Saturday, March 22, 2014

6th Month Check

Complete remission!  I had a different doctor this time at KU than the two I have had before. This is his report. He said that I had a complete remission again. That is not the same thing the last doctor said about the last report. (see here) Well here is how he broke it down. He pointed out three indicators. The first is a ratio of cells in my blood. He said that my ratio of some specific cells indicate that the activity of myeloma was in the normal range (i.e. the ratio of my cells in the blood is as it should be for a person without cancer). Next, when a person has myeloma, the body expels aberrant cells in the urine and there were no cells present in my urine sample. Lastly a biopsy of my bone marrow was taken and there were no cancer cells in the sample of my marrow. Before Velda and I  left for this checkup my family prayed that the doctor would say that it looked like that I never  had cancer and God answered. The Creer home was fairly jubilant yesterday at the news. I also am happy to say that I am taking 18 fewer pills per week. I received 7 immunizations that a baby would normally get. (I didn't cry). There is still room for prayer though. First, this treatment is a not a cure. There are no cases of this cancer not returning. Please pray that it doesn't return. (I would like to be one of the first cases) Second, a side effect is my myeloma effected my kidneys. My kidneys are not functioning normally but are in the "OK" range. Yesterday the doctor said that the kidneys are on the verge of the "Not OK" range. (my interpretation of what he said, not his exact words) Please pray that my kidneys will go back to functioning normally. Praise God with us for this incredible news. I will be having monthly checks. I don't plan on posting each time unless there is a change in my status, so no news means "no change". Thank you for a being a part of my recovery.

Friday, March 21, 2014

Report of Mexico trip

Hola Family and Friends,
Here is my report from Mexico.
Our team of seven was divided into three classes. Each class was two hours a day Monday – Thursday. The hardest part for me was just learning Spanish. After the second week, my prayer request was simply the diligence to keep studying, even when tired. My motivation to keep learning came every Friday when we would go to the orphanage. The first time we drove to one about two hours away and stayed the weekend. The next two times, we went to one much closer and just stayed the afternoon. It was such a relief to leave the classroom, talk and play with kids, and practice Spanish. The kids didn't speak English so it helped me see very quickly the value of homework. We also attended church activities four nights a week and that soon became a sweet time of fellowship.

My biggest highlight was working the last week in the village. With only 300 people, our team was the most interesting thing for the whole week. Mornings we checked, installed, and picked up payments on water filters, afternoons we taught a children's program for 50 kids, and evenings we showed a kid's and an adult's movie on the basketball court. I enjoyed that time the most because we got to see the same people daily and start relationships. The last night though was really neat because I missed the movie time talking to these 3 guys around my age... in Spanish! They were asking all these questions about the US and we even got to talk about what they believed. It was the most I'd spoken in Spanish the whole trip. It truly was an answer to prayer for God to use my broken Spanish to be able to communicate.
At home God has already given me connections at a Hispanic church, that I've begun attending. My goals for continuing Spanish are: to attend the church at least once a week, keep in touch with friends from Chiapas on facebook, and continue my Spanish lessons with my tutor.
Thanks to you God has already opened another door. About two weeks before my trip, Global Encounters emailed me and said my support level was double what I needed for the trip including flights! So, they said I could go on another mission trip this summer and it would be completely paid for. After praying and talking with their director, I've decided to go to Ecuador with GE July 12 – August 3 this summer!
It is only through the grace of God and your generosity that this happened, so thank you very much. I won't be raising money for this trip since God has already taken care of that. But I will most likely send out prayer updates while I'm there and for sure when I get back. If you have any questions about my past or upcoming trip, please email or call me!
Sincerely,
Michaela