May 3, 2010

This is an update to all our wonderful friends and family. We were reminded two weeks ago Wednesday, as I had an unexpected stay at Sparrow Hospital, that we hadn’t updated our blog in quite awhile. Our wonderful nursing staff took great care of me again and we got caught up on the latest happenings in their lives in the last 8 months. Lisa got a promotion, Brenda can still see in the dark and Carly’s smile is still contagious! I think we got to see everyone. Steve and I were glad to be sent home on Friday after a chest x-ray, sinus CT scan and a few IV bags of Vancomycin and some other strong antibiotic. For all of you who didn’t know, but were still faithfully praying for me, I have been fighting an ongoing cough/sinus cold for 8 weeks. I feel fine, just a little tired since my Bone Marrow Transplant team has reduced my steroids which gave me energy to burn. I was on an antibiotic for 6 days when Wednesday, April 21st, I spiked a fever of 101.6. We are suppose to go to Karmanos for a full battery of tests whenever it goes above 100.5, so we had to decide if we should make the trip to Detroit or get them done locally. After about an hour of prayer and Steve’s call for an available bed we headed back to 5 West at Sparrow. The girls there were already for me and vitals were taken right away and guess what, no fever! They drew blood, took blood cultures to see if anything would grow, did a chest x-ray, and a CT scan on my sinuses. By Thursday afternoon all the results came back negative. Steve laughed and proceeded to compare me to taking his car in to the mechanic when you hear a squeak and the mechanic call and tells you he has driven it several times and can’t seem to find a problem. We don’t know why, but God does, and it was nice to walk in and see everyone on 5 West, but home was so sweet!

I am down to having appointments every 3 weeks at Karmanos and they continue to reduce my immune-suppressant drugs as my body starts to become friends with my new bone marrow. These suppressants are what keep me out of crowds and public places without a mask on. It’s not the places that give me the colds, it’s what my family brings home. They have a cold for 3 or 4 days and I keep them 2 weeks, with this current one at 8 weeks. Continue to pray for the health of my family and that my liver enzymes will continue to stay normal. When the enzymes go up, they will increase my medications to settle down the Graft-Host Disease, which results in a longer recovery and no crowds. Either way we know that we are getting the best care, as God is in charge of both Steve and my health.

Update on Steve. He has had two PET scans and one CT scan since his last radiation treatment at the end of September. Things continue to stay in remission and no signs of any tumor growth on his sacrum. We are so blessed and are ready to for an uninterrupted celebration May 12th, Callie’s 15th birthday. That will be 1 year ago that I was admitted to the hospital and missed the end of her day. We are looking forward to a strong and healthy summer with family that we have missed dearly - Fourth of July at Lake Charlevoix and a Gray Family reunion in Gaylord.

Our family continues to look for a “new” normal as we daily look to God for wisdom and guidance. One thing is for certain; our faith is so much deeper and our trust in His sovereign will is so much stronger than a year ago. It doesn’t mean that we don’t have daily trials, or tough decisions continually looming at our door, because we do. Both Steve and I get discouraged with our limitations and how everything has changed. But we hold fast to scripture like Romans 8:28, “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to his purpose.” With that in the forefront of our minds, our family responds differently to those daily decisions.

One last thing. We’re so thankful for Steve’s cousin Susan who ran the Flying Pig half marathon this past Sunday for the Lymphoma & Leukemia Society’s Team in Training. She and her daughter Jenny ran in the rain early Sunday morning in Cincinnati in our honor and we have attached a picture of them in this blog post.









Once again, thank you for all of your support through prayer and words of encouragement.

Love Bonnie (and Steve too!)

Hello to all our friends and loved ones,

Here is a long overdue update on how I’m doing. I go to Karmanos every other week. They draw blood and if everything looks good, they decrease my medications by 2 pills. 6 weeks ago, my liver enzymes went up so they increased my steroids to 8 pills per day. I now am down to 2 each morning and hoping on my next visit, March 19th, they will take me totally off them. That would be the first time since my transplant on Oct. 9th that I haven’t been on steroids. It just goes to show that Graft vs Host Disease (GVHD) is continually a challenge. After 100 days they call it chronic GVHD that comes on very slowly and it usually likes to attack your organs like your liver, intestinal tract and kidneys. Sounds pretty scary, but the good news is my GVHD has reared its ugly head twice affecting my liver and responded very well with the steroids. Hopefully my next visit, if everything is still stable, I will begin once a month trips to Detroit. Yea! The downfall to that is my meds are only reduced at my appointments and since I am on 42 pills a day, it will be years before I am weaned off them all. We’re hopeful to start an every other week blood draw here in Lansing and have the doctor adjust my medications over the phone. Until they can reduce my anti-rejection/immune suppressant, (I take 26 of those a day) I still have to avoid groups of people, anyone who has a cold, and wear a mask out in public.

