Prayer Request & Bone Marrow Update

KIM UPDATE

As I mentioned before the last couple nights were tough. Kim has to take a shot after every chemo round called Nuelasta which is a drug that allows her white blood cell count to rebound quicker - making her less vulnerable to infection. However, this drug has some nasty side effects including something they call "bone soreness" which makes you feel like you've literally been hit by a truck. This soreness is so bad that Kim will not let me touch her because she is so sensitive from the pain and she has been tossing and turning at night, moaning. I feel helpless and it's so humbling. I'd give her some Tylenol PM but it does very little. That said, I ran across this verse this morning and it really spoke to me:

"You have kept count of my tossings, put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?" -Psalm 56:8

Wow. The Lord actually counts the number of times we toss in our restless sleep and He collects each tear into His bottle and He records them all in His book. He is not ignorant of one aiota of our suffering - He knows it all. I am understanding how God resolves the Problem of Pain (see HERE) but I was reminded of this again in a powerful way. I wonder what He is planning on doing with this record? Will He reveal it to us in Heaven one day so we might stand in wonder of the stark contrast from grief to joy? From pain to pleasure? From suffering to ecstasy? I wonder...

"He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." -Revelation 21:4

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BONE MARROW UPDATE (PLEASE READ!)
If you're still on the fence with bone marrow donation or not motivated to do more - you need to watch this:

Utterly heart-breaking - she has two months to find a match or she will die.


Asian Sponsorship
I recently became aware (from a kind reader) that there is a foundation called A3M (www.a3mhope.org) which allows bone marrow donors that are Asian or even part-Asian to register for free (they sponsor the cost). If you have not registered please do so HERE. There site is fantastic and it provides info on everything including running your own drive.

Already Registered?
I know many of you have already registered years ago. If so, please make sure your records are up to date so the national registry can contact you if they find a match. Call the national registry at 1-800-627-7692 option 5 to confirm that they still have your records and the date of registration and more importantly so that they can update your contact info if they need find a match and need to get a hold of you. Once you have registered you never have to re-register or refresh your HLA type information. It doesn't change. You could call the donor center (888-298-6375 x3590) and have them send you their HLA type info to share with a specific doctor to check for a match, but once you are on the registry the doctors should (in time) be able to identify a match. 

College Drives
My cousin, Ray who has been staying with us for the last couple weeks is a Wheaton alumn and has been making great progress in getting Wheaton College involved in a campus-wide Bone Marrow Drive. This is ideal because the best candidates for bone marrow donation are between the ages of 18-30. Please pray that this happens and happens soon! He registered recently and (would you believe it?!?) he got a call a couple days ago that they may have found a match! He was so thrilled he was in tears. Conversely, I heard from my friend Joe, that Andrew had found a match (perfect 8 of 8 categories) however, the person that has the marrow he needs is not responding to their calls. This is so sad. If you register - please consider it an awesome privilege if you are in fact selected. It is a rare honor and we should all pray for it. 

Drives in Northern New Jersey
Lastly, another reader has informed me of a few drives that will be taking place in Northern New Jersey soon. So if any of you are in that area - please check out the times and locations below and take that first step in potentially saving a life.

Site #1: 2/19 @4pm-5pm
Grace Community Chapel- South Brunswick
(St. Barnabas Church)
142 Sand Hill Road Monmouth Junction, NJ 08852

Site #2: 2/19 @7pm-8pm
Grace Community Chapel- Bergen County
(First United Methodist Church)
62 Cedar St. Ridgefield Park, NJ 07660

Site #3: 2/16 @ 9:15pm-9:45pm and 11:30pm-12am
Rutgers University KCF
SERC Reading Room
Science and Engineering Resource Center
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
118 Frelinghuysen Road
Piscataway, New Jersey 08854-8019

In His Grace,

Peter & Kim