An Update

A few weeks ago I said that medical news for me comes in rather slow now. Well, that seems to have changed. Right now, things are changing, but not totally for the best. But, we're holding out for the good that will come of all of this.

About a week (10 days) ago I started having some swelling in my left leg and foot. I was a little concerned, but not worried. I called the doctor's office and they called in a script to get some water out of my system. After a few days of the lasix there was no change. I kept my appointment with my oncologist on Monday morning (01-19-09) and he decided that to be safe we'd better do a echocardiogram on my heart and ultrasound on my leg. Well, the heart test was fine, but the ultrasound detected a blood clot in the left leg.

With this diagnosis Dr. Keefer put me on Coumadin and Lovenox to help thin out the blood and dissolve the blood clot. Of course there is some frustration associated with all of this, and now, a little worry, but I know God is in control. Also, with this diagnosis he has also decided to have me hold off on the chemo treatments for right now. I asked him if there were other things we could do, but he seemed to think that we can try some things that will allow me to keep taking my chemo. There will be adjustments, but I'll make it. I know with God's help I will. Keep praying for me, please.

Before I close my blog entry for today, let me make one other request. Please keep in mind that I am not the only person dealing with health issues such as this. Actually, I'm really blessed in that I have lived 54 years before dealing with all of this. We have friends at church with a 17 year old daughter who is now dealing with a form of cancer. And a young man, 25 years old, with a precious family was just diagnosed with leukemia. And there are others... lots of others. So please, carve out some of your prayers for others who need to be cared for as well.

Thank you.

May God bless you.
Bob