Side effects and infections?

David still had fever this morning. He was slightly better though drowsy and nauseated. He also has abdominal discomfort probably due to the effects of Velcade. He is trying to rest to get well. He was given antibiotics for both bacteria infection and viral infection to treat his fever and sore throat and many ulcers. I am not able to visit him yet just in case I pass on other bacteria or virus to him. Praying for him and waiting for his update when he is awake and alert. At least, am thankful that his blood result is good.

Also, Joshua and I are getting much better today. Other than a fever of 38.1 this morning, Josh is well now after having rested and slept for almost 4 hours this afternoon. Thanks to all for praying.

I am encouraged by the article I read in The Elijah List "Sorrow and Joy are Firmly Linked; How the Lord Brings New Wind of Strength to Our Spirits".

"For I have given rest to the weary and joy to the sorrowing." (Jeremiah 31:25)

"Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy." (John 16:22)

"...there is a weakness that comes from such an emotional and spiritual load. But God knows that joy brings a new vitality and strength, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. (Nehemiah 8:10)Joy produces the kind of strength wse need to move forward."

Yes! The joy of the Lord is our strength!

God bless,
Whee Ling





Josh

So thankful to Angie, David's sister

I am really grateful and thankful that the Lord has proivded such a wonderful sister-in-law Angie. She not only donated her stem cells to give David a chance to develop new immunity, she was also a great support to us, especially for being in hospital with him the whole day today when I could not be there.

Through her regular updates via smses on his condition, it alleviated considerable amount of anxiety I would have felt. David was given antibotics and his fever subsided but he was drowsy and tired. He did not sleep well and seemed to be in and out of a dream. He had not eaten the whole morning and had lunch only at around 2:45pm and had another round of Velcade. In the afternoon he was alert and much better. However, at around 7pm, he was having fever again. Please pray that his fever be gone and that he is able to rest well, that he continues to commune with the Lord even in his sleep.

Josh was still having fever since 4pm but is much better now. I am also ok now. Thanks to all for praying for us.

God bless,
Whee Ling.

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David is having fever

Hi,

David is having fever, 38.3 degrees. I called him immediately when I received his sms at 9:17pm. He sounded tired and said they will be doing a blood culture for him and that he badly needed to sleep. I am crying out inside me "Lord, please have mercy on David, please have mercy on us!"

Joshua was having high fever sometimes reaching 39.4 degrees and had diarrhea today. I am also down with gastric flu and vomitted a few times, feeling really tired. Eversince David has been hospitalised from 11Apr, yesterday was the first day I could not visit him because of Josh's fever and now with myself not being well, I cannot visit though I really wish I could be with him when he is feeling unwell...

My soul is downcast. How long more is this trial going to last? When will deliverance come? I prayed and prayed and activated prayers by sending sms to family members and friends whom I know have been standing steadfastly with us in prayers. I believe in prayers, I believe our Lord our God Jesus Christ hears our prayers and is able to save and to heal. The bible has full of His promises and we can claim those promises by praying and trusting Him. "And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he committed sins, he will be forgiven." James 5:15.

"..the Holy Spirit help us in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." Romans 8:26. "Help us Lord! we pray in Jesus name.

Thanks to all who have been supporting us in prayers.

In His strength (God is the strength of my heart),
Whee Ling

Josh is down with fever

  

Please pray for Josh

Joshua woke up earlier than usual (6:30am) wanting to be in school really early before most of his classmates. Shortly after sending him to school and on my way to the hospital, the school office called saying he was running a high fever of 38.2 degrees. I picked him and brought him to the Doctor who confirmed he is having throat infection and that his fever may be high for next day or two. Please pray for fever to be gone and for speedy recovery, in Jesus name.

David assured me he is fine and wanted me to stay home to look after Josh. I guess he will be in good hands - the doctors, nurses, friends and of course the Lord's.

Thanks & God bless,
Whee Ling


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Friends at ward 72

  

Minimal side effects

Hi,
So far, David has exprienced little side effects (swelling in his feet due to water retention) from the new chemo drug, Velcade. Thanks for praying and Praise the Lord for answering our prayers. He is still required to stay for a few more days in the hospital to monitor his blood count. The Lord has been speaking to David during his "retreat" and it was such a delight to hear from him what the Lord is doing. He was tirelessly seeking Him (sometimes reading and writing late into the night around 2am or so) and his countenance showed a refreshed and renewed spirit.

