堅持信靠的Brian's Blog

 Dear Families and Friends,

 We know you all are waiting for further notice about BMT (Bone Marrow Transplant) date.  We are too.

Please keep praying harder for Brian needs to get his blood test again tomorrow (11/4) morning.

The liver enzyme ALT was going down but not low enough. 

It was from 282 (last Wednesday) to 241(last Friday) to 219( this Tuesday).

Pray for it is lower to a good range to get ready for next step--- BMT.

It is very important to have good function of liver to tolerate the beginning of BMT.

The procedure of BMT is first 6 days of chemo drug ( very strong), then rest 1 day.--- In this period, the immune system will be totally wiped out.

Then the Harvest day is on 8th day ( they call day 0), it is the bone marrow transplant date.   It is the day Vivian donates her Bone marrow to Brian.  Please pray for Vivian to stay the best heath condition before the procedure and even after.  Because we all need to stay healthy to take care or even visit Brian.

For Vivain's part, it takes few hours only.   She will recover overnight. 

For  Brian, they said it normally takes 2 to 4 weeks for the receiver to grow his own new bone marrow.    The medical team will watch him very carefully for a long time.  Please pray the best for Brian to go through all of this smoothly and successfully.

The BMT room is an isolation room to protect the patient.   No visitors allow except those 6 Brian chooses in advance.

We need to wear mask all the time in that room.  Only patient can eat and use the bathroom. 

Good thing is one parent can stay overnight in the room ( this is changed after they moved to the new building on July.)

Please also pray for Mark and I will have good arrangement in between our 2 kids' daily life.  They both are our presious babies and we love them the same.   We used to left out our daughter for a long time while Brian was in a very critical time and unpredicted situation last year ( Thanks Maria & Jonathan, Sabrina, JuJu & Joe, Helen & Ching took good care of Vivian to share our load.  Also Paul & Ruth and many of you in VOH and everywhere pray and help us). 

Please pray for God's mercy and grace to let 4 of us can walk together to go through this whole process and be more than conquerors again.

Let the family unity and bounding love support each other and glorify God's name.   

We are strong and courageous.  We have strong faith in the Lord, it never changes.

Luke 1:37  For nothing is impossible with God. 

In Jesus' Holy name, we pray.  Amen!

God bless us all,

Mark, Anita, Brian & Vivian

God seems to have been speaking to me a lot these days, even when I'm not really asking for him to. Like today, for example. The past few days I've been sulking over my inability to attend school at DBHS, and having to miss out on events like homecoming, which most Facebookers are posting about, but I was reading my devotions today and it mentioned this: Don't worry about your external circumstances. Or something like that. Then it went on to say that focusing on what's truly important lets us be more at peace (I'm paraphrasing). These were Jesus' final words to his disciples before he was crucified, and he to let them know that they had nothing to worry about after he was gone. When I read that, I felt God was telling me not to worry about not attending DBHS. Not that I no longer feel bad about missing out on school activities (this is my last time seeing most of the seniors, after all), but I feel a little more at peace with it. Just a little. 
Anyways, today is Sunday, and the liveliest day in quite a while. This morning, my dad asked something very unexpected: if I wanted to go to church. Now, I haven't been to church in the longest time (my parents want to keep me away from germs and such) and while I was a little hesitant at first, I finally decided to go. It was nice to be back at church with people who loved me.
Not long after we got home, some people from Basic came over (Christina, Jessica, Jordan, Ivan, Samuel, and Josh). I gave them a half-sorta-tour around the house, and then they prayed, and then they left.
Later on, Eric and Matthew came to see me. That time was mostly spent poking fun at each other, bantering over whatever random stuff that popped up in conversation.
Not long after Eric and Matthew had gone, my old friendFrances from, like ten years ago, came to see me. I enjoyed having her over, and our moms kept reminiscing over the times when we met on a weekly basis, and such. Fun, really. We really enjoyed having her over. :D
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~
And that was pretty much my day.
Anything else I should add, ehm, let's see.. Oh, my left eye, up until this day, is still improving! It's not always huge improvements, per se, but they're improvements nevertheless.
Prayers: my liver enzymes have gone back up since last time when I was still a patient there, but they drew some blood on Tuesday and discovered that they're going down some, so pray that it continues going down to normal counts. Also pray for my tongue, which has mysteriously been dyed yellow. It's probably as a result of the chemo, but it might also be a yeast infection, according to doctors. The doctor prescribed some mouthwash to rinse out (?) the yellowness. Please pray for these two things in particular. Thanks, and I really appreciate all the care you all show me. :)

Dear all,

We visited CHLA as outpatient to see Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) doctor and did some blood test.

The liver emzyne number are higher than last week even we stopped all medication.

Tomorrow morning Brian will go to get some blood test again to see if there is any infection or not.

He looks good and is doing fine.

The BMT schedule will be postponed for another week now.

