thebeckfamilystory

Greg home and recuperating

thebeckfam — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 22:39:51 +0000

Greg is now home and recuperating, and prayerfully, the worst is over. He is gaining strength daily, but is currently unemployed, with no income and no health insurance. Family members in San Diego are currently planning a fundraising event to take place within the next few weeks – details will be posted on this blog as they become available. Praise God for His mercy and His provision, and thank you all for your love and support!!

Day +5

thebeckfam — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 15:50:34 +0000

This is where it gets bad. Days five through ten are ugly. Greg is in constant pain. His digestive tract is all messed up and he feels plain awful. They are doing everything they can do to control the symptoms. He can’t eat, so he is starting TPN (IV nutrition). His immune cells have zeroed out now. He got a platelet transfusion yesterday. So far, his red blood cells are hanging in there, but they will also crash. His white blood cells are almost gone as well. He has several days of pure hell to get through and your prayers are needed.

We are claiming in the name of Jesus, that he will have a complete healing from all of this suffering.

God Bless you all,

Greg and Colleen

Day Minus One

thebeckfam — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 16:03:22 +0000

This time around is a lot tougher to deal with. The nausea and headaches and bone aches are constant companions. Greg has no appetite. He’s taking pain killers and anti-nausea meds around the clock which only make a small dent in his symptoms. The night nurse we had last night was a witch with a B. She was loud and obnoxious and argumentative. She would leave the lights on for extended periods so no one got any sleep. Nurse Ratchett comes to mind. I want to see who I can talk to about not getting her again. Maybe if enough people complain she will be reassigned to the morgue where no one has to deal with her.

Hard to believe a year ago today, Greg was having MAJOR surgery. His body has gone through the ringer this year. Its amazing what the body can take. You wonder where the breaking point is. The GOOD news is that his AFP counts (they are tumor markers and show tumor activity) are now a 3. Between 0 and 6 is normal, so he is well within the normal range. PRAISE the LORD!

All your prayers are so very important to us. Thank you all for your prayer support. We also thank all of those who have been able to help us out financially. We have no income right now and loads of outgo. God will provide…somehow….though right now we don’t know how. Starting next month, we will have to pay for COBRA insurance out of pocket because he is terminated with his company for the time being.

A run down of what comes next:

Today is what they call a “rest” day. They are flushing the remaining chemo out of his system with high flow saline IV. Tomorrow afternoon, (day zero) they will transfuse his previously collected stem cells back into his body. He’ll be very tired from this and probably sleep most of the rest of the day. In the days that follow the rest of his blood will die off and all his counts will crash leaving him weak and sick and without an immune system. Somewhere around day “plus eight”, his stem cells will begin to graft and make blood cells. In the meantime, he will receivc blood products, ie platelets and packed red blood cells. It will take until about day “plus 15″ for his blood counts to get to a level high enough to go home.

That’s all for now. If you are following this blog…please leave your comments and well wishes for Greg.

God Bless and ALL our LOVE,

Greg and Colleen

Prayer Bracelets

thebeckfam — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 01:55:46 +0000

I have three of the prayer bracelets left. Suggested donation of $20.00 each. Greg is on unpaid leave so every little bit helps!

Ding Ding….Round Two Begins.

thebeckfam — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 01:53:26 +0000

Hi friend. Well….we’re back in for round two. He got his central line in this evening and they will start him on fluids at 10 p.m. Tomorrow he starts the high-dose chemo for three days….then rest two days…then they will do the transplant infusion. Please keep him in your prayers. He will be in the hospital for three weeks. We ♥ you all.

Home for a week now….

thebeckfam — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 01:02:22 +0000

Greg is doing pretty darn good…unless he overdoes it, which we all know he does! If he takes it easy, he does very well. He will be going to work beginning September 4th, driving 7 hours to Odessa. He’ll be on that job until September 30th. On October 3rd, he will be admitted back into the hospital for the second half of the Tandem Transplant Treatment.

Please continue to pray for him as his strength is not what it should really be to go back to work. Also, his immune system is that of an infant, so he is at risk of infection. I am worried that he’ll overdo it (nah, not Greg!) and get sick.

The doctor said that he is ahead of the curve in his recovery from the first high dose chemo/transplant cycle. His blood counts are coming back quite nicely as well. Your prayers are working!!!

Love and Hugs to you all from all us Becks

Greg gets to go home on MONDAY!

thebeckfam — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 20:05:10 +0000

His counts are finally coming up, meaning his stem cells are well grafted. He has started feeling a bit stronger and better in the last couple of days. We will be so glad to have him home…YAY! He will probably be home for about four or five weeks before he goes in for the second (and final) round of High-Dose chemo followed by his second bone marrow transplant. Please keep on praying and also for rain. We love you all!

The Becks

Day +9

thebeckfam — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 16:08:36 +0000

The past few days have been really tough on Greg. He’s had fevers, diarrhea, mouth sores, muscle aching, stomach cramping, nausea and vomiting. He said its like the worst flu ever x 100. He is trying to sleep through much of it, but you all know you can’t sleep in a hospital. His counts are still at the bottom and he’s been getting platelets and red blood cells. They expect them to start climbing any day as the stem cells graft into his bone marrow. Each day we watch his blood counts, looking for that slight upward movement. Friends, please keep praying and commenting. These things are uplifting to his day and mine.

On the homefront, Ilona and granddaughter, Kayla are holding down the fort. We still have had no rain and the grass has all died. Please pray for rain or for us to locate some affordable hay. I don’t think there is any hay to be found in Texas. This has truly been a hellish summer in so many ways. Please Lord…send us some rain.

Day +5

thebeckfam — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 19:03:43 +0000

It is day five after transplant. Greg’s blood counts are crashing hard. He has flu-like symptoms including diarrhea and vomiting off and on. He has sores in his mouth so besides having no appetite, it hurts to eat. He’s easily winded again and just feels awful. His stem cells wll hopefully begin to graft and produce cells in the next two to three days. In the meantime, he is reliant on blood transfusions to keep him alive. We went for a short walk outside for some fresh air and he feels like he ran a marathon. His immune system is now zeroed out. Hopefully once his cells graft, they will begin to build up and he will feel better. He may be able to go home a week from today. He does get on the computer each day and your comments and well wishes would lift his spirits. God Bless Ya’ll
Greg and Colleen

Day Zero

thebeckfam — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 20:34:01 +0000

They call this day zero. It is the day of his auto transplant and the beginning of his body’s ability to rebuild. He still has some bad days ahead as his blood levels haven’t reached the bottom yet. The transplant went without a hitch and he is resting now. Please continue to pray for his recovery and his patience with his recovery.
All my love to you all,
Colleen