Progress Report on Mark

Kathy and I just spent an extended conference weekend with Mark in LDS Hospital in Salk Lake City. Suzanne and Jon Subaitani were there as well and nurtured him so tenderly. Mark loves the presence of family – O, how he loves family to be right there with him. Fortunately, with Michelle and her family so close and with his own family members who plan visits to be with him, as well as other extended family members and many dear friends who are close or travel to be with him, he receives constant attention for which we are grateful.

He has completed his first regimen of chemo therapy, and tests show that as a result, he is in remission. A second regimen was scheduled to follow. However, several side effects from the chemo and other meds he has been taking have kept his very competent medical team doing what they do so well, managing crisis after crisis. Because he is in remission, the current plan is to get him past his last lingering problem of painful fluid accumulation in his lower abdomen so he can go straight to bone marrow transplants. His tests show that his vital organs are in excellent shape. He looks really good, even bald, and his spirits are high except for the persisting pain in his stomach.

His brother Brett, who has tested to be a perfect match to be Mark’s bone marrow donor, will fly in to Salt Lake City for final screening tests on the 10th of April. When satisfactory screen test results are in and Mark is over his stomach pain, the plan is to go straight into the bone marrow transplant program, which includes 8 days of special chemo and radiation treatment followed on the 9th day by the bone marrow extraction from Brett and the transfusion of it into Mark. With new cancer-free bone marrow matriculating through his circulatory system, a whole new cancer-free immune system will re-develop within Mark’s own bone structure.

We have been clearly advised by Mark’s doctors of the hazards that accompany the “transplant” route, but they are undaunted, and we are clearly aware of the Lord’s tender mercies that have sustained him and his doctors to this point and we only anticipate those blessings will continue. The fasting and prayers from so many have not gone unnoticed by the Lord, and the continuing faithful prayers for the success of Brett’s screenings and the abatement of Mark’s pain so the bone marrow transplants can proceed will be so deeply appreciated.