May 26th, 2006

First off, thanks for your prayers. We serve a great God and He inhabits the prayers of His people. Your prayers bring me a health and strength that is indescribable. ONLY GOD.

A lot has happened in the last couple of weeks. I’ll be brief with my update as my time is limited, but I want to get something out to you all, since many of you have heard something is going on.

My Leukemia has changed from being in a chronic phase to going to a blast stage. Blast phase is when the disease gets much more aggressive. I have started a new trial drug that appears to be controlling the leukemia and getting it back into remission (chronic phase). We will know more results in a couple of weeks, but it is doing a great job so far. Getting the disease stabilized to the chronic stage is a really big advantage in treating it.

My short term goal is to get the Leukemia into remission and get me as healthy as possible. Both remission and stabilization appear to be going well with a lot of hard work. Barbara and I anticipate getting through this phase in a matter of a few weeks. Once stabilized, then the only option for long life without constant leukemia treatment is to have a stem cell transplant. That is the path Barbara and I are choosing at this point.

Stem cell transplants are much less brutal when the disease is in the chronic stage. There is much less radiation and chemotherapy in preparation for the donor cells. The two major concerns of a stem cell transplant are infection and donor/host disease. Donor/host disease is when the body wants to reject the new cells. Both concerns are far less when the leukemia is in remission.

Please pray first for God’s will to be done. It is so hard to see His will when you are in the trenches. I feel we are doing what He wants and continually am praying that we are following Him.

Pray that this trial drug will work to a remission. Pray that a stem cell donor match will be found. I am being typed by the Red Cross now and my Sister is going in Tuesday to see if she is a match.

Thank you again for your prayers and kind words. What a blessing they are to me.