Doing Well...But Not Ok

Andrew is doing well but he is not yet ok. His Bone Marrow/blood Counts have been excellent. His new bone marrow is still 100% engrafted and functioning on all cylinders. However, it is becoming clear that his road to recovery from his multi-organ failure this past winter and spring is going to be a long slow journey. Andrew has had a good summer overall. He feels good most of the time. He had set backs in the month of June with a heart procedure to drain fluid (a pericardial effusion) and a brief stay in the intensive care unit for dehydration but he handled both of those situations which is a significant sign of his growing strength. He is now primarily using his walker instead of a wheelchair. He was able to spend sometime away from home with family which was a great joy for him. And best of all, he has been able to gather with God’s people on the Lord’s Day at Church more this summer than he has in over a year. But Andrew’s fight is not over.

Andrew has learned in the past two week that he is still far weaker than he imagined he would be at this time. He enjoyed the excitement of returning to school with his friends only to discover from almost day one that he was nowhere near strong enough. So, this past Sunday evening he received the news that he would once again not be able to go to school with his friends. It might have been the hardest emotional hours that Andrew has had throughout his entire battle with leukemia. Then he found out on Tuesday that his pericardial effusion (fluid around the heart) has returned and he once again has to deal with the uncertainties that come along with this condition. Now, his week has ended with him finding out that his diaphragm is no longer holding his organs in place and there is probably nothing reasonable that can be done to fix it. Furthermore, it is doubtful that this condition is the cause of a growing problem he has with not being able to eat. Thus, the growing reality that leukemia touches everything and the beating that his body has taken in this fight is leaving him with damage that probably will never have a certain answer as to why or how it has occurred but will nonetheless affect him for the rest of his life. And these are the reasons that Andrew said, “I am never going to get excited about anything ever again.” The fight is simply not over and it probably will not be over in this life.

BUT God is so good to Andrew and us. First, Andrew is alive. He still has the breathe of life. And with the breathe of life comes joys of living. And in his sorrow the joy of life has strengthen him. Second, God has blessed him with an amazing baseball Coach and teammates. In his saddest hours Sunday night and this week, Coach Lemonis, Jake, Cole, and Mule have reminded him that he is not alone even though he can’t always be with everyone. His Diamond Dawg teammates always have his back. Third, God has blessed us to be apart of a Church, school, and community that have so supported Andrew and us that we are able to logistically and financially respond to all of the extra hardships that these challenges bring to Andrew and to continue to care and provide for his sisters with the support that they need.


So, we are doing well but we are not ok. We are blessed though still suffering. We are surviving and even thriving at times but we are not strong. We are learning more and more that we are being kept by God being sustained by his grace and that we still have to fight the arrogance that we can know what tomorrow holds for us all. But we are also learning and experiencing afresh everyday the blessed truth of God’s word:
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but Not crushed; persecuted but Not forsaken; struck down but Not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of  Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you….So we do not lose heart…for this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal glory beyond all comparison.” (2 Corinthians 4:7-18)

Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow!