Hi Everyone:
Many people are always asking how Mike is doing so we decided to do a blog to follow his journey of faith and wellness. It has been a very long journey- 20 years since his diagnosis of Hep C; 10 years since his liver transplant. It is a journey of hope, sadness, joy, walking through the valley, faith, questions and peace.
The doctors were amazed at how long it took for Mike's Hep C to become active again. Statistically, 99% of liver transplant recipients have their Hep C return within the first couple years. Mike's just started to become active and start destroying his liver a little more than a year ago. The doctors wanted Mike to
take interferon, which he took before his transplant, and he could not tolerate it. It is their only answer, but does not work with his genotype1A, Hep C. In August, 2011, he felt so bad we researched for new answers. The Lord led us to a Dr. Burt Berkson, in Las Cruces, NM, who uses intravenous alpha lipoic acid. He has 30 years experience with ALA, is a medical doctor and PhD biochemist.
We flew to Las Cruces and Mike had a week of therapy. The stories of miracle after miracle in his waiting room encouraged us tremendously. Mike started to feel better and within a few weeks his blood work was looking much better.
Mike eats healthy and takes a truckload of vitamins, but in April he started to go downhill again. Mike, Aaron, Sammy (our therapy dog) and I went back to Las Cruces for another week of treatment. The wonderful thing about intravenous ALA is that before every treatment, which is twice a day for 5 days, you
have to eat a huge meal. (Quite different from the fasting thing) And Las Cruces has an array of outstanding Mexican restaurants. The Lord always has a silver lining in the wake of the trials we go through. Again, he started feeling better and the blood work improved. We found a wonderful doctor here in
St. Augustine who was willing to try the ALA drip and we have been doing treatment with him here in St. Augustine.
Mike has had a prostrate infection for the past several months and has been on antibiotics. Due to the immune suppressing medications Mike has to take for the rest of his life, infections are very hard to clear up and are the single most cause for concern for any transplant recipient. As of his check up yesterday, the prostrate infection is still a concern, even though he completed several rounds of antibiotics. We are currently waiting for an appointment to see a urologist at Mayo, Jacksonville. There is increasing pain in Mike's abdomen, and we will do a series of test to determine the cause. He has lost quite a bit of weight, he is currently approximately 160lbs. I have been giving him the most high calorie, high fat, food, along with healthy food, and he has gained a pound. (sigh) Malts every night, real sour cream and butter on baked potatoes with cheese and bacon, bread dipped in olive oil, etc. etc. But at least he is gaining, or holding his own, and not losing.
Through all this, Mike is a trooper. His faith never waivers. He loves God, praises God, and is still funny and courteous and helpful in spite of the fatigue and pain. He is a living example of what a Christian really is and believe me, everyone in our neighborhood knows it is the Lord Jesus Christ and His strength that keeps us going and laughing and hoping.
We are setting up this blog for two reasons. First, and MOST importantly, we covet your prayers for Mike. We know God is able to heal him, and we believe that He will in His perfect timing. We pray that the journey will not be so painful and that God will use Mike and our family through this trial to encourage Christians and lead unbelievers to the Lord. Secondly, since the alternative treatment is not covered by our insurance and can be quite costly and is ongoing, if anyone feels led to donate, it can be done through this blog. We also have a fund set up through the
National Foundations of Transplants. Donations can be directed to Mike by keying in his name and state, and the donor will receive a tax deductible receipt.
You can look at Mike's personal profile here. Only transplant related items can be put through this fund, and they do not recognize alternative treatments. We have approximately $700.00 worth of expenses that we can write off through NFT. The donations to Mike's Wellness blog would be for the alternative medicine treatment. We have some wonderful friends that have donated items and held two fund raising garage sales for us and raised $1200 for his alternative treatment. God keeps showing us that He is in control.
We will keep you updated after we see the urologist. It is truly a comfort to know that if Mike is having a hard day, or unexplained pain, we can go to the blog and ask for prayer.
Blessings,
The Gray Family
