It's not my actual birthday but the day that I was given "A Second Chance at Life"! Exactly 8 years ago today, I was at UAB Hospital in the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit, anxiously awaiting my bone marrow transplant. I had been warned that it would be a rather uneventful day - the build up to it was far worse than the transplant itself. In fact, the transplant was nothing more than a 45 minute blood transfusion! They brought a bag of my frozen stem cells (which had been collected months before) into the room, thawed them out and hung them from an IV pole for the "transplant" - that's it - nothing more - nothing less!
Without the transplant, I couldn't continue to live my life - with the transplant, I could live my life a while longer - "it's a treatment, not a cure" that I heard over and over and over.
Fast forward to January 2010 - "you could be in the small percentage of patients with multiple myeloma who are cured with an autologous transplant" (Autologous transplant means using my own bone marrow)
So....why did this work so well for me and not for some? I can't explain it! I do know that I had excellent medical care, the most awesome family, the greatest friends and a God who has blessed me beyond measure!
My prayer is that the "rest of my life will be the best of my life" (Billy Joy quote) and that I will make the most of every day and live according to the purpose that God intends for me! Jeremiah 29:11
Today, I am thankful for that 45 minute procedure that just may have been a TKO (Total Knock Out) for me - for the UAB Bone Marrow Unit, for DCH Cancer Treatment Center, for my wonderful, supportive husband, for my beautiful daughters, all my family and friends who have been my cheerleaders along the journey, the healing power of my God and my second chance at life!
Kari Jobe "Healer"
No comments:
Post a Comment