That’s kind of an update for the past 8 weeks. I’m great, but get a little tired in the evenings. I’m fighting a little head cold but as long as it doesn’t come with a cough or a fever, I’ll be fine. I walk 4 miles, 3 days a week and with the weather in the 50’s the last couple days, I’m hoping to walk outside in the evenings. My skin color is still a little brown and blotchy; I eat almost everything except Caesar salads or things containing raw egg. Bacteria can be very dangerous.

I was blessed to have my Hickman catheter removed 2 weeks ago which was used for Magnesium supplements due to it being depleted by one of the immune suppressant meds. After waiting 7 days for the skin to heal, I was able to put my whole body under the shower for the 1st time since Oct. 2nd. Life is good!

On to more praises, I have hair!! I’m sporting about 1 ½” of brown on the top. You can’t see any on the sides but it’s there – all gray! I still wear baseball hats instead of my wig, even to church. The bright colored hats look a little better with the mask on my face. When I wear my wig people think I have some contagious disease. I was even asked in Meijer if I had H1N1. My finger nails have all fallen off and new ones are ¾ the way there. They look as short as Steve’s. They might be long enough to polish for Easter – I’ll pick a color that matches my cool lipstick that one of Steve’s cousins gave me.

I’m doing most of the laundry, all the meals and most of the shopping again. The kids still clean and vacuum since the chemicals and dust could be a problem with my lungs. Every food tastes normal, well almost. I have always loved tomatoes in any form and I can’t even stand the smell of spaghetti sauce - Go figure!

I’m so thankful that I can drive again. As I was sitting in the van, with the window down I was reflecting on how blessed our family is to have such wonderful support and amazing pray warriors who got us through 2009. I can’t tell you how emotional I get thinking of each of you and those I don’t even know, who have made meals, sent cards, verses, taken our children to all their activities, brought gifts and faithfully lifting us to the Lord. I know how long those prayer lists get and how little time some of you have each morning. This ordeal has changed us forever. I know my odds of surviving the leukemia weren’t very good and I was so sick sometimes, it would have been easier to give up. Steve would update the blog and the body of Christ would begin to pray and obviously God wasn’t finished with me yet. Thank you.

We have been asked by so many, “Have you ever wondered why both of you got cancer within 3 weeks of each other?” I was definitely too sick to answer that question clearly, but would love to share some of my thoughts with you now. I know Steve has so eloquently put it in so many of his blog updates that we believe God has the power to heal. Either by a miracle or by the gifts he has given man through medicine. We pray for complete healing of our cancers through either means and we will give him all the glory. We are also aware that healing is not God’s plan for everyone. I know many who have been spared and many whom the Lord has called home. Either way, God had His plan and purpose in each situation, some of these we may never understand this side of eternity. Isaiah 55: 8-9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” This tells us that even when we think we know best, God sees far beyond my trial. God saw those molecular developments in our bodies changing into cancer and he could have stopped it, but he chose not to for our own good as well as others. Our family has come face to face with death and we have reflected on it a lot earlier than I think our kids wanted us to.

I was reminded by a friend of an article by John Piper called, “Don’t Waste Your Cancer.” He wrote this on the eve of his own cancer surgery in Feb. 2006. One of the points in the article talked about how it would be a waste of cancer if we didn’t think about death. Psalm 90:12 says, “Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” Numbering our days means thinking about how few there are and that they will end. How will we get a heart of wisdom if we refuse to think about death?

His last point in the article talked about how it is a waste of your cancer if you don’t use it as an opportunity to show others the truth and glory of Christ. Luke 21:12-13 says, “They will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name sake. This will be an opportunity to bear witness.” Steve and our family have tried to take this opportunity to show you that this trial only draws us closer to Him. His promises are worth more than life itself and we definitely don’t want to waste it.

