Blessings from above

Hello Everyone,

This post should have gone out a couple days back, but never got around to doing it... :) Couple days back meaning 30th Dec... Marking our 5th marriage anniversary...!!!

Of these five years, the last 2 years have been very different to what a married couple would expect. Needlessly to say, it has been a roller-coaster ride, but if we really look back closely - even through the rough times, our Lord Almighty has guided our paths and we've seen miracle after miracle... It has made us stronger and more resilient. And not just us, we have seen our family and friends grow in faith too, as they all lend us a helping hand.

My wife Ancy, has gone through so much. At a time when she should have been enjoying the initial years of marriage, she had to support me. If my OCD wasn't bad enough, she had to care for my needs too. My parents have had enough of me during my childhood days considering what a brat I was, and instead of relaxing now, they too had to care for me...!!! Everyone of my family members have lend a helping hand during these times, and its a true blessing. Here in London, so many of our friends have helped us in so many ways. And around UK and in different parts of the world, so many helped organise stem cell donor registration drives... So a BIG THANK YOU to you all...!!!

I'm glad to tell you that from the drives done, 5 individuals have already been identified as matches for others. It's such a wonderful thing, to know that the Lord used us to find donors who will act as life savers. So we shouldn't stop conducting these stem cell donor drives. We need to continue to raise awareness and get more and more people to register as donors.

My blood counts have been stable for the last 3 months now, and I haven't needed any transfusions, which is simply awesome. The counts are still climbing gradually, and need to get into normal levels, but we're praying this happens soon. We have set our targets, and thank God everyday for the counts he will give me... The last month, thanks to the climate change, I've been down with cough and cold - but by God's grace have been managing well. Seems like everyone in London is coughing... :)

As I start 2015 now, I believe that the Lord has special plans, and His plans are better than anything we can ever ask and think about. I submit myself to HIM, and thank him for all the many good days ahead... I thank HIM that he will use me as an instrument, so that His will be done.

God bless you all, have a wonderful 2015, filled with HIS choicest blessings...

Another major milestone

I know its been a while since my last post, and I can't make any excuses, because it is really my fault for not taking out time to blog more often. I've had a calm few months now, and all along praying for the blood counts to come up and envisioning (believing fully) that my counts will be restored to BETTER than before values. BETTER than what they were in July 2012, before any treatment started. Chemotherapy have battered my bone marrow, and doctors say the counts would never be as high as before, BUT I have a Lord who is mighty. He is all powerful, and can do wonderful things...! What seems impossible in our worldly eyes, is possible for my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Hallelujah, Amen...!

So what have I been doing the last few months? Well, in August the PICC line (on the left arm) got infected. I got up one morning with severe pain and swelling in the arm, and had to rush to hospital. It was oozing pus and they decided to pull the line out. As the arm was swollen, and pus was there, I was started on anti-biotics. Later a small clot was discovered, due to which they had to give me blood thinning injections. And because my platelets were below 50, I had to be given platelets everyday, following which I could self inject the blood thinning medication.

My neutrophil counts had come to 2.9 before this incident, but due to the heavy anti-biotics and possibly the blood thinning too, the counts kept dropping and had reached 0.3 at one stage. It was then I requested the doctor to allow me to stop the blood thinning. The arm swelling had decreased, BUT it was a gamble then, because the clot could get worse and the arm would swell up again and there could have been further complications. BUT we prayed and decided to wait on the Lord. By God's grace, it didn't get worse, but the neutrophils again was low and I had to be more careful and stay indoors.

Check out this crude graph I whipped up, showing the roller-coaster ride the neutrophil counts have taken:

Around May time they were flat at zero, but thats post transplant. Then you can see two peaks at 3.7 and 2.9, but infections happened and they again dropped. The last drop from 2.9 (Aug 1st week) is what I was talking above. Since then the neutrophils made a slow recovery, hovering around the 0.6-0.7 range, until two weeks back. Then on my brother-in-laws birthday, 15th Oct it crossed 1 in over two months...! And yesterday, the neutrophils were 2.3, just in time for my return to work today. :) What great timing from the Lord. We see delays in things all the time, and get impatient - but our Lord provides and His timing is always perfect...!

