Psalm 71: 5-8 "O Lord, You alone are my hope; I've trusted You from childhood. Yes, You have been with me from birth and have helped me constantly--no wonder I am always praising You! My success--at which so many stand amazed--is because You are my mighty protector. All day long I'll praise and honor You, O God, for all the You have done for me."

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS, LOVE and SUPPORT! City of Hope has received the final approval of the Donor's physical, so all systems are GO for TRANSPLANT!!!
I will be admitted on Wednesday, September 30, to begin chemotherapy (September 30, October 1, 2, 3, 4) and transplant medications (October 5, 6,7) and on Friday, October 9, receive the blood stem cell transplant/ transfusion!

Specific prayer requests:
For my body to be strong in this process, especially for the critical 100 days AFTER the transplant!!!

For the Medical Staff to provide wise and thoughtful care; I will be so grateful for each of them!
For the Donor to be well in her medication preparation (October 3-6) and actual harvesting (October 7 and 8), as well as her recovery in the weeks to follow (after a few weeks there is no after effect or harm; the body goes back to normal).
For the safety of the airline pilot and the actual person who will be hand carrying the stem cells to the United States on October 8.
For my wonderful husband and daughter, that they will be safe and secure through the 30+ days that we are separated!

That the Lord would be honored and glorified through this entire process..........

Thank you for your prayers....today marks 69 days without a transfusion...God is SO good!!!!

City of Hope told me today that the Donor rescheduled her physical to September 23, but wants to harvest stem cells on October 7/8; everything depends on the results of her physical, so it's not certain when I will be admitted even though they still want to begin September 28...we WAIT upon the Lord for His timing.....I certainly pray for this 43 year old woman who is generously giving "life" to me, that if she doesn't know the Lord, that through this process she will!!!

I was beginning to feel anxious the other day, with Bill being away to help care for his Dad, hearing how exhausted he is arranging and going to doctors, trying to arrange 24/7 home health care and then up all hours of the night as his Dad doesn't sleep longer than 1-2 hours at a time, he hasn't been able to get much sleep either; then me being on the phone with several transplant nurses and City of Hope wondering how to schedule our home life for when I'm gone; and helping Abbey with being back to school, homework and projects, well God stepped in and gave me comfort from a devotional on 1 John 4:18 "Perfect love drives out fear".....'Perfect loves drives out fear-that love is the supreme weapon against fear; when I truly understand how much God loves me, fear leaves my heart like darkness when the sun rises, that's because love always says 'I want the best for you - always; I have in mind your ultimate good, not just your present comfort; My love includes discipline, for I care too much for you to allow you to become a spoiled brat. The best thing I can know during a difficult time is that the One who allows that difficulty is the One who loves me more than anyone else does in the whole universe. No I may not understand the state of affairs, but I know He loves me ----deeply.' by Darlene Sala ......WHEW...God certainly calmed me down...AMEN for HIS GREAT LOVE to each us!!!!!

Ephesians 4:20 and 21a

"Now glory be to God who by His mighty power at work within us is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of--infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts or hopes. May He be given glory FOREVER...."
THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS. CELEBRATING LIFE with so many of you the other day was so WONDERFUL!!! Interesting how after Praising God publicly my platelets dropped from 52,000 to 14,000....but this gets more interesting...I received a phone call from City of Hope telling me that they have identified a strong potential donor (a 43 year old female, from outside the United States) and they are contacting her to complete all the physical testing needed...God's timing.....I am to be scheduled to redo all of my physical tests the week of September 21st, with the tentative inpatient admission on the 28th to begin chemo, etc. and transplant October 6....it all depends on the donor's availability and physical results......so again, we ask you to pray for the right decisions and God's peace....truly, we wait upon the Lord! By the way, please pray for Bill, he will be traveling to his Dad's Sept 9-19 to reacclaimate him back home, set up physical therapy and home care; for those of you who don't know, his Dad had emergency brain surgery on August 18 (apparently he fell twice on concrete in the Spring injuring his head, but didn't get checked out, and on the 18th he had trouble speaking, was taken to the hospital where CT scan showed he had "old" blood and swelling of the brain; then a second surgery on the 25th; all seems to be fine now just needs physical rehab and time to heal). Abbey begins school on the 8th; her last year of middle school and we need to apply to high schools. My brother, Richard, had a positive biopsy for prostate cancer and will have a CT scan on the 22nd before treatment will be decided......our family has LOTS going on, but GOD IS FAITHFUL and WE WAIT UPON HIM!!! Thank you for your prayers!!!