As you each face your trials, know that you are not alone. You will have the help you need when you call on Him. Philippians 4:19; “My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” As I said at the beginning of this post, this was long overdue update. I probably should have said this is an overdue update that is long. Sorry for the length.

God Bless You,
Love Bonnie (and Steve)

P.S. Just wanted to remind you that another one of Steve’s cousins is running in a marathon to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. She continues to raise support for this cause. If you are so inclined to do so, you can visit her website, http://pages.teamintraining.org/mi/flypig10/svosscto learn more about making a donation.

Friday - January 29, 2010

It is amazing to me how fast time passes. We haven’t updated our blog for 2 weeks now. As usual, no news is good news at the Opper house. It’s great to share with you so many praises. I didn’t have to go to Karmanos this Thursday, but instead I will go next Thursday at 9:00. My liver enzymes were up slightly, from 50 to 67 while on 16 mg. of steroids, but my doctors weren’t too concerned. They are quite confident that this is chronic graph vs. host disease trying to raise its ugly head, so they will take me off the steroids slowly one pill at a time (per visit). I am still getting a magnesium infusement every other night for 3 hours. This will continue until I am taken off the tacrolimus (an anti-rejection and immune suppressant drug). The tacro draws magnesium out of my body which could affect my heart. I am currently taking 20 pills a day and it could take up to one year to wean me off them. The goal is to slowly increase my magnesium pills so I can stop the infusements altogether. This will allow the removal of the Hickmen catheter in my chest, which would be great, as there is always the potential of infection. My hair is starting to grow back, ¼” per month, Yeah! It doesn’t seem to be curly, which we heard is sometimes the case after chemo.. I’m just excited to have some hair for warmth. I don’t know how you guys do it, when my neck is cold, I’m cold all over.

I was thrilled to be able to mask up and attend another basketball game of Caleb’s. I definitely stand out in the crowd. I’m the bald one, in a pink baseball cap with ¾ of my face covered by a yellow mask! Little children are frightened to death and stay as far away as possible. I have to admit, I look pretty scary. I was able to visit with a friend who has lost the sight in one eye, through a tragic ordeal. We were able to laugh and cry, or at least I cried (what a surprise!). We talked about the twists and turns our lives have taken this past year. But one message rang clear, God has a purpose and plan in both our situations, and His grace is sufficient to carry our families through. She even had the opportunity to tell her story at our Teenworks home school group on Wednesday. She did a wonderful job, as only Mary Grace can do and it was very clear to the audience that God’s sovereign hand was in every step of her accident.

Such is with each of our lives. Tragedy will happen and where will your source of strength come from? Will it draw you nearer to Him or will you let bitterness and resentment take root. Could it be that one of Satan’s major strategies is to divert us from praising God. He knows that God delights in our praise and understands the rich blessing of praising Him brings to us. Like Paul, you can be “sorrowful yet always rejoicing” – 2 Corinthians 6:10. We can groan about our sufferings in this fallen world, but still triumph in the hope that through our suffering the Savior’s purpose will be fulfilled. So let’s take some time out of our busy day and celebrate in His sovereign will, His limitless power and his unconditional love.

Blessings to you all,

Bonnie

Thursday 1/14/10

Happy New Year! I guess we can still say that fourteen days into 2010. This update is long overdue as it becomes increasingly evident as each day goes by and we hear from more friends wondering about Bonnie’s status. As our life sloooowly transitions back to a “new” normalcy, updating this with a new post gets overlooked and we apologize for not being as faithful as we should in keeping you up to date.

Overall Bonnie is doing well in the eyes of the team of her doctors. With that said, it has had its ups and downs. We are still traveling down to Detroit once a week for a clinic visit, but as Bonnie now approaches Day 100 post transplant (today is day 97), we’re looking forward to the day when the visits become every other week, then once a month, etc. About three weeks ago, Bonnie’s liver enzymes increased above a normal level. This is something the doctors watch closely and felt it was caused by one of the meds she is (was) on, multiple blood transfusions (which she had last summer) or graft versus host disease (GVHD). They eliminated the med and replaced it with an alternate and the next week the enzyme numbers were even higher, but not a “dangerous” level, but of concern. The doctors increased Bonnie’s steroid level last week and today the liver enzymes were back down to a level lower than three weeks ago, so that was an answer to prayer. They are going to continue Bonnie on the higher steroid amount for the next week and the reevaluate her prognosis again.