Please keep praying for

1. God's protection on all of Brian's organs without any infection.

2. The ALT, AST and other liver number back to normal soon.

3. The best time to do the procedure- BMT.

4. Pray for the BMT medical team to use their best wisdom to help Brian.

5. May God protect Vivian and Brian before and after BMT.  Best health condition for transplantation.

   And best transition after BMT.  Pray for everything will process smoothly under God's will.

Thank you very much.

God bless us all,

Mark, Anita, Brian & Vivian

Dear families and friends,

Thank you for all of your prayer.
All the regular check up preparations before transplant are done.
We will go home tonight after this 2 bags of blood transfusion.
There are about 12 days to stay at home before the transplant on 11/2.

Please pray
1. All the result of Vivian and Brian's physical check up are normal and in perfect condition to get ready for

    BMT procedure.

2. Good weather for these few weeks to let us enjoy family time.

3. Pray for God's protection, keep all of us, especial Brian and Vivian to be healthy without any infection.

4. May God bring more peace and joy in our heart. Keep the faith on Him. Be strong and courageous.

5. Thanks God will change Brian from B+ student to A+ student through her sister's super A+ blood.

6. Pray for the CHLA BMT medical team. May God give them more wisdom and and couscous caring skill

    to takecare Brian and all the kids in need.

7. May God keep leading Mr. Victory Liu ( we named Brian this special name during last chemo hard time

    when he prayed with daddy victoriously) to be more than a conqueror, a mighty warrior in His kingdom.

In Jesus' precious name we pray, Amen!

God bless us all,

Mark, Anita, Brian & Vivian

You may also check Brian's blog at http://gripoffaith.pixnet.net/blog

We update it daily.  Thanks for your prayer.

各位親愛的弟兄姊妹,
 
感謝大家持續不斷地禱告.
Brian 的身體恢復狀況良好.免疫指數不斷在提升.
昨天和今天密集地做了多項骨髓移植前預備的全身檢查. 現正等這兩袋可以幫助他的紅血球輸完後,今晚就可以出院回家休息.十一月二日再入院作骨髓移植.
 

請密集代禱:
1.Vivian 和Brian 所有的這些體檢結果都是在最佳狀況來為將到的骨髓移植

  作預備.
2.這些日子都能夠有好的天氣 ,讓我們全家都能保持最佳體能並享受優質的

  親子時光.
3.求神保守兄妹的身心靈 健康强壯. 遠離並不受任何感染.
4.給我們全家平靜安穩的心來渡過這段非常時期. 相信美好的應許即將到來.
5.奇妙的主將藉由這次的手續. 將哥哥的B+ 血型變成和妹妹一樣好成績的A+.

  願這轉換的過程一切順利成功.
6.禱告上帝賜更多的智慧給骨髓移植的醫生團隊和護士群,清楚知道如何配藥方

  在所有移植和恢復照顧的過程. 幫助Brian回復百分之百的健康.
7.願 主帶領劉得勝 (Brian 在這次化療十 爸爸替他取的小名)繼續不停得勝

  再得勝. 一生為主大大使用, 榮耀 主的名.
 
感謝禱告奉耶穌基督 得勝的名祈求. 阿們！

God bless us all,

Mark, Anita, Brian & Vivian

Dear families and friends,

Thanks for your prayer.  They didn't find anything wrong in his organ after the ultrasound on 10/11.

Brian's liver function is good.  Just that medication irratated the liver to raise up the ALT and AST number.

They've changed the antibiotic medication from menopenen to cefepime, amd the number is coming down to almost normal now.

Another good news is.....  His white blood cell count climbs up a little bit today.  Doctor said this chemo was combined 2 sections of high dose Arac, that's way the low count stays for longer than before.

Next week, Brian and also Vivian need to draw some blood for a lot of testing.  That's the preparation for the next step-- Bone Marrow transplant.  

Please keep praying harder for all of us.   May God's Rejoice and Peace stay with us all the time.  And only rejoice and peace belong to us, nothing else to bother us.

Philippians 4 [NIV] 4,6-7

     Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

     Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

    And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Numbers 6 [NIV]

The LORD bless you and keep you,

the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you,

the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.

In Jesus name, Amen!

God bless you and us all,

Mark, Anita, Brian & Vivian

You may also check Brian's blog at http://gripoffaith.pixnet.net/blog

We update it daily.  Thanks for your prayer.

感謝各位的禱告. Brian的超音波結果一切正常. 醫生認為是抗生素的因素干擾肝化酶指數.

經更換不同抗生素後, 其指數已見降至正常.

另一好消息是 他的白血球指數今天有些微上揚了. 下周可望漸回升.

 下周起Brian 和Vivian 將有一些抽血檢驗 為下一階段的骨髓移植做準備.

懇請為一切程序順利成功禱告.

        願主的平安和喜樂充滿我們全家人的心思意念.