"One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple." - Psalm 27:4
May that be our burning desire too and may it brings joy to the Father's heart.

God bless,
Whee Ling

Family time at the hospital

  

Taking comfort in the Word of God

David started on Velcade, a new chemotherapy drug, last Fri. Thank God he had no side effects other than occassional hiccups probably caused by steriods. Tomorrow he is due for another round of Velcade which is given via intravenous drip. His blood test result today was good and more importantly he was in high spirit. The Lord has been speaking to him and he was penning his thoughts and insights and relishing every moment of his spiritual journey with his beloved Lord and Saviour.

I am thankful and excited about what God is doing in his and our lives. Oh yes, really want to thank God for His protection over David and Josh. When we went to the hospital ward after church today, Josh was running to see his daddy and he slipped and fell when nearing his daddy bed. The floor around David's bed was wet - probably due to condensation from the airconditioning when the window was opened. Josh was not hurt and I was so glad David did not fall. Cannot imagine what if he had. The Lord is definitely watching over him. May the Lord continue to protect him from harm and accident.

After Josh has gone to bed, I read the Sunday's Times and there were articles on patients battling with cancer - how some have fared better and some have not. I was disturbed. I was worried what if David does not respond well to the chemotheraphy, what if it is God's plan that he has shorter time than I hoped. The peace that guard my heart seems to have been momentarily lifted. I sought the Lord. I prayed and read the bible. I need to know what God is saying about his situation. I was reminded about Joshua's memory verse in
2 Thessalonians 3:3 "But the Lord is faithful, he will make you strong and guard you from the evil one."
I am also comforted by the verses I read at 4:05am last night in Isaiah 57:18 "I have seen his ways, and will heal him; I will also lead him, And restore comfort to him and to his mourners."
I know God is in control with the promise in Isaiah 58:11 "The Lord will guide you continually, And satisfy your soul in drought, And strengthen your bones; You shall be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail."

May you also find comfort in His word.

God bless,
Whee Ling

Done with Radiotherapy

Hi,

Glad to report that David has finished his RT with hardly any side effects. He also did not have a 3rd round of morphine and his appetite has been great. :) Praise the Lord!

In the past few days, whenever he is up to it, he has been diligently writing down thoughts, insights and revelations as dwelt in the presence of the Lord, pondering on His words. He said the past 7 or 8 days were like a retreat for him, experiencing a refreshing touch from the Lord which greatly revived his spirit. Our Lord Jesus is so good!

I am sure he has alot to share the moment he has access to the blog. He still need to be in the hospital for a couple more days as he is scheduled to be given the new drug Velcade which is found to be very effective in treating multiple myeloma, a potential cure. Praise the Lord for such medical breakthrough! As the Velcade may have side effects, please continue to pray that the Lord will spare him of any discomfort.

Our heartfelt thanks for praying with and for us.

God bless,
Whee Ling

Josh and cousins after a family prayer session

"Dear God, please heal Daddy"

"Dear God, please heal Daddy, in Jesus name. Amen!" Joshua usually prayed short prayers. Yesterday he told me he was shy to pray aloud with his uncle and cousins because his prayers were so simple when compared to his cousins who prayed longer prayers. I explained to him that to pray is to speak to God what is in our hearts and that God does not mind us saying simple prayers so long we mean it from our hearts. His daddy has often taught him to ask the Holy Spirit to teach him to pray.

Tonight, as we have our bedtime prayers, I encouraged him to pray aloud because of the power of the spoken word and reminded him to pray earnstly from his heart. He had a new idea and suggested we take turns to pray, i.e. he would pray then point to me and I would pray and point to him and so on. We knelt down. With his eyes closed and hands together, these were his prayers:
"Dear God, please heal Daddy in Jesus name."
"Dear God, please let Daddy be well soon."
"Dear God, please use the medicine and radiotherapy and whatever the doctor wants to be done so Daddy will be well soon."
"Dear God, please heal the other patients around Daddy and help them to know you, in Jesus name. Amen!"

I was so excited when I heard these prayers and I know these prayers will be answered in accordance to His will. Amen and Amen to each heartfelt prayer!

