Bob DeWaay had another consult with the Hematologist at the U of M today and he has suggested two new drugs for Bob. The first one is Mycophenolate mofetil or MMF (CellCept) and it is to treat his red cell aplasia caused by Churg Strauss Syndrome; a rare auto immune disease. This will be the fourth treatment to try and solve this.
The 2nd drug is a new drug recently approved by the FDA to strip the extra iron out of his body that is accumulating from all of the transfusions. It is called Deferiprone or (Ferriprox). It is not supposed to be so hard on his kidneys. This is the only other drug approved in the USA so please pray the insurance company will approve it, and that it will be effective with few side affects.
On a positive note his last treatment was Atgam. It made him quite sick and weak and did not help his red cell aplasia, but it did improve his vasculitis caused by the Churg Strauss Syndrome so we are thankful for that.
We appreciate your prayers and all the encouragement you have given us. We are so thankful for all the things our family and brothers and sisters in Christ have done to help us. We know we are in the safest place we can be - the sovereign hands of our Lord.
Thank you for your continued support and prayer for my family.
Hello Jessica,
ReplyDeleteI am happy to see that you're posting regular updates on your Dad, thank you for this-- as I had been wondering what was happening with him ever since I learned some time ago that he was on hiatus from ministry. I just found out from your site that he is ill-- I'm very sorry to hear this but he will be in my prayers. His teaching ministry has been a great blessing to me -- it was one of the means God used to move me into reformed theology back about 7 years ago, and I'm now even taking distance classes at a reformed seminary towards a Masters in Theological Studies. My family has had its share of struggles with health and (struggle with sin!) So I'm encouraged to learn that Bob has been able to get back to ministry on some level. May the Lord fully restore Bob in both his health and his ministry, if that should be His will! Blessings, Alex
Hey there,
ReplyDeleteLooks like this is still the most recent update. Has anything changed since then?
I listen to him every week, but of course he doesn't usually mention specifics of his illness during sermons - other than the fact that it sounds like he still spends a lot of time around nurses who occassionally ask him about the sttudy material he has with him.
thanks
- m.flanegan
Yes, he still spends a lot of time at the hospital, and not much has changed since this update. The vasculitis is being fairly well controlled. He's still dependent on blood transfusions, but has been able to go longer periods of time without needing blood lately. It seems to be every two to three weeks.
DeleteThank you for your continued prayers and support, and for the reminder to post an update :-)