Wednesday, September 3, 2008

MICHAEL ARMSTRONG UPDATE

Many in family, church, and friends have been praying for my son in law, Michael Armstrong. The following is an email sent out to our church family by my daughter, Tina. I wanted to pass it along to you:

Michael wanted me to thank you all for the card. It came on the perfect day. He had a rough day yesterday after being at the hospital all day & dealing with insurance stuff. I had went home for the weekend, and as soon as I returned to Durham yesterday & walked in our door Michael held up his card & said, "This came just in time." It cheered him up. I also gave him the little card & flowers that the kids made him, & that just topped it off. We have a wall of cards in our apartment. The extra special ones, usually from our 2 neices & Zachary, go on one particular side of the wall. Those 2 cards are in his special section now. Wanted to update you on Michaels condition. He's doing really well. His counts are looking really good. His white blood cells are in normal range. Yeay! He's getting a little more energy each day. He's a skinny boy now though. "Anorexia" is one of the side effects. I need Dan to come down here for a few days & fatten him up. :-) I'm going to work with him on his appetite this week. One little speed bump...One of the potential side effects of Bone Marrow & Stem Cell transplants is Graft versus Host disease. It happens in about 50% of transplant patients when the patient starts rejecting the donor cells. It starts out as a rash, and can be contained to just a rash, or can spread to other organs. Over the weekend, Michael started getting a rash. Ughh! But we knew this was a possibility going in. They are giving him steroids to keep hold of it. Please pray that the steroids work, but also that MIchael does not become immune to the steroids which would hurt him in the long run. The doctors assure us they have options for every possible scenario. But I just ask for specific prayer that he continues to progress, but that he doesn't become immune to any steroid or antibiotic they are giving him. I'm beleiving that he won't, but I am his wife, so sometimes the fear creeps in. No Worries!!! The good news is, Graft Versus Host Disease confirms that the transplant is working...Michael is fighting these foreign stem cells of his brother that are entering his body. So although they want it controlled, it's not necessarily a bad thing. We asked the doctors today how they think his progress is, and they said good. He's right on track. They said even GVHD is very common & not necessarily a detour, just a little speed bump. They are not even positive that it will delay things. We've been asking when he'll get to come home. Could be by the end of the month, could be sometime in October. Trust me, he's living for that day right now! Thanks for all of your prayers for both Michael & myself. As I was driving down the road last week I thought "Hmmm...I haven't had a breakdown or a good old cry session in a while." ...and I know it must be prayers lifting me up & making me strong. So know your prayers are working. And we'll be back soon, so save our spot at church. You know what they say about church people & where they sit...don't go there! :-) Besides, I hear little Em-Em is making sure that's covered. Tina Armstrong

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