Praise and glory, wisdom and thanks, honour and power and strength be unto Jesus our Lord forever and ever!

With praise and thanksgiving to our Lord,
Whee Ling

Praise the Lord! He is risen!

Praise the Lord! Praise Him from whom all blessings flow. Even as our family spent the Good Friday and Easter Sunday weekend together in the hospital, we are thankful for the good time we had with family and friends who visited and prayed for David. It was good to catch up with some friends whom we have not seen for awhile. It was heartwarming to know they are there for us and even neighbours whom David were trying to reach out to also came to bless him. We were touched by the love and concern shown and were reminded that we are not alone nor forsaken.

Among the wonderful things are the opportunities David had in sharing with pre-believer friends the goodness of God and his testimony. He also shared the gospel in Mandarin with Wang - the patient suffering from Lukemia on the bed opposite his. Though Wang had not accepted the Lord Jesus as his personal Lord and Saviour yet, he is very open. Please do pray for Wong - for healing as well as to receive the greatest gift of all - salvation from our Lord Jesus.

David is much much better today compared to the last 2 days. Thanks for praying! He had stopped vomiting even though he needed another round of morphine when the pain score hit 6 last night around 4am. In fact, his appetite was so good he had been eating quite a fair bit. He enjoyed beef hor fun, assam fish head, curry puff etc. Really glad there were not much side effects after the 2 days of RT (radiotherapy)- undeniably an answered prayer! Praise the Lord! Thanks for praying!

Do continue to pray for no side effects as he is undergoing another 3 days of RT from Monday. More importantly pray that the RT will be so effective that the myeloma cells in the spine and hip bones area be completely wiped out while not causing unnecessary harm to the other surrounding good cells. The Doctors are considering giving him Velcade after the RT to treat any residual myeloma cells hiding in other undetected parts just in case. Please pray for wisdom for appropriate treatment.

Many thanks & God bless,
Whee Ling

David started Radiotherapy today

His mercies are new every morning and great is His faithfulness!

During the doctors' round this morning at the hospiatl, I had the opportunity to ask Dr William Hwang about David's condition. I wanted to know if the presence of bone lesions and myeloma mass found in David's spine considered a relapse, an advancement of the disease or the result of the remnants of myeloma cells still in his body after the transplant. Dr William believes these are remnants which have become bigger and more aggressive. He had explained before that "in remission" does not mean there are no more myeloma cells but rather there is no evidence of the existence of these in the various tests done. Just like there may be terrorists around but no terrorists' activities. The pain David experienced is like the result of terrorists' activities. The good news is the bone marrow aspiration done showed the bone marrow has no myeloma cells, i.e. implying the donor cells managed to prevent any myeloma cells from existing. However, as the donor cells have not penetrated to every part of David's body, some myeloma cells managed to hide in some enclaves in the spine and hip bones. Therefore, other than treating these lesions by either surgery or radiotherapy, we need to add another agent (another drug likely Velcade) to help David's new immunity fight the myeloma cells.

After examining David, the doctors decided to give him 5day course of radiotherapy on his back and hips. So, today he started his first session of radiotherapy.

Even before the radiotherapy (RT), he was given a synthetic morphin which though relieved his pain, made him nauseated and weak. He threw up almost everything he ate or drank. The side effects of the RT may be pain, loss of appetite and vomiting. Please pray against these side effects of RT. Pray that David could eat well and be well nourished. Pray that the RT can effectively remove all myeloma cells and David will develop a new immunity that can fight all residual myeloma cells so that he be completely cured. With God, nothing is impossible!

Thank you in advance for praying and for believing with us His mighty deliverance.

God bless,
Whee Ling

Are you Ok? Yes!

Just wanted to share something which is I am going to claim prophetically. Last Sat in the middle of the night, I suddenly woke up to hear David speaking inaudibly, so I wasn't sure if he was having an oppressive nightmare, so I reached out to touch his hand and asked him "Are you ok?" His response astounded me. He immediately grap my hand and lift up both of our hands declaring "Yes!" as if declaring victory in a warfare. When he woke up he had no recollection of his dream nor the incident.

Well, I am glad for that little episode and will by faith declare "Yes, David is ok!"

