March 30, 2023 - Confirmed

     I had a video conference with the doctor from Mayo Clinic late yesterday afternoon and he confirmed that I do have active multiple myeloma. 
     Here’s the expected treatment schedule:
     For the next four months I will have chemotherapy, which will consist of a pill and an injection once a week.
     About the middle of August I will return to Rochester for a stem cell transplant.  The stem cells will be taken from my blood, cleansed, and placed back in my blood.  The procedure will be somewhat similar to dialysis.  During this time I will be given a major dose of chemotherapy.  I will be in Rochester for 3-4 weeks as the doctors monitor my blood and vital signs.
     After returning home I will be given the same chemotherapy regimen as before the stem cell transplant.  At some point, the Lord willing as in all of this, I will move to maintenance, which would likely be a chemotherapy pill weekly.
     Here’s my response to yesterday’s news and the projected treatments.
     Some scripture came to my remembrance not long after the almost hour-long video conference with the doctor. 1 Thessalonians 5:16 “Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
     Honestly the part of this passage that came to my heart was simply the phrase “give thanks in all circumstances.”
     A couple of notes here.  Paul doesn’t say to give thanks FOR the circumstances, but IN the circumstances.  God’s will is to give thanks in the circumstances.  The circumstances could be far from the will of God.  The school shooting in Nashville was not the will of God.
     I have much to be thankful for in this circumstance. 
● I have a family and a church who loves me and who stand in prayer for me.
● I am blessed to be getting cutting edge medical treatment.
● Though no one would look forward to them, the treatments do not appear to be as invasive as I have envisioned.
● There is some thought that I may very well have had smoldering multiple myeloma as far back as a CT scan may have indicated in 2012. What a wonderful gift from God that the last 11 years I have been free from worrying about a condition that could have (and finally did) become active.
● The diagnosis could have been far worse.
● There is the same peace in my heart that I have had from the beginning of all of this. 
     That’s the tip of the iceberg of what I could write about being thankful in this circumstance.