The other issue of concern has been a horrible cold Bonnie developed over a week ago. Fortunately there has been no sign of infection, so it has just been a chest cold hanging on tight. Today she received an IV bottle of “immune booster” which our Nurse Practitioner said should help Bonnie fight off the cold.

Please pray for Bonnie’s mental endurance in addition to physical endurance. As the days go by we continue to learn more about her long term condition and care. It can still be overwhelming as we ask more questions and gather more answers. It can become discouraging to Bonnie thinking about the prospects of hitting Day 100 does not necessarily mean she is “out of the woods”. She is on the right path, but GVHD can hit anytime, including years from now, it’s just an unknown she has to manage mentally. More than likely she will be on “anti-rejection” meds for over a year, which means she will have to continue with many precautions such as wearing a protective mask going out in public, staying covered up when going out in the sun and many other restrictions. We are, however, very grateful for each day God has given her and will give her in the future and with minor modifications and adjustments we can adapt to a new “normal” lifestyle.

Because of the many prayer warriors who read this, we have a specific request for family friends of ours. Their (almost) twelve year old son, Micah, has recently been diagnosed with B-cell lymphoma. They are currently at Mayo Clinic as his condition was very difficult to diagnose. We don’t have many details at this point, but pray for the doctors’ wisdom as they begin his treatment and for peace for Micah and his family.

Blessings to all,

Steve and Bonnie

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Christmas greetings to all our family and friends,

This year was one of God’s sustaining grace. Our family is continually humbled by your constant prayers, encouraging notes, meals and gifts that continue to flood in. 2009 has been a challenge. The Lord called both of my fathers home and I was diagnosed on May 12th with leukemia. I was in the hospital for both the funerals and four weeks later, Steve had an MRI for chronic back pain and discovered he had a tumor on his tailbone, stage 1- lymphoma. It has been living one day at a time since then. We appreciate the small things in life and are thankful for every opportunity we have to tell others how our Lord and Savior is walking with us each step of the way. Steve finished his radiation and chemotherapy just in time for us to move down to Detroit for the next 100 days where I received a bone marrow transplant on Oct. 9th. I have been so blessed to have Steve by my side day and night for the last 7 months encouraging me and praying with me when I felt so overwhelmed and discouraged. My mom moved in with the kids for most of the time, while Steve’s parents and other friends picked up the days she needed to go back to Gaylord. We are so Thankful for the body of Christ as our neighbors, Bible study group, home school families and Steve’s employer continued to support us on a daily basis. We are so thankful to tell everyone that I am home only 52 days after the transplant. I still go to Karmanos once a week for checkups. I am on piles of pills everyday to keep my body from rejecting my donor’s marrow and they are watching me very closely for the next year. There is always a danger of fevers, infections and graph versus host disease (GVHD) which is my old immune system fighting the donor’s stem cells which can cause very serious side effects. So far I have only had a very mild case of GVHD and continue to trust the Lord for my total recovery. Well, this is our 2009 in a nut shell. I get up every day appreciating the simple things in life; laughter, breath, the Lord’s sustaining grace and each of you. If you’d like more specifics, Steve created a blog way back in May with all the scary details and all the praises and victories we saw as we trusted the Lord, one day at a time. The link is www.theopper5.blogspot.com.

Now on to the biggest blessing in my life: my family. Steve and I missed so much of 2009, but the kids’ activities stayed on course, thanks to so many of you! Cassandra graduated from high school. She was a speaker at the commencement exercises and Steve got to hand her a diploma while I watched via satellite from the hospital. Her open house turned out wonderful and came off without a hitch due to our wonderful Bible study families we have been with for the past 19 years. They planned and coordinated everything for us. Other than me not being there, it was wonderful day for Cassandra. She decided to stay home this fall and attend Lansing Community College because of our situation. She is looking forward to transferring to Spring Arbor University next year.

Caleb had the opportunity to spend many days this summer with his six boy cousins (Steve’s sister’s) both at their home and up at the cottage in Charlevoix. In between cousins’ visits, he also found time to caddy again this year at the Lansing Country Club and work on his golf game. It’s hard to believe Caleb is a junior in High School and the same height as Steve. This fall he was blessed to be taken hunting 3 times by wonderful friends. Of course his first time out he shot an 8 point! He also surprised us and decided to play basketball this year and made the JV team. He has retired from piano and bought an electric guitar this summer and continues to hone his skills.