In His love,
Whee Ling

Metastasize - what a terrible word

When I ask the Ortho Dr what caused David's pain, he said "Metastasize". I had no clue what that was. David explained simply saying it means the myeloma cells have spread to other parts, causing bone lesions. The "something" they found in the MRI on his spine could be a lesion and so the Doctors will discuss tomorrow on the most appropriate treatment - whether surgery or radiotherapy, otherwise the "something" on his spine if left untreated may cause him to be paralysed.

I need to understand what is going on so I looked up the myeloma website terminology and found:

Lesion: An area of abnormal tissue change. A lump or abscess that may be caused by injury or disease, such as cancer.

Metastasize: To spread from one part of the body to another. When cancer cells metastasize and form secondary tumors, the cells in the metastatic tumor are like those in the original (primary) tumor.

Ok, so this is the situation - our enemy the myeloma cells are not completely eradicated and are back to do mischief in David's body. My initial saddness while in the hospital (when I entertained all the negative thoughts of him suffering and possible premature departure) became anger towards the enemy (of both the physical and the spirit realm) who seeks to destroy our lives. I must remember the warfare is still on. We must overcome the enemy by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony, and must not love our lives to death (Revelation 12:11).

"Thank You Lord Jesus for your blood that was shed for us, thank You for the finished work of the cross, thank You for the promises that by Your stripes, we are healed! Thank You for the Living Word, thank You for Your Mighty Name, the Wonderful Powerful Name of Jesus! All glory and honour be to You forever and ever. Amen!"

From the words of Jesus in the bible John 14:12-14 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in teh Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it."

Jesus healed everyone who called upon Him, who came to Him. I know the Lord wants to and will heal. Please join me to cry out to Him, to call upon Him, to humbly come before Him in prayers and petitions to deliever and heal David from multiple myeloma, in Jesus most precious name.

Trusting in His healing grace,
Whee Ling

David's MRI result

David has just received a call from Dr William asking him to get admitted today. Apparently Dr saw something on his spine from the MRI report which could be causing the pain. He may need to see an orthopedic specialist and may undergo surgery if necessary.

“Lord, have mercy on your servant David, please help him according to Your lovingkindness. Send your word and heal him in Jesus name. Amen!
Standing firm on the promise of the Lord in Psalm 107:20:
“He sent His word and healed them,
And delivered them from their destructions.”
Covet your prayers, dear loved ones and friends.

Holding fast to the Lord,
Whee Ling

Josh is well now but David is still in pain

Dear all,
We are really very grateful that Josh is well now. Praise the Lord for His healing grace! Thanks to all for praying.

As for my dear husband David, he is still suffering from pain and taking more painkillers. In fact his pain is more severe today. The result from the MRI done on Monday revealed some big holes in his right pelvis which is causing him much pain - pain score around 8 in the scale from 1 to 10. How I wish I could share his pain, relief him of his pain, help bear his burden somehow. There is so little I could do for him... I know only God can deliver him from pain and suffering. May our good Lord have mercy on him and spare him from this agonizing trial soon!

A hospital staff called him today to go for another MRI scan tomorrow afternoon. Not sure why he had to do so, caller did not make it clear. I am getting anxious and unsettled, need to focus on the Lord, on HIs promises. Please pray for good result from the 2nd MRI and that we will continue to hope in the Lord's faithfulness, to claim His promises of healing, protection and deliverance.

"I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
That I would see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living.
Wait on the Lord;
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the Lord!
-- Psalm 27:13-14


HE reigns!

Ernestly seeking Him,
Whee Ling

Josh is sick again

Dear all,
We covet your prayers for Josh as he is down with high fever again. It started yesterday. But thank God it is not HFMD though it saddens me to see him suffer especially with bad core-sores on his lips.

As my immune system is low, pray that I will not catch the infection too. Whee Ling is very tired physically as well. Therefore, please pray for the protection and covering of the blood of Jesus upon us against all the fiery darts of the evil one.

Claiming Rev 12:11,
david

10"Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority of his Christ.
For the accuser of our brothers,
who accuses them before our God day and night,
has been hurled down.
11They overcame him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
as to shrink from death.
12Therefore rejoice, you heavens
and you who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea,
because the devil has gone down to you!
He is filled with fury,
because he knows that his time is short." - Rev 12: 10-12