January 30, 2008

A Note from Dr. Cook

From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank you for your prayers. Please know that God is answering my prayers and your prayers for my health. I feel that I am getting better every day.

I went to the doctor yesterday, and my white blood cells have finally moved to 1.2. Over the last 10 days, when I had the blood tests on my last three visits, they were at 0.4. So the doctor seemed quite pleased that they are now moving in the right direction, and he feels they will continue to go up. So I want to ask you for your continued prayers for my white blood cells to go up to a normal range. The normal range is 4.5-11.0. The white blood cells relate to the immunity system.

I also want to thank you for praying for my blood platelets. As you may remember from an earlier update, they had gotten down to 13,000, and I had to have a blood platelet transfusion a week ago. They are now up to 98,000, and I am so pleased. The average is 130,000-350,000. So the doctor said that these are moving in the right direction too, and that is so good. My red blood cells had gone down some to 2.84 and this relates to my energy, but they are basically just pretty stable at this point, but they need to be up to 4.5-5.9.

I have been reading a book by Dr. Henry Blackaby and Dr. Norman Blackaby entitled, Experiencing Prayer with Jesus. I am so pleased that Dr. Norm Blackaby is now one of our DBU professors. I want to share a quote with you from their book.

“Jesus urged these disciples to always pray and never lose heart (Luke 18:1), to “cry out day and night” to God (18:7), and to keep asking and seeking and knocking with confident assurance of the Father’s loving heart (Matthew 7:7-11).

This is such a wonderful book, and this particular passage has been helpful to me as I have asked and sought and knocked, and as I have cried out day and night to the Lord for healing. When I wake up in the night, I ask the Lord for healing. When I get up in the morning, I ask the Lord for healing. When I go to bed at night, I ask the Lord for healing. Throughout the day, I ask the Lord for healing, and I just feel that He is going to answer my prayers and your prayers for my health to be restored. I must say that there have been days when I have nearly lost heart, but I know Jesus has urged us to pray and never lose heart, and I have asked him to keep me optimistic and positive. He has certainly given me peace, and for that, I am most grateful.

So I just wanted you to know that I am doing better and I surely would appreciate your continued prayers. The next step will be one more day of chemo in about three to four weeks, and then I should be finished with chemotherapy. About a month later in April, the doctor will do a bone marrow biopsy, and after the tests come back, we will know if I am in remission. I do believe the Lord has done and is doing a miracle in my life. Thank you for being a part of my journey and my life. And thank you for your prayers, encouragement, and love.

Sincerely,

Gary Cook