Also, by God's grace, the platelets have been stable since the start of October. And I have not needed any transfusion for about 3 weeks now. Still around 20 only, and have a LONG way to go to the values we have envisioned and praying about, but atleast its stable. We have jotted down values for what we want the counts to be, thats our vision for the values of Hb, WBC, platelets and neutrophils. And we don't ask for it in prayer, BUT we THANK GOD for giving it to us.

Thanks once again for all your prayers. Especially pray for my work, that I can diligently do my duties. I pray for all of you too, and believe that praying for others in more important, as our needs will automatically be meet by the Lord.

God bless...!

100 days post transplant

Today marks 100 days after the autologous stem cell transplant that I had back in April. I thank God for keeping me well, and by His Grace and Mercy I'm keeping fit and healthy.
The road has been a bit bumpy, and there are many more miles to go, but I ain't complaining. Because when you hear the stories of many in similar situations, you can't help but acknowledge the divine blessings from above. And believe that His angels have been guiding and guarding me all throughout. I know the Master has everything planned and I believe that I will live long and declare His works...

The counts are still crawling up, but its growing slowly and steadily. I know that my bone marrow is recovering, and my Lord and saviour has healed me. Hallelujah...! The doctors obviously need to test things, and so I have to have a bone marrow test this coming Tuesday (29th July). It's a pretty painful process where they stick a needle onto your hip bone, and draw out some marrow for testing. It could take 10mins, and it could take much longer too. One of the times, it took around 50mins, but the worst was little over an hour... :) I've laid there praying for the pain to end...

Remember, life ain't without trials and difficulties. But Jesus is the one who can give you the strength and courage to endure in the midst of troubles. Most of us will know the incident when Jesus calms the storm (Matthew Ch.8). I recently heard a message on this bible portion, where the sea is compared to life. We can't simply sit on the shore, but have to journey into the sea to face life's journey. The sea isn't always calm, there can be small waves, big waves and storms too, but whats important is that:
- We have Jesus in our boat (in our lives)
- And that we trust in Him completely
- We shouldn't let our faith be shaken by the evil one

Please continue to uphold me in your prayers as you have done so far. Believe with me that I have been healed, and in your prayers, thank God for the complete healing He has bestowed upon me. There are so many of us who need prayers, and I am praying for all those I know about. If you have a special need, and I can pray for you, please do let me know. Let us all come together and be an extended family, offering our prayers to the Almighty...

God bless...!

Be a fool for Christ

I wrote these few lines some days back, on he phone. Didn't have the strength to finish and publish then. But lets see how it goes now... This was around 12th April...

Ancy was with me sometime today. During those 2hrs that she was with me she saw me vomiting twice... She helped and was supportive. She always has been. Our parents see so much of our weakness too as we grow up, so much they bear for us. So much they support and care for us. Now, imagine, how much more do the nurse's and doctor's see... While we don't have our family around, the support staff at Hospitals help us a lot and see a LOT of our weakness. Right?

Now, imagine, HOW MUCH MORE DOES GOD SEE OUR WEAKNESS...? and its not just our sickness, illness's or pains. God's knows our innermost being. All our hidden pains, weakness and faults. but even after knowing ALL this, is still loves us unconditionally...!!!

Today is my new Birthday, my new life in Christ. And hence I want to live this new live in HIM. Give whatever you have to him, and let Jesus multiply it...

My Birthday: April 16, 2014 (Day 0)

My Mission: Be a fool for Christ!

Thanks to ALL for your prayers...

God bless...!

The final battle begins

The last week was spent preparing for the battle... Yesterday, got the PICC line put in again. Had a smooth procedure, and the nurse was able to find the same vein healthy, and the line is back on the left hand itself. God's grace that it wasn't blocked or anything. Else I would have scars on the right hand too... ;) Please do pray that the plasters don't react too much this time, and I can smoothly use the line for the entire transplant duration.