(民 6:24-26)『願耶和華賜福給你，保護你。

                     願耶和華使他的臉光照你，賜恩給你。

                     願耶和華向你仰臉，賜你平安。』

(腓 4:4,6-7)你們要靠主常常喜樂。我再說，你們要喜樂。

                 應當一無掛慮，只要凡事藉著禱告、祈求，和感謝，將你們所要的告訴神。

                 神所賜、出人意外的平安必在基督耶穌裡保守你們的心懷意念。

感謝禱告奉主耶穌基督得勝的名, 阿門!

God bless you and us all,

Mark, Anita, Brian & Vivian

The ultrasound procedure went well, I think. The procedure itself wasn't too bad, but the not eating part -shudders- ugh, that was the worst part of the whole process. I hadn't had anything to eat or drink since midnight, so when I first woke up it felt like I had been traveling through the desert for days on end. I asked my nurse if I absolutely, positively couldn't have ANYTHING to drink, and she finally relented and said I could have a tiny sip of water. Let me tell you, when you haven't had water for over nine hours, that one sip is like finding a geyser in the middle of a desert, on the hottest day of summer. In response to this thought, my dad pointed to one of the Bible verse posters that my mom had put up some time. It was John 6:35, which says
And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
This verse helped me to cope with my NPO status, which lasted until shortly after lunchtime.
So the doctor came in a while ago, and reported that there was nothing wrong with my liver, and that they were going to change one of my antibiotics to another medication that was closely related to what I had an allergic reaction wayy back in December. This worried me at first, but I received the first dose of it this afternoon, and nothing unusual came of it, so praise God for that!

Brian

There might be something weird going on with my liver. My counts for AST and ALT (dunno what they stand for, just know it has to do with liver enzymes) are abnormally high today. Normal counts for them are 15-46 and 3-35, respectively, but as of today they were 212 and 825. The doctors are thinking that this might be caused by some of the antibiotics, so they've decided to send me to do an ultrasound tomorrow morning. Please pray that the results are favorable to hear, and that my white blood cell counts will rise quickly.
Also, I feel like there was a disturbance in the Force today. And by the Force, I mean the atmosphere in the room. It was like something had bypassed the spiritual defenses that we had set up around the room. My dad felt it too. It wasn't something necessarily evil, just not of the Lord. It just felt unnatural to me. Maybe I'm being paranoid, but I think the devil may be trying to tear down my faith by sending unnatural spirits into the room against me. So please pray for that as well, that my soul can once again be at rest and this disturbance no longer trouble me.

Brian

In my daily devotions this morning, I read that God cares about every aspect of our lives, down to the smallest facet. Jesus fed the crowd of thousands out of compassion for them. God has divine compassion for us, and what we're going through. That brings peace to my soul, knowing that God cares about even the slightest detail of my life. This means that He even knows about everything going on inside my body, which even I can't see. But this makes even more sense when paired with yesterday's devotions, which was that God is in control. Even in the most dire of times, God still controls the details of our lives. Comforting, isn't it?
I also read a book suggested by my mom, written by Joel Osteen's mother, Dodie Osteen, titled Healed of Cancer. In 1981, she was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Reading her book, I realized that much of what she felt at the time of her diagnosis was very similar to my experiences, if not exactly the same. Apparently, she had always been healthy, very rarely getting sick, and one day she knelt down to pray for a lady and discovered that she couldn't get up afterwards. She had to crawl over to a chair to pick herself up, and even that took a lot of effort. When she finally went to a doctor to find out what was going on with her internally. The possibility of cancer had never once popped into her mind. Once the medical reports came out, the doctors gave her only a few weeks left to live. they had given up all hope for her. But she and her family stayed faithful. When I read up to there, I noticed a few similarities. Actually, a LOT of similarities. First, cancer was not in my everyday vocabulary. To me, it was just something you read about in books like Chicken Soup for the Soul, or the plot device in movies. I had never imagined that I would one day get cancer. Then, there's the report. When I was first diagnosed, the reports were very discomforting. There was even a doctor who just kept repeating the words, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." The medical staff had all but given up hope. But not my family, blood-related or faith-related. You all stayed in faith and prayed for me, believing that this was not my end. Dodie Osteen still lives today, as do I, thanks to the prayers of my blood-related and church family.
So yesterday's blood transfusion went well. No side effects, no hives, no fevers, all good. :)
Joyce and Eric came to see how I was doing today- I mean, tonight. Well, since Eric was the driver, I guess he's to blame for the bad timing. Jk, Eric! They also brought with them a card that Feast signed. Thanks, guys!It feels good to know that I'm supported by my church family. :D
My blood counts at the moment are unknown (they only give out the blood reports on Monday-Wednesday-Friday), but tomorrow when the reports are disclosed to us we'll let y'all know. Pray for my blood counts to come up to a healthy number again, and quickly. Also, pray for Jake's family, that they would be able to find a suitable donor for his BMT procedure. Thanks, and God bless!

Brian