Pastoral Care

Treatment Starts!

I had a busy day today. From 9 am until almost 2 pm I was in the EMG clinic having tests on my nerves and muscles. I’ll get a full report tomorrow but basically my body is attacking the myelin surrounding my nerves. That accounts for the pain and loss of function.

After I got back to the room about 2 pm a doctor came and explained where we are. They believe I have a variant of Guillon-Barre syndrome. However, they aren’t sure and the possibility of lymphoma still exists.

My medical team recommended we start treatment now since my condition continues to deteriorate. So today I began a series of 5 treatments to remove antibodies from my blood. This is called plasma pheresis.

This procedure lasts almost 2 hours and involves running all my blood through a process that removes antibodies and replaces them with albumin to keep the volume of blood the same. I’ll have a treatment every other day until I have 5.

Additional tests might include another spinal tap, a PET scan, and waiting for blood panels to come back. A chaplain came by and prayed for me today, which is what I would ask you to do also. We are confident in God’s grace and mercy, and your prayers sustain us during this time.

19 thoughts on “Treatment Starts!”

  1. I my goodness. I am so sorry. We will stop right now and pray. I can’t get there until Friday. Hopefully Jerry can sooner.

    Nancy

    Sent from my iPhone

  3. Your situation gets stranger and stranger as the days go by. I continue to pray for you and Debbie and for the doctors trying to determine the cause of all your symptoms. Judy

    Sent from my iPhone

  5. Chuck- Just got on your blog site, but we have been keeping up with you by word of mouth in Chatham. We were at the second Lenten dinner when Debbie told everyone about your condition. The day before we left for Fla we talked to Betty D and she caught us up to date. Today I got past postings so -as they say- “now we know the story”. Jeannette and I want you to know we are thinking about you and praying for your recovery. STAY TUFF. ED and Jeannette

  6. Praying for you each day! I will continue to pay attention to the updates. I thought I could get by there tomorrow, but I have family going through some difficulties as well. It sounds like a hard day for you and rest is needed!

  9. beginning to sound like you’re getting closer to knowing what’s going on … and hopefully that will be the beginning of recovery .. . praying as requested

  10. Prayers for you and any support for your girls if they need to be by your side! Such a series of twists and turns. I truly pray for you every single evening!

    May God heal your body and soul.

    May your pain cease,

    May your strength increase,

    May your fears be released,

    May blessings, love, and joy surround you.

    Amen.

  11. Wow! God’s grace indeed is sufficient through every journey of our lives! Am encouraged with your strength,I pray that God’s peace, word, strength and abiding presence sees you through and it is well with you my brother

  12. You have been on our prayer list at Mill Creek and we will continue to lift prayers for you.

  13. Please know that the Moseley/Davis/Allen clan is all lifting you up in prayer. May the Lord pour out His grace on you.

  16. Please know the Schmotzer/Culver/Mathes clans continue to pray for you and your family.

  17. Chuck, I actually ran into your work while searching for sermon data, and was gratified by your work on “What kind of King did you expect?” Though I don’t pastor a small church, (sometimes I confess, I wish I did!) I benefit greatly from your work, and the level of insight you have. And then I ran into your blog just today, find you in this situation; I feel like a friend has been hit, even though I’ve never met you. Know you have been added to our prayer chain, and many folks will be adding their voices to those already in front of the throne…God Bless you my friend.
    Pastor Bruce Newton, Sierra Pines Church, Oakhurst california.
    sierrapineschurch.com

  19. So sorry that you are going through these trials. But, know God is with you. We are praying for a full recovery.

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