Praise the Lord! I am indeed thankful that I can share my experience with you all here. If it had not been for the grace of God, I would have gone to meet my parents 6 months ago!
It all started on a Saturday afternoon at about 3.30 on the 4th of May. My wife and I were ready to go to the long houses because it was our small group’s turn. We waited near the MTS for the bus to take us to the long houses. I wanted to go to the toilet but all of a sudden, I felt my head was extremely heavy. I could not hold my head up. My head and body would not listen to me! I wanted to go straight but instead I was dragged to another direction. After a few steps, I had to pause and rest. So, we decided not to go to the long houses but to see Dr Chiew instead. He told me to go for blood test the next morning.
The blood test showed that my HB was only 4.6. The standard range is 13-18 for a healthy person; so I only had about 1/3 of the amount of blood in a normal human body! Dr Chiew said that if my heart had been weak, I would have collapsed any moment! If I had gone to the long houses that afternoon, I might not have been able to come back!
Thank God that he showed me the symptoms earlier and directed me to Dr Chiew just before I got up the bus. After that, I was admitted to Rejang Medical Centre and had 4 pints of blood transfusion. The doctors suspected internal bleeding but after endoscopy and colonoscopy, they found no bleeding. However, my blood was dropping after a few days. So I was advised to go and do a bone marrow test at the Sibu General Hospital. Meanwhile, I needed a blood transfusion every two weeks.
The hospital did a lot of blood tests, x rays and ct scan. The bone marrow test was done on 12 June, but it took 3 months for the complete results to be released.
Early July, my son, Oliver and daughter-in-law, Arrti in KL urged me to go to KL to see a hematologist. There are many hematologists in KL. Every hospital has at least one, but the whole of Sibu does not have one. We visited Dr Edmund Chin, a renowned hematologist at the University of Malaya Specialist Centre, KL. He tested my blood and diagnosed that I was suffering from T-cell l.g. Lymphocyte leukemia. And his diagnosis matched the results of the bone marrow test that came out much later.
Fortunately, it is a mild and chronic form of leukemia. We were much relieved to hear that. I only had to take oral medication and no chemo was necessary. It will be a long term treatment and I pray that I will be healed and don’t have to depend on blood transfusion any more.
So since May, I have been in and out of Sibu Hospital to check my blood index and have transfusions of blood over a dozen times. I also went to see Dr Chin in KL twice a month.
Meanwhile, I am under medication of ciclosporin and folic acid as prescribed by Dr Chin. This is my 11th week now under such treatment. Getting such medicine from the Sibu Hospital has saved me over RM500 each month. Thank God that I am a retired government servant and all medical expenses in the government hospital are free.
During such a long period of difficult healing time, “surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me.” (Psalms 54 verse 4) I thank God and praise Him that many from Wesley Church, including pastors, cell groups, zone leaders and others continue to pray for me. My wife and my family members also look after and pray for me. My close friends in Houston, Texas and my brother and his family in Teruanga, and my close friend in Wellington, New Zealand continue to remember me in their daily prayers.
Yes. “Prayers can move mountains.” They work wonders. Have faith in Him. Trust Him. May He heal me through the medicine and the hand of docs.
Give all praises and glory to God!
Psalms 9 verses 1-2 says
“I will praise you, 0 Lord, with all my heart;
I will tell of all your wonders
I will be glad and rejoice in you;
I will sing praises to your name, 0 most High.”
Today (31/10) I am feeling much better. I sense that the medication that I take and all the prayers on my behalf have started to work wonders. Our God is faithful to us. He is always faithful. He is our constant REFUGE in time of danger and in trouble. He provides us STRENGTH. We are reassured in Psalms (9: 1-2, 16:1, 34: 8, 46: 1-2,57:1, 61: 8, 91: 2, 118: 1 & 6-8).
In Isaiah 25:4
“(He) is a REFUGE for the poor;
a REFUGE for the needy;
A REFUGE for storm;
a shade for heat.”
Yes. Indeed “The Lord our God goes with us; He will never leave us nor forsake us.” (Deu 31:6)
By Wong Siew Tung, Lecturer,
Methodist Theological School, Sibu