Joining the search...

Many of you have inquired how you might be tested to see if you could be a match for me to possibly be a donor. If you are interested, it's pretty easy. Go to www.marrow.org, and all the instructions there will tell you how to get tested. They will send you a kit, you do a swab inside your cheek and send it back, it's that easy! Thanks for your interest. I will say that you have to be willing to do anyone's bone marrow transplant, not just me. But it is a pretty awesome thing to donate no matter if it's me or someone else, so pray about it for sure. Thanks!

Give me more doc!

So, had a checkup last Friday. My white blood cell count was basically the same as two weeks prior, which didn't please my doctor. So he upped my dosage of Gleevec. We shall see what happens with that. Also, we found out that my brother Chad who had been tested to see if he was a match to be a bone marrow donor if a transplant should become necessary was NOT a match. They are going to start looking at the National bone marrow list, and hopefully will find one there. I had some pain again for the first time since I started taking Gleevec this past weekend, but am feeling better now. I still have some pretty heavy pain meds in case, so those came in handy. Thank you for your continued prayers. They mean so much to me. Also, another cool thing is that a guy who goes to my church in Ft Worth where I have just started regularly attending told me he is a 10 year leukemia survivor. He had a much worse case than I did because he had AML, or acute myeloid leukemia, but we got to talk about his process and healing, and God really showed me alot thru that and encouraged me. It was a blessing to get to talk with him and get his perspective on it all, and realize how blessed I am.

Thank you all so much. God is good!
Luke

Miracles still happen...

Thank you all for your continued prayers and support. I have two amazing pieces of news to share. One is that I am continuing to feel 100% better! I have started all of my jobs and even have been able to do all the activity in classes that I need to-even dancing! The other piece of amazing news is that Novardis, the company that makes Gleevec is paying for 100% of my co-pay!!! Woo-hoo!!! Praise the Lord! This is such a burden that has been lifted financially, emotionally and spiritually, and will make it so much easier to plan and go forward with life. I see the Dr again this Friday, and hopefully will have even more good news to report.

in His Grace and Love,

Luke

Bring it on down brother!

Saw the doc this morning. Gleevec seems to be working! White blood counts are down to 21,000. That's the lowest they've been since I left the hospital in Abilene back in June. When I was in the hospital a couple of weeks ago in Dallas, they were up to 44,000, then when I saw doc last week, they were holding around 33,000, and now in only 1 week of this medication, they're down to 21,000. Things are looking good. Also, no side effects as of yet for the medicene. Pain seems to be going away slowly but surely, and like I said before, it's been so refreshing and nice to walk and sleep and go about the day without feeling like I have to be slow or careful because of the pain. I see the dr again in 2 weeks, so hopefully we will have even more good reports! My brother is getting typed this week or next to be a possible donor. Not sure at this point if a transplant might be necessary or not, but pursuing a donor just in case.

Luke

A Dose of Normalcy...

That's right! My pain is almost gone at this point. Wow-it's truly amazing what a difference it makes. The sun is shining, birds are chirping, no one is cutting me off in traffic...ok, well, no, that's not true, but it is so nice to be able to be free enough to walk around without worry of hurting. At this point, I've completley stopped taking my pain meds, praise the Lord, and am only experiencing some slight left arm pain at a level of a 1 or 2. It's been so nice to sleep thru the night, and feel rested. We are praying that the improvement means that the Gleevec, which I started taking daily last Thursday, is working and that my bloodwork when I go back to the Dr. on Thursday will show that as well. I have, thru the grace of God, been able to keep all of my jobs that I had planned for the fall semester, which is a huge blessing because I was afraid I wouldn't be able to, especially after missing a couple of days being in the hospital recently. But I'm teaching today at my private Christian school job where I'm team teaching a Performing Arts class. Then tomorrow, I will have my first class of dance students, teaching a musical theatre dance class in South Arlington. Then next week I begin my work with Casa Manana, as a teacher for their Live On Stage class on Tues nights, as well as choreographing the musical, Jungle Book for their fall children's show. I'm so excited about all these opportunities and am so gratefuly I was able to keep these jobs.

Thank you again for your prayers and thoughts and comments. The encouragement is overwhelming. It was also nice to be in Abilene this past weekend and see people at First Baptist Church who have been so diligent in their prayers. Thank you so much!

Luke