pastorjfreeman

If you have a minute, listen to my sermon from Sunday. I would love your thoughts on it. It was titled: To Know Him and to Make Him Known! Here is the link:

http://www.fbcnewcastle.com/media.php?pageID=36&

The doctor just came by with good news for Trey. An ultrasound from this morning revealed that his spleen has gone down in size by 25%!!! This is huge. It was measuring 23, and is now measuring 16 (normal is 11-12). This is a huge praise for us and probably the reason Trey has not complained of tummy pain for many days! Based on this progress, we will continue with Campath this week. He will get the 5 mg dose today.

Our biggest hurdle before moving to another transplant is the skin. Trey’s rash is severe and is a form of the LGL. It does not appear to be better and seems to be a touch worse each day. Our doctors are consulting a special skin doctor, and considering a couple of possible treatments. Please pray with us that this rash resolves itself…an overnight miracle would be awesome! (Thankfully, the rash does not hurt or itch…just looks very scary and we need to stop it from spreading). Trey is also eating better, and has been fever-free for about a week now. We are enjoying these much needed good days, and praying they continue!!! We, of course, are trying to stay steady. We don’t like to get too high or too low based upon our circumstances, but are simply asking God for strength to endure and the ability to glorify Him in all things! Please pray with us for the rash to look better ASAP!!!

On a more somber note, please pray for our nephew Toby! His situation is touch and go right now. Even with the ventilator, his lungs are not responding as they should. The doctors are trying some more aggressive treatments to help, but we really need things to turn around for Toby right now. Please pray for his parents, Ben and Jeannie, and the doctors as they work hard to address and fix Toby’s problems. We know the Lord is in control and is holding all involved in His hands…and we trust Him!

I’m praying this over Trey and Trey’s cousin Toby today…oh Lord may it be!!!

“The Lord sustains him on his sickbed; in his illness you restore him to full health (Psalms 41:3).”

Oh Lord sustain…restore…bring about FULL health! We love and trust You!

Playing a little bingo until Emily gets here! I love him so much!!!

Trey handled the Campath fabulously today! He’s still sleeping it off. Now I’m just waiting for the most beautiful woman in the world to get here!

Keep praying for his rash to go away, the bad cells to keep on dying, and him to remain protected from any illness!

Thanks everyone! You truly are our prayer warriors!!! Thanks for fighting the fight with us! Remember, Psalm 9:10 says that God has never forsaken those who seek Him and Hebrews 11:6 says He is a rewarder of those who EARNESTLY seek Him. Keep seeking Him with all you have!

I am claiming this promise today…I love the truths of God’s Word. His Word is 100% trustworthy, because HE is 100% true!

“And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you (Psalms 9:10.”

Trey is about to start Campath today and I’m trusting it will be a smooth day! He is still looking good. Of the two liver enzymes they monitor, one was back in the normal range today, and the other one is close to normal. So…they are way down from where they were. His bilirubin is still normal! GLORY TO GOD! He still has his rash and we haven’t heard the biopsy report yet, but are praying it just resolves itself. Please keep lifting that up…and for Trey to stay healthy. He is very compromised right now and highly susceptible to sickness…we need him to stay well!

His doctor thinks Trey is looking good though (all things considered). I still think the plan is to do a flow cytometry on Monday and see what the percentage of abnormal cells is. We will then be making decisions about removing the spleen and doing a 3rd transplant…so we have some very important days coming up…and we need to find a match…so keep praying about that too!

On a personal note, Emily’s dad will be staying with Trey tonight and tomorrow night, so Emily and I can have 2 nights together. We have not slept under the same roof in over a month. I’m looking forward to some much needed time together. I miss being able to just talk with Emily and pray with her face to face. Please pray no surprises happen with Trey causing us to have to forego this time together. So…I will only update if there is something important to update…otherwise, I’ll be talking a couple of days off from the social media world :-)

We are so grateful though! We are still basking in the sunshine God provided through such generous people last night! Over 500 potential matches! God has been so good to us and Trey!

Lord willing, I will be back in the pulpit this Sunday for Mother’s Day! I will be giving updates and sharing a personal message about making the most of the life God gives you. I’d love to have you join. Visit http://www.fbcnewcastle.com for information.

We love you guys!

Please take a minute and read this flyer we handed out tonight at the bone marrow drive. It’s the main reason we have been so public with Trey’s journey. We love all of you so much! Click the link below:

Click to access Trey_flyer.pdf

Well, you won’t believe it, but the Oklahoma Blood Institute ran out of packets at the bone marrow drive tonight! Guess how many they brought? 500!!!!! That’s right over 500 people showed up. The Oklahoma Blood Institute brought every packet they had, even their reserves, and they still ran out.

For those who did not get to register, you can still do it online or search for another facility at:

http://www.marrow.org

Please take a few minutes, visit the web site, and either register online by requesting a kit, or locate another facility near you!

Thanks so much to everyone who made this night such a huge success! Words cannot even express our gratitude! I cannot wait to see who the Lord provides as Trey’s match. Our God is in control!

Trey’s doing pretty good. It’s hard to get too excited because things change so quickly around here. His liver enzymes went down again and his bilirubin continues to stay in the normal range. Those are great things. Trey is still not eating a lot, but he ate almost an entire grilled cheese last night and the night before and continues to drink lots of milk. Another huge thing is that he has not complained of any tummy pain in a few days. This is so good. The one consistent pain problem Trey has had since the Fall is tummy pain. I love that he’s not had any pain lately. I just praise God for that and give Him glory!

There are things that are still very concerning though, and we continue to ask for prayer for these things:

1. His white blood cell count, hemoglobin and platelets continue to stay low. I think this is one reason our doctors feel another transplant is necessary. Since they have been so aggressive at trying to suppress the abnormal cells, there has been damage to the good cells, and they are not producing as they should, hence the low counts. It would be wonderful to start seeing those things go up on their own…I’m asking the Lord for that.

2. The rash on his body continues to look worse, and is either a result of the Campath, or the abnormal cells. It does not look like the rash he had back in the Fall though, so I continue to think it’s medication related, but I’m not sure. I’m praying that this will go away immediately! Another doctor is coming by today to look at it and biopsy it. That should tell us what it is for sure.

3. Trey’s tummy is still big. Now that his steroid dosage has been reduced, his overall swelling is down, but it’s obvious his spleen is still enlarged. I’m praying fervently for this to resolve itself so he will not have to have it removed. However, if removing the spleen will benefit Trey, then I am all for it. So, I’m just really asking the Lord for great wisdom here for our doctors.

4. Finally, I know our doctors do not think the good cells in his body will recover without another transplant. We are all for another transplant of that is what Trey needs…so, we need wisdom here. I, of course, am still praying for the miraculous, but I understand a 3rd transplant may be want is necessary. We just need God’s clear direction here. Please keep praying about that.

As always, we need you in the battle…pray, pray and pray some more. Here is a great reminder today:

“Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known (Jeremiah 33:3).”

Campath is done and Trey did awesome! Now, two things I want to begin praying for:

1. His skin rash to begin to go away. They plan to biopsy it tomorrow…but I’m praying when we wake up, it is gone or nearly gone. Please pray about this.

2. His white blood cell count, hemoglobin and platelets to come up, while his liver enzymes go down. Please lift this to the Father.

Thank everyone! We had a very smooth day. THANKFUL!!!