cesta údolím :: walking through the valley

Mili pratele,

Dear friends,

za posledni dva tydny se udala spousta veci, ktere jsme neplanovali a tak jsem chtel pockat, az tim obdobim projdeme a pak teprve napsat dalsi zpravu. Konec listopadu jsme ocekavali se smisenymi pocity oslav a obav zaroven. 

Last two weeks have been full of expected and unexpected twists that made me wait for a while before writing another update.End of November was packed with quite a few important dates:

November 24th - 23 mesicu v remisi / 23. month in remission

November 26th -  Den dikuvzdani / Thanksgiving (dinner nr. 1)

November 27th - kontrola u doktora /doctors appointment

November 28th - Den dikuvzdani / Thanksgiving (dinner nr. 2) 

November 30th - 4 roky od diagnozy leukemie / 4 years since diagnosed with leukemia 

Zhruba uprostred listopadu me zacalo bolet v krku. Mel jsem teplotu, nemohl jsem polykat, tak jsem sel na ORL. Ja si rikam, “jsem nemocny, boli me v krku.” Jane si rika, “Martin je nemocny, ono se mu to vratilo”. Tak v teto atmosfere jsme prezivali asi 10 dni.

Prvni antibiotika nezabrala, dostal jsem jiny, ty byly silnejsi a lepsi, ale ta dalsi davka uz zas nic moc. Za ty roky uzivani prasku, je uz moje telo dost odolne a ne vsechny normalni prasky zabiraji. 

A few weeks ago, about mid-November I got a sore throat. I had a fever, I couldn’t swallow, and I had to go see an ear-nose-throat doctor.  I was thinking,”I have a sore throat”. Jane was thinking “Oh no, Martin is sick, it came back.” That pretty much sums up the atmosphere of our home for the next 10 days.

The first prescription of antibiotics was too weak and didn’t work. The second one of different kind of helped, and it seemed like my body was already resilliant to the third pack. After all the pills I have taken in the last four years, some of the “normal” stuff just won’t work anymore.  

Jen par dni potom co jsem se uzdravil, Sofia prinesla nejaky bacil ze skoly a nejen ze byla nemocna sama, ale chytla to i Jane. Obe se snazili nebyt nemocne, ale jako naschval na Den dikuvzdani uz byly obe v posteli a nemocne. Takze na spolecnou veceri nasich domacich skupinek ze sboru jsme sli ja a Mia - Cech, ktery Den dikuvzdani neslavi a Mia, ktere je pet let a moc z toho krome sladkosti nema! Moc jsme si uzili spolecny vecer s kamarady a prejedli se vyborneho jidla!! 

A few days after I got better, Sofia brought home some virus from school, and Jane got sick, too. Unfortunately for both of them, by Thursday night they had crashed. They couldn’t make it to Thanksgiving dinner with our dear friends from our church. So Mia and I, represented our family. I am a Czech, and Mia is five. :-) We had a great time with our friends and the food was delicious!!!!!

Jane se neuzdravila ani na velkou sobotni party s krocanem, kterou poradali jeji kamaradi a spolupracovnici ze skoly. Byla moc smutna, ze letos nemohla byt ani na jedne oslave, na kterou se tak tesila. Nakonec, diky pomoci nasich kamaradu, jsme si udelali vlastni rodinny Den dikuvzdani v pyzamech.

Jane got even worse, so we missed the second Thanksgiving celebration party on Saturday with her friends and colleagues from work. She was really bummed about missing Thanksgiving altogether this year. So at least, with some help of our friends we had a small, pajama style Thanksgiving. We do have so much to be thankful for

Pri vsech tech planech na oslavy jsem mel skoro pocit, ze bych se mel omluvit u doktora z me patecni kontroly, protoze to jaksi nestiham.. Delam si srandu, to bych si nedovolil. 

I almost called my Leukemia doctor to reschedule my check-up appointment on Friday because our plans for Thanksgiving were so busy, that I didn’t have time to go to see him. Of course, i am kidding...

