wait to be back home for the rest of my recovery. Thank you for your continued support through prayer, meals , visits and helping the grandparents get our kids where they need to go each week. We couldn’t have done this without you.

My week consists of Monday and Thursday appointments in Karmanos. Those usually are three hours on a good day followed by another hour dealing with and waiting on the pharmacy for new meds or refills. We come home, eat lunch and then go for a walk. Steve has worked so hard to find some wonderful outdoor parks for me to walk in. Each one has its own delights and even wearing a protective medical mask, it’s a breath of fresh air to be outside. Yes, you heard me right; I am walking pain free once again. Praise the Lord.

Every Wednesday we have lunch with our new friends from Karmanos BMT floor. One patient lives in Milford and got to go home because he was within the one hour radius. Steve, I and another BMT patient have to stay in apartments because we’re over an hour from our homes. It gives us a chance to get out of our apartments for a couple of hours. We encourage each other, compare our past treatments and really enjoy getting to know each other’s families.

We were blessed this past week to see Bible study friends, my Mom and the girls came for a few days. We even got to go to a movie with only 8 people in the theatre, which is important, as I need to avoid heavily populated public places. I have to wear the protective mask everywhere I go. My new immune system is like a 44 day only baby. Any germs/virus I pick up will put me right back in the hospital. I have a mild case of graph vs. host disease on my face and neck in the form of a rash. A skin biopsy confirmed that it is GVHD. It itches quite a bit so the doctors have given me some steroid cream and put me on 24 mgs of oral steroid pills a day. When I am on steroids, my new immune system is weakened even further, so I am more susceptible to picking up viruses.

On a positive note, we received some wonderful news at my last doctor’s appointment. If my graph/host rash continues to improve and no other symptoms appear, Steve and I will be able to go home for Thanksgiving! The doctor even said we could spend the night and come back on Friday! Boy do we have a lot to be thankful for. We will have grandparents, my sister and her two kids from Colorado with us. I will have to wear a mask, but it’s worth it!

The doctor said if everything stays as mild as it is, in a couple weeks she would reduce my appointments to once a week and talk about sending me home. So pray with us that this might be the case. I could be home the 2nd week in December! I realize that God’s in control and His timing is always perfect, but Lansing certainly sounds good right now.

So now that you’re all up to date, I will share some pray requests for the week:

-That my current health status doesn’t become worse which would prohibit me from going home for Thanksgiving.

-That my graph/host would stay mild and no new outbreaks would appear over the next 60 days.

-That my spirits would stay positive as I trust God and His timing for everything. One day at a time.

-That my itching on my neck and face would improve drastically. It gets worse at night and it is very hard for me to sleep even with some medication that is supposed to mask it.

-That our kids will be patient with each other, encouraging each other’s gifts, and demonstrating gentleness during this leg of our journey as we are absent from our home.

This Thanksgiving let’s all count our blessings and thank the Lord for His continued faithfulness in every circumstance.

Blessings to you all,

Bonnie