So I’ll be admitted tomorrow, but the transplant protocol will start on Monday, 7^th April. Yes, a great day to start eh... My favourite number SEVEN... In the Bible, referred to perfection. Perfect God, the Perfect Son and the Perfect Holy Spirit... So in Jesus name, with him beside me, I start this final battle... Satan can try all he wants, but I go into battle with the Armour of God. I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me. (Phil 4:13)
 

As mentioned earlier, I’ve opted for an autologous transplant, ie. using my own stem cells. It’s a week of high dose chemo, a day rest and then my stem cells are given to me (Its called Day 0). After this, I should be in Hospital for another 2-3 weeks, so around a month in total. After this, the first 3 months are crucial, so will need a lot of rest while the body recovers. On day 100 I have to have some immunisation, and then 1 year after day 0, some more immunisations. Basically, it's like having a fresh start, so many of the immunisations that we get as children, I'll have to get again... :)

I'm hoping that this new start, after Day 0 - will be a new LIFE for me... In all aspects... A life spent doing the right things, for the right reasons... I pray that I be more patient, more tolerant, more of good, and can do away with the bad... I pray that it will be life spent acknowledging our Almighty Lord, and declaring his works. No matter what negative numbers have been thrown at me, I believe that God has a plan for me. And as the Psalmist says in Ch118:17: I will not die, but live, and will proclaim (declare) what the Lord has done.

God Bless...

The 3 stripes of Adidas

[2nd attempt. Blogger hung on me and I lost half the post, so had to redo it. The Devil tries, but can't stop me... :) He can only TRY...!!!]

For those who know me, they will know that I am an Adidas guy. I'm not sure when the craze started, but it has been well over a decade (around the turn of the century maybe). Not sure what it was, maybe the simplicity of a brand with 3 stripes... In any case, I gradually only started buying Adidas gear and now most of my wardrobe is full of stripes. lol...

A few days back, I got asked again by a church friend about why Adidas, and I referred to The Trinity and said by His stripes we are saved. Although it came on as a general quick-wit comment, I really liked the thought, and it got me thinking. All this while, I've been wearing the 3 stripes, and it was just another brand for me. Now, it has much more meaning. I wear the 3 stripes and I have the trinity with me at all times - God the Father, Christ Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Let me refer some verses: 
1 Peter 2:24 - He himself bore our sins in His body on the tree (cross), so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by His stripes (wounds) you have been healed.

This talks about Jesus paying the price for our sins, but not just that; he also paid the price for our healing - both spiritual and physical healing. There is another verse which talks about physical healing by the blood of Jesus Christ.
Matthew 8:17 - This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: "He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases."
[Which refers to the fulfilling of the prophesy from the Old Testament in Isaiah 53:4-5]

How amazing... To know that all these years, knowing or unknowingly I have been under the protection of the Trinity. Like spiderman's uncle said, "With great power, comes great responsibility." :) I don't have any power, just the strength that comes from the grace and mercy of our Lord. But still, now it is an added responsibility as I wear the stripes of Jesus. Actions speak louder than words, and today I realise how my actions need to show a life in Christ as I bear the stripes...

Not sure if you saw the post I shared on FB earlier today (from a group called Christian PF). Honestly, I thought about this topic 3-4 days back, and had written the subject and 1-2 paras also, but just didn't manage to finish writing. Today when I saw this post on FB, I was really touched by it. Today was the day for this blog post, and the picture message ties in so well to this topic. That our lives, the way we lead it, should make non-believers question their disbelief in God.

So my healing has been pre-approved, over 2000 years ago. And my faith is strong and nothing can change the way I feel about tomorrow and the years ahead. The Lord has something planned for my life and my humble prayer is this: Take me and mould me oh God...!!! So that when people get to know me, they will know you better...!

On the treatment front, I was due to meet the consultant tomorrow (Jan 8, 2014) and discuss next steps with regards to the transplant. But few test results were not back yet, and the meeting has been postponed to sometime next week. The Lord's timing is perfect and I don't fear one second about whats going to happen. Whatever will happen will happen for the best. I live all the days of my life that have been given to me from above. And I pray that each of these days, I spend knowing more about my Saviour, and declaring his wonderful works.


Disclaimer: I am NOT getting paid by #Adidas (maybe they should consider it now) and don't wish to make any comments that can cause corporate advertising issues... :) These thoughts are mine and ONLY my thoughts...