Krev je cista a protoze zatim nikdo nevolal, tak asi i vzorek kostni drene je bez nalezu!!

Chvala Bohu, je to Jeho milost mit zivot prodlouzeny o 23 mesicu!!

Dalsi kontrola je na konci unora. Dneska zacinam dalsi cyklus 15 denni udrzovaci chemoterapie. Tu posledni bych mel mit v breznu pristiho roku. 

The blood results are clear, and since they didn’t call, I assume the bone marrow sample is clear too!!!!!!!!  Praising God,  for by His mercy my life is extended by 23 months of this last remission!!!!  My next appointment is at the end of February. I am starting another round of chemo pills for 15 days today. Hopefully the last round will be in March 2016.

Tezko uverit, ze uz to jsou ctyri roky, co jsem byl prijat do nemocnice, zacal chemoterapii. Naivne jsem si myslel, ze je to jen na par dni a tak jsem ze zacatku tvrdil, ze si vezmu v praci dovolenou, abych nemusel na nemocenskou.. Nevedel jsem kolik bolesti a neprijemnosti me ceka, ale kdyz se ohlednu, nemenil bych. Zazil jsem momenty kdy Buh promenil nejhlubsi udoli za krasny rozhled z vrcholu hory. Jeho pritomnost a laska dosahla az na skryta mista me duse. Vysledkem je uplne nova zivotni etapa a okolnosti, ktere nam davaji vice duvodu duverovat v Bozi plan pro nase dalsi kroky. Touzim po tom, abych znal Boha vice, uzival si vice nas osobni vztah a nesnazil se kontrolovat veci, ktere ani kontrolovat nemuzu. Cim jsem starsi, tim vice si uvedomuji, jaky poklad mame ve vanocni zprave o prichodu Immanuela. Jezis mel tuto prezdivku, aby kazdy vedel ze On byl Buh v lidskem tele, ktery se prisel zaplest do nasich zamotanych, casto bolestivych zivotu a dat nam nadeji.. To On je opravdovy Dar!

It is hard to believe, that it was four years ago, that I was in the hospital, getting my first chemo, thinking I will be out of there in a few days, using my vacation days to cover my absence from work. I was pretty naive then, lots of pain was ahead, but I wouldn’t trade it. I got to experience how God can turn the deepest valley into an mountain view. God’s presence and his love have reached into the hidden corners of my soul. As a result our circumstances have changed, but we are anchored in Him, trusting Him for what will happen next. It affirmed my desire for knowing God more, enjoy our relationship and to give up on control over things I don’t control. As I am getting older, Christmas is a really special celebration. “Immanuel” - for centuries people were waiting, and we get to experience it - God came in a human body, as Jesus Christ, to get involved with our messy lives. What a gift!

Od nedele uz mame ozdobeny stromecek. Nevim jak se to stalo, ale letos mame ten nejvetsi stromek co jsme kdy meli. Ale pral bych vam videt Miu, kdyz jsme stromek zdobili - ta radost se neda slovy popsat.. Darky zatim pod stromeckem nejsou, ale myslim ze jich tam par bude at uz 24. vecer nebo i 25. rano!! 

If you walked into our living room, you couldn’t miss our Christmas tree. Not for a particular reason, but this year we picked the tallest tree we ever had. Decorating it with a 5 year old - words don’t describe the joy and excitement.. No gifts under the tree yet, but I am sure that on the 24th and 25th there might be one or two..

Buh nam neskutecne zehna! Nejsme sami. Prozivame Bozi pokoj. Verime v Boha, ktery nas ma rad, a mame vas kteri jste nam blizci. Nic nam nechybi. Ucime se duverovat Bohu a nebat se toho co prijde.. 

We are blessed. We are not alone. We have God who loves us, and we have you, who care. We don’t lack anything. We are still learning not to worry, but to trust Him. 

Preji Vam vsem to same - Bozi pritomnost a pokoj od toho, kdo ma prezdivku Immanuel. 

May you experience God’s peace this Christmas!!

Martin