Callie spent a lot of time this summer helping Grandma while she managed the house. She is now in high school and has played volleyball for the last 3 years. She continues to improve and enjoys it very much. Callie also enjoys taking a few classes at Teenworks and loves the social aspect of it. She would spend all her time with friends if she could. She enjoys movies, parties and definitely loves the teenage years. Callie still loves playing the piano and guitar. A highlight of her year was when one of her best friends surprised her and brought up her other best friend from Indiana to hang out for a weekend!

Although this past year has been challenging from a physical and emotional perspective, we are so thankful for the comfort of Jesus, our great high priest. He continues to sustain us and strengthen us spiritually through this trial. As we celebrate the birth of Christ, we are reminded what He says to us in the book of Revelations 3:20:

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.”

We are thankful that Jesus is a man of his word. Years ago He stood at both Steve and my doors and knocked. He has come in and dined with us, including those challenging days since May. He is ever present and we are thankful for that and for you. May you have a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Love,
The Oppers

Marvelous Monday,

This is going to be a short, but wonderful blog post for today. Day +52 since Bonnie’s transplant. We had a great Thanksgiving spending it at home. It was hard heading back to our apartment on Friday evening, but it was a little easier knowing that there was a light at the end of the tunnel, the “light” of anticipating returning home to Lansing in the first part of December. Today was Bonnie’s weekly clinic visit and that little flicker of “light” in the tunnel turned out to be a blast of sunshine when the doctor said to Bonnie, “you can go home”. Four sweet words that stunned us.

Tonight we are packing up everything that has accumulated here in Sterling Heights and will head back home tomorrow (Tuesday). This doesn’t mean that Bonnie is out of the wood of potential complications, but she is doing well enough that they feel Lansing is close enough should anything crop up. We learned today that she can get a different type of mouth sore after 100 days as an example. We will continue to go to Karamanos once each week for Bonnie’s regular clinic visit as they monitor her progress.

Thank you for all of your prayers and praying us home. We are so grateful for the support. Please continue to pray that Bonnie’s recovery proceeds as it has, that she will continue to get stronger and will be protected from viruses and infections as she is very susceptible to this due to a very young (52 day old) immune system. Also pray that Bonnie can learn to say “no” and be content on letting others (the kids and me) serve her. Those of you who know her well know that “no” is not in her vocabulary. She will not be able to clean house, drive, leave the house without a mask, be in a lot of public places, or shop as a few examples. She can’t be around live plants and flowers yet, but she can exercise, do laundry, cook and hopefully get to some more of the books she has on her list to read.

Although God has taught us over these many months to rejoice in ALL circumstances, even the most challenging of circumstances, tonight we are combining the inner joy we have strived to have throughout this journey with the added emotion of happiness. We are looking forward to reuniting with our family and friends.

Steve & Bonnie

Wednesday,

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! We have a lot to be thankful for as God continues to bless us during trials. Bonnie’s recovery from Bone Marrow Transplant continues to follow a path that encourages the doctors and therefore she did receive final confirmation and approval to return to Lansing for Thanksgiving. We will leave the apartment tomorrow morning and stay until Friday afternoon. Bonnie is so excited to be going home for a visit after being away for 55 days.

Assuming she continues to make progress over the weekend, Bonnie starts next week only one day in the clinic which means she is getting closer to going home permanently. She mentioned in the last blog post that the doctors projected going home to be the “first part” of December. We continue to pray that she doesn’t have any setbacks, as she is still in the critical stage of her recovery. Days 30 through 100 post transplant are critical and various complications can arise in a moment’s notice. Saturday Bonnie will be 50 days post transplant, so she is getting there one day at a time.

Once again we are so thankful for all the support many of you have shown to our family since May 12th. From prayers to encouraging notes/cards to meals, every gesture has been greatly appreciated. We would like to share with you one unique way of kindness being expressed towards our situation. Our cousin Susan has joined The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Team in Training and will be running a ½ marathon to raise support and awareness for the LLS. You can learn more about donating to this cause on Susan’s fundraising page.

Please continue to pray for Bonnie’s progress as well as her continued emotional stamina. We hope you have a blessed Thanksgiving with family and friends.

Steve & Bonnie