The Hunters’ and Teachers for Africa Report from Namibia

Easter, 2007 He is Risen! 5 A.M.  here in Namibia. Time to leave for the sunrise service. Over the last weeks it has been difficult not knowing if I had some kind of cancer or what kind of cancer it was. It has been a relief in some ways to finally know what we are dealing with. Dr.  David Shafer, a friend and internal medicine MD, who works at the University of Texas Health Care Center in Tyler called last night and agrees that it does look like Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia (WM) and not Multiple Myeloma because of the high IgM levels, one of the most significant indicators in WM. If it is, it is much better than Multiple Myeloma. WM is a slow acting form of cancer which affects the amount of plasma cells my body produces. It makes too many plasma cells and thickens my blood which can cause all sorts of symptoms none of which I presently have. It could be that even untreated I will not have symptoms for many years. While serious and presently incurable it is treatable. Sometime after April 18 Suzanne and I will be going to Capetown to see one of the leading Hematologists, Prof. Jacobs. at University of Capetown. He has a great amount of clinical experience in his field. We will know more about what to expect and what kind of treatment might be good now or later after meeting with him. So pray for wisdom on his part. Before we begin any treatment we will get second and even third opinions. Having our son, Christian MD, PhD, who is working as a resident at one of the Harvard Medical School hospitals in Boston, Women and Brighams, where the Dana Farber Cancer research center is, is a tremendous resource to get the very best advice before we begin any treatment. It is good that we found out that I have this extremely rare condition very early so we can keep a watch on it and deal with it before I get sick from it. I am attaching some info on WM if you want to know more.

He is risen indeed, John and Suzanne

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