As some of you may know, my oldest brother, Matt, was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Cancer back on September 22, 2014. He hadn't been feeling well, and even with different antibiotics, nothing was breaking his fever. His doctor finally did some blood work, and he was immediately sent to the hospital in Salina, KS. And from there, he was immediately flown to KU Med Center in Kansas City. His white count was the highest that they had ever seen someone come in with at the hospital, and he almost didn't make it through the night.
But God. He had different plans. He wasn't done with Matt yet.
After the shock of his diagnosis, they started him on chemo. The first round wasn't successful, so he went through round 2, and on November 21, even though his numbers looked good, he was still not in remission. The news was devastating, especially because it meant him leaving his family early and heading back to the hospital to start the stem cell transplant.
But God. He was still at work.
It was already determined that he would have a stem cell transplant. Both my brother and sister were tested to be donors. Men are usually the best matches... but Chris was not a match. Tiffany was... a 100% match. They say women are generally not the best matches, I guess because of hormones, especially after having children. But my sister was never able to have children, which caused much heartache through the years.
But God. With what seemed like years of unanswered prayers, God was able to turn heartache into joy. Blessings in the midst of pain. She was able to donate her stem cells to help save her brother's life. And donate she did. The nurses had never seen such a large donation!
They say the first 100 days of the transplant are crucial. It's a huge waiting game and there are so many variables. And even as you draw nearer to day 100, you may feel worse than day 25 because of the Graft v. Host disease, that your doctors are constantly trying to maintain balance with. And the past couple weeks have been a struggle as Matt and Steph watched his platelet numbers continually drop, which was not a good indication. In fact, on day 90, after his platelets had dropped 20 points, they decided to not wait for day 100 and do the bone marrow biopsy early. The numbers didn't look good. It was difficult not to already grieve the results. Anxiety was huge as we waited for the results on Thursday morning.
But God.
I woke up to a text this morning saying Matt's biopsy came back cancer free. He was officially in remission. I've been crying for the past 3 days, but this time it was tears of joy.
The last 5 months have been such a roller coaster. And my ride was on such a smaller scale than what my brother and sister have experienced. They're faith through the whole journey has been an amazing testimony, not only to me, but the many that know them. The struggle was real and very painful, but God remained faithful through it all. He worked things out in big ways, such as saving Matt's life that first night, allowing Tiff to be a 100% match, allowing the boys to be homeschooled so they could all be together as a family during the past few months. God also worked in the small details, but for the life of me I can't think of anything. At this point, everything He did was huge, because everything was working together for this moment... Matt's healing. Every detail seems like a huge deal. God worked in unexpected ways, such as allowing the pipes to freeze and for water to rain down into their hotel room. Doesn't seem like much of a blessing, until you see the results of getting a larger room, for the same price, including 2 bathrooms, a loft for the boys and desks for their homework. Blessings.
It was really easy to keep the faith in those good times. When God was obviously there. Giving glimpses of hope. But there were also times where I had to apologize to God for being angry with Him. For allowing it to happen in the first place. For allowing them to go through this pain. For not healing him immediately; not working things out in my time frame.
I've had to push through the fear and doubt and just pray for complete healing regardless of what "reality" seemed to say. Sometimes it seems as if our faith is a battle of the mind and heart. My heart KNOWS that God is able. That He just has to say the word and my brother would be healed. But I also know in my heart that God's plans are higher than my own and the reality is, His plans might be different. And that's hard to swallow. And sometimes it makes you feel defeated before you even pray for what you want.
I had to resolve in my head that I was going to continue to pray for his healing until God showed me His plans for Matt were different. I was praying for healing. But I know our ultimate healing comes when we can walk through the gates of Heaven and no longer experience any pain or heartache. So I prayed specifically for healing here on Earth. I prayed that Matt would be able to grow old and gray, side-by-side with Stephanie, and watch his boys grow up into the men of God that he's been praying for all their lives. I prayed that he would have the chance to babysit his grandchildren while his sons took their wives out on dates. I prayed specifically. And God answered.
There's been a lot of tears shed over the past 5 months. And even today, I can't seem to stop the tears of joy welling up in my eyes. He goes back to the doctor on Day 100 (3/12/15) for a full lab work-up, to see what percentage of his blood is Tiffany's cells and if that pesky FLT3 chromosome that caused the AML is gone from his body. But they will all be heading to their own home by next weekend! I know Matt's journey isn't over. There will still be doctors appointments, and blood tests, and there's always a chance... but God. God has answered here and now. And it's time to celebrate... here and now. I am forever grateful to my Lord, for answering my prayers, along with the prayers of hundreds of others all over the US. Some that know Matt personally, many that don't. But there's amazing power in joining together with the family of Christ, and standing in the gap for a fellow believer. And what a joy to celebrate with one another when prayers are answered.
I pray that my faith has been strengthened in this journey. Through it all, my prayer life has definitely seen more action. I've learned the importance of persevering in prayer, and pushing through the doubt and fear. Fighting through the battle of my heart and mind and going with what I know to be true. God doesn't change. He is always good.
I cannot hold back the praise. To Him, our Lord and Savior, be ALL the glory. He is the ultimate Healer. He has been my family's comfort and hope. He's been Matt & Steph's rock to stand on, and was there to hold them when their knees were buckling with fear. He's been their strength and their yoke, when they didn't feel like they could bear anymore. He been their Provider, in all senses of the word. Providing for their physical, financial, mental and emotional needs.
I am forever grateful for what God has done today. I cannot wait to hug my brother. And when I get the chance, I might not let go.
