Back to Preaching

My blood levels are still strong. I am coming off the main drugs, without bad reactions. I am now completely off steroid tablets (prednisolone) and have reduced my steroid mouthwashes (betamethasone) from 4 a day to once a day. My mouth is better and I remain able to enjoy mild curries. This is great because we both love spicy food. My only restriction is that I have to wait for hot drinks to cool off a bit.

I am playing good golf once a week, and swimming twice a week. Overall I am feeling back to 95% strength (for a 67 year old).

Receiving the stem cells that Caroline donated Dec 4th 2023

It is worth remembering where I was a year ago - in hospital, having had the stem cell transplant on December 4th. On December 16th 2023 my life felt in the balance, would the transplant work? Would Caroline's stem cells be accepted by my body? Would I be able to produce healthy blood again? I wrote this in my blog:

'So, I am WAITING for my new stem cells to grow into new bone marrow cells, which start to produce normal haemoglobin, platelets, neutrophils, Etc. The neutrophils are the critical ones for resisting infection, and they have to reach a certain level before I can be released.

At the moment my Neutrophils are flat, 0.0, which for Myelofibrosis is normal at this stage. I have fibrous growths in my bone marrow, which makes it like sowing into hard, rocky soil. Pray that there is some receptive soil in there somewhere, and that Caroline's stem cells are persistent!

I am asking that I will begin to see an uptick on Monday (14 days after the transplant, which I was told was the shortest time possible), and that once it starts going up, it keeps going up. Lord, have mercy.'

Friends, it is really good, from time to time, to look back on prayers you've prayed, to see how God has responded.

This prayer has been answered with a very clear YES. It is really remarkable that the Neutrophils did start going up on that Monday 18th December, 14 days after the transplant, and that by the end of the week, December 22nd I was told I was strong enough to go home.

On Saturday morning Dec 23rd Nigel and Ruth (Mary's sister - see right ) drove into London to pick me up. I look happy and relieved, but I was very weak.

By late afternoon I was walking, very slowly, on Frinton beach, as the sun went down, with Mary holding me up!

I have not looked back from that week. Every week my blood levels got better, and I have not had to be readmitted to hospital for any infection or relapse. Just as we prayed, I have got better and better for 12 months straight.

And now I have got worldwide travel insurance, so we can visit the States.

So, I am very thankful; and I am very thankful to you for your support and prayers.

Now what? As well as giving thanks, what are we praying for in 2025?

1. Reducing Ciclosporin. This is the main drug for someone who has had a transplant. Some people stay on it for life. The Prof is now seeing me every 6 or 8 weeks, and he aims to gradually get me off it completely.

2. Preaching. It's now time for some 'fruitful labour'. So last Sunday, 15th December, I preached for the first time in 18 months, twice. You can find it on the St Paul's Clacton website, it lasts 18 minutes: https://www.stpaulsclacton.co.uk/talks/ It is on Zechariah's song following the unlikely birth of his son, John, in Luke 1:57-80. I sweated blood over the preparation, but really enjoyed it when the time came to stand and deliver! I am preaching 3 times over the busy Christmas period - to help out the vicar, who is in charge of 2 churches in Clacton. I am grateful to be asked and given the opportunity. It's a bit like being a curate again!

   One thing that is exciting: I am going to preach a series on Paul's letter to the Philippians, in May. You will remember that this is the letter I learned by heart while in hospital; so it is something that I had hoped to do. But please pray that I get the balance of preaching right in retirement. I don't want to be spending too long in my Man Shed writing talks, when there are other important things in our life.

3. Reading the Bible with men (outside the church) who are asking questions. Pray that I find a good way for these men to find me, and a way of reading together that is non-threatening and helpful. I am seeking wisdom and the leading of the Holy Spirit - a bit of inspirational creativity. Ideas welcome!

4. Fixing our house for hospitality - Planning has turned us down again for putting a dormer in our roof. We are meeting the builder again in early January. Pray for wisdom and a good use of money.

5. Mary and I to find a good pattern of living in retirement. After the crisis of my illness it feels like we are just getting started. St Paul says, 'For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh that means fruitful labour for me' (Philippians 1.21-22); but, I am not the apostle Paul! I am married with a family of growing grandchildren. What does it mean for Mary and I to be fruitful in old age, as grandparents? What is the right balance between family and the golf club and our community in Frinton, and preaching in Clacton? Help! We seek wisdom and the Good Shepherd's overruling guidance.

Thank you again for accompanying us on this journey. I think we can say that I am being healed, though we know that in this life any healing is only temporary. The big thing for us now is to make the most of the extra time I have been given.

This Christmas, please do say THANK YOU to God: for my sister's stem cells, the 100% match, the care of Bart's hospital and skill of Prof John Gribben, 'free' drugs on the NHS, and the amazingly good outcome, so far.

And may the Good Shepherd give you a fruitful new year in 2025, leading you to ask for the good things that he wants to give you.