Blessings and Challenges

Lately, I have been battling a reflux which leads to vomiting. Some days I vomit twice which makes my four pound weight gain today at the center a miracle. The blood work was also very positive today. My hematocrit had gone up, the white count was normal and the bilirubin is down. Tonight, I literally feel like a new man. The reflux has disappeared possibly in response to today's infusion? Just to be sure I am not developing a blockage, Susan and I will head to Swedish tomorrow for an endoscopy with Dr. Bedard. This is to check to determine if the stent is partially blocked which could be the cause of my recent discomforts.

One not so positive note, (remember the roller coaster), came when we discovered the CEA drawn last week came back at 25, the highest CEA reading I have ever had. All of this is relative, of course, and we have taken it in stride thanks to God's mercy and your faithful prayers. Dr. Chen thinks that I need to be back on the CPT-11 for a more effective approach for my cancer. Hopefully, next week I can begin this again. The bilirubin level must be below 2 for this to happen. Please pray accordingly.

Susan and I did enjoy a rich time of fellowship discussing the holiness of God, a subject I have been meditating upon for next Sunday's sermon. The subject matter of the remainder of First Peter chapter one is sanctification and holiness. It is so true that a contemplation of the holiness of God is the most sublime and greatest subject which can be contemplated by the mind of man. May I recommend Stephen Charnock's great magnum opus, The Existence and Attributes of God. This book spends all of 99 pages on the great subject of the holiness of God and the necessity for man to be holy as his God is holy. (I Peter 1:16)