Oh to trust my Heavenly Father the way this little boy trusts his dad. This is what total trust looks like.
Psalm 103
Bless the Lord, my soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name. 2 Bless the Lord, my soul, And do not forget any of His benefits;
Psalm 103 is one of favorite Psalms. From the depths of soul, I give Him praise to God for blessing me this week. We had scary news at the start of the week that my platelet levels were low, around 100. My cancer shows some genetic markers that it might be receptive to chemo treatment, but if my platelets get too low, my body will not tolerate chemo. My cancer really needs to be aggressively treated with both chemo and radiation. God has been so good to me. I have healed quickly from brain surgery just a short few weeks ago, and I have no deficits from the surgery and removal of 70% of the glioblastoma. My mind and all my parts work, and I am so thankful for God’s mercy and grace. I am able.to take care of myself and not be a burden to my wife and kids. I am so thankful for TeamPhelps and how they have all pulled together and been there for me and one another. I am so thankful for each and every one of you who follows along and prays faithfully for me and my family!
I don’t know that I have reached the place that I experience joy in this cancer trial:
James 1:2-4 Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing..
Romans 5:3-5 And not only this, but we also celebrate in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; 4 and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; 5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
James and Romans set a high bar on responding to trials, tribulation and suffering. Trials do reveal our truest selves and show us the reality of the depths of our faith. I think 1 Peter 1:6-8 is about self-revelation to us about the strength of our faith. God knows what our faith condition is.
1 Peter 1:6-8 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various]trials, 7 so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which perishes though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 8 and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,
I want to found faithful in this trial and give God glory in and through it all.
I’m praising God for great results from my 2nd platelets blood test on Wednesday.
My platelet levels continue to increase. They were 151 on Monday, and Wednesday they were 191. We are headed in the right direction. Up and the right is good. God is good. I have tolerated the chemo and radiation well. My appetite is strong, and my energy levels are good. I am having some difficulty sleeping so you can pray for a solid night’s sleep that doesn’t disturb my wife. Week 1 of six weeks is almost in the books today. I bless the Lord and don’t forget what He has done for me.
What gets me through this trial is my suffering savior has gone before me. What blows me away is that he willing chose to suffer.
Philippians 2:6 who, as He already existed in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
He willingly gave up his status in heaven and came to earth to become one of us and to suffer with us and for us.
Hebrews 12:2 Looking only at Jesus, the originator and perfecter of the faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Are there anymore radical word than “joy set before Him” when he looked at the cross? Wow!
Hebrews 4:15-16 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things just as we are, yet without sin.
He sympathizes because he has suffered before me. I’m so thankful for my compassionate, caring Savior who knows suffering. Because of his example and the Holy Spirit, I can walk out Psalm 103.
Bless the Lord, my soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name. 2 Bless the Lord, my soul, And do not forget any of His benefits;
Anytime there is a big drum roll something big is about happen, right? At a rock concert the big drum roll may indicate the last song of the night, and one of your band’s biggest hits is about to get played. I hope you hear drums playing in your head right now starting to play faster and louder, and your favorite song is about to be played so loud and awesome at your favorite bands sold out concert.
Monday, September 27th is a big day for me and Team Phelps. I have a blood test at 2:50 pm. My radiation chemo treatment will be at its usual time, and after my treatment I will meet with my radiation oncologist, Jennifer Peterson. I am assuming that I will get an update on my platelets when I meet with her. My oncology team is adjusting some of my anti-seizure medication along with adding steroids in order to help boost my platelet count. It looks like they are going to keep a very close eye on my platelet counts. I will have another blood test on Wednesday, September 29th at 3:00 pm before my treatment.
Drum roll please! Keep those prayers coming. I am praying and believe with you for platelets to rise. Thanks so much for keeping me in your prayers. I really need them and covet them. I feel surrounded by your prayers, and this is how we win our battles.
Most of life’s storms are unexpected. Yesterday I continued into this unexpected storm with my first day of chemo and radiation. I had some scare as I entered into the unknown. How would my body respond to chemo? Even with the anti-nausea medication (Zofran) would I vomit? Would I have an appetite? I never like MRI tubes so I was a little worried about what 15-20 minutes of radiation would be like? How would it affect me? I was told to expect fatigue at some point. So as you can see, I was a little anxious about my first treatment. My son who is a doctor, 3rd year resident, came in from Gainesville to take me to my first treatment which gave me a lot of comfort.
To my surprise when I entered the radiation room, there was no MRI tube. My simulation treatment was in an MRI tube, but this radiation room was very open. There was a bed and what looked like two panels on the side above the bed and one panel directly above my head. Once on the table, they put my Hannibal Lectur, Silence of the Lambs mask, on me or for you hockey fans my goalie mask. They asked me if I wanted any music, and I asked for Elevation worship music. Again to my surprise they said they had it. I thought they would put head phones on me, but with my lovely Lectur mask that was not possible. They cranked up Elevation worship music in the room and gave me the room for my treatment. Nothing that I had expected happened in the way I envisioned my treatment would look like and feel like.
In the middle of my treatment with just me and my mask and radiation and worship, I had an experience with God. Tears came to my eyes. The presence of God was almost palpable. This doesn’t happen to me often. Throughout my treatments, I have prayed the Lord’s Prayer, Philippians 4:6-7 and meditated on Psalm 23 and Romans 8 during all my MRI’s, CAT scans, PET scans, but this was different. I worshipped in my spirit. I never in a million years thought I could feel this kind of calm in the storm. God was powerfully present, and he ministered to me in the depths of my soul. While I didn’t sing out loud, I cried out in my spirit. God was as close as my very breath.
I am very thankful that my first day of treatment went so well. Today I’ll be back at it at 3:45 pm EST. I’ll take anti-nausea at 2:00 pm, chemo at 3:00 pm. Then I’ll head to Mayo around 3:20 for my 3:45 appointment. I’ll look forward to watching my LSU Tigers at 12:00 EST on Saturday with my family. We’ll worship together on Sunday watching online. I’ll take anti-nausea and chemo on the weekend following my regular schedule. Please pray for my Monday blood test that my platelets will have increased above 100. Thanks for going on this journey with me and praying for me and my family. We need you!
From the very beginning of the U.S. space program in the 1960’s, Houston has been the nerve center and control room for the race into space. Whenever a rocket was launched into space, the countdown to launch was done in Houston. Houston made the final decision on whether conditions were right for a safe launch into space. During the count down to launch, no one wanted to hear, “Houston, we have a problem.”
Yesterday in my preparations for the launch of my chemo and radiation treatments today at 4:00 pm, I heard those dreaded words, “Houston, we have a problem.” Well, that’s not exactly what my oncologist said. She ran a blood test on me, and the blood test came back showing that my platelets were borderline around 100. My platelets had been fine up until this blood test. If my platlets get too low, it could impact my ability to tolerate chemo which is absolutely critical to treating this aggressive Glioblastoma. I actually have a genetic marker that indicates my cancer is a good candidate to respond to chemo. I just need my platelets to cooperate so I can be a better prepared person for chemo.
I share all this to rally your specific prayers for an increase in my platelets. My oncologist is adjusting medications in hopes that this will help to increase my platelets. I will start my chemo and radiation this Thursday and Friday at 4:00 pm. The mission has not been scrubbed at this point. My stitches were removed yesterday and all systems are go. We will however do a repeat blood test on Monday and pray that my platelets have increased. Calling all prayer warriors to action.
