Headaches that don't go away

God has being very real during these weeks and we are all very aware of His love and care of us.

Donovan Engelbrecht, our son remains in the oncology ward today.

The good news is that the headache dissipated at 2am and he was able to enjoy a painless time. Morgan, his wife spent the night with him.

His cat-scan and lumbar punch were both clear which underlines that he is doing well overall in regard to fighting off any cancer recurrence - he is now in remission.

After finishing phase 2 of the chemotherapy treatment regiment, he starts phase 3 next week. It will last for a month

Thank you all for supporting Donovan, Morgan Roberson Engelbrecht and their 2 little girls. For those who don't know, Don and Morgan will be having a new baby due the first week in October. Something awesome that they are looking forward to.

As far as prayer support they remain dependent upon financial support for their living expenses. All medical expenses have and continue to be taken care of with medical insurance and Medicaid.

They still need to keep their normal bills paid which include petrol, insurance, medical insurance, student loans etc. any contributions will be gratefully accepted.

All been equal, Donovan will be going to work at the end of his phase 4 treatment regiment.

Thank you for all you love, prayers, care and support.

Both Debs and I are very grateful, thank you.

Progress on Donovan in regard to his lungs

After a busy week, spending the night at Duke Hospital again, sitting with Donovan Engelbrecht, talking and I guess sooner or later we may get some sleep.
He is doing much better and as we look back I must say, God has been gracious to Donovan, and healed him from a serious problem in his left lung.
I don't want to go to far in explaining this but lets just say this: after various x-rays and tests he was diagnosed with a 4inch abyss that was beginning to break down. Pretty dismal and also his lung was filing up with fluid, trapped pockets of air and the lung was starting to collapse.
The prayers of many were lifted up as we cried out for mercy for Don, that he would be healed.
When the doctors began the operation, the abyss was gone, all that was left was some scar tissue. The surgeon removed the scar tissue to make the lungs more functional for the future.
He received blood as well and just a few days later, we see Donovan coming through this amazingly well. The doctors are puzzled and have explored every avenue to explain what has just happened.
So again God has displayed His power and grace in an amazing way.
Another battle is won which reaffirms that the war is won...we are simply needing to stand firm and never, never give up in trusting God.

8 weeks later: a perspective on Donovan's finances

I wanted to let you know how the fund raising has gone and what lays ahead for Donovan & Morgan.

1. I speak on their behalf, when I say loudly and very clearly, THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP BOTH IN PRAYER & THROUGH YOUR GIVING! Praise God for friends & strangers who have reached out to Donovan and his family
2. From a medical insurance point of view, we were able to pay for the COBRA Insurance for 3 months coverage, as well as the initial payment for his current medical coverage. For our overseas friends, COBRA is the term given to the function of paying for both yours and the companies insurance premiums from the company that you had previously been employed with. COBRA is very expensive but certainly was very useful in dealing with the medical bills starting in April and going forward to the end of May. The new insurance is now in place and is been used to cover the bills going forward. He will still need to cover the deductables in both scenarios and the ongoing medical premiums
3. Obviously, in addition to the medical expenses, there are the normal bills that come due each day, and week as it rolls around. With the support we have been able to keep Donovan and Morgan solvent. Thank you again for all that you have done.
4. Donovan is hoping to get back to work in September or the latest in October, the latter month been highly unlikely. Two weeks after he returns to his employer he will begin to see some money, earnings come his way again.
5. So when all of this is weighed up, we have a few months of support still needed to keep them moving forward, plus the medical deductions & premiums will still need to be paid.

We have applied to Duke Hospital for financial hardship and that may help a little. Not sure what this will look like.  I say all of this not to be silly but to show that we have taken every step possible to make it through this next period.

We are still very much dependent upon donations and do ask humbly whilst knowing that people have been very supportive and generous in their giving.

How can you give?

1. You can do so through paypal as always notes on how to do this can be found on this blog in an earlier post
2. You can send a check or cheque for our international friends, payable to B.J. Engelbrecht at 209 Wenonah Way, Durham, NC 27713.  The only reason why we are doing this, is to allow someone other than Donovan to deal with the finances so that he need not worry about this area of his life right now. This is a special savings account set up with a sub title "Help Donovan." It is being administrated by me and I am able to track their needs each week and transfer what they need on an "as and when they need it" basis.
3. If you are a Facebook user, you can go to the Lets Help Donovan Page and donate through there.

How much do you need to give?
 Whatever you feel led to and within your means

What will the money be used for?
 All of the finances will be used to pay for their ongoing medical and living expenses only

Bless you for all that you have done so far. We continue to trust God for both Donovan's healing and for his finances.

Barry Engelbrecht - Donovan's father.

8 weeks later: an update on Donovan's health and condition

The past eight weeks have been a blur, non-stop activity, many new perspectives faced, fears faced, tears of sorrow and tears of joy. How can I possibly describe what has happened?

So let me give you some salient points:

1. After the initial diagnosis, we reached out and asked for prayer support & some financial support to help with living & medical expenses. The response was heart warming, overwhelming, humbling and certainly lifted our spirits. For this, we all thank you!
2. The stunning news before the chemo treatment began, Donovan showed remarkable improvements. Treatments began and side effects began to take effect. Still we all prayed and stood in faith for Donovan to recover miraculously. At the 14 day mark, they tested his bone marrow and his blood for the presence of "blast" cells - to everyone's surprise, including the doctors, it was clear! We have not stopped rejoicing since then.
3. Treatments continued but soon after the 14 day result, Donovan was released from the hosiptal and was treated as an out-patient.
4. At the end of phase one, at about day 29, bone marrow & blood again tested clear of all blast cells. Donovan was now officially in remission. We did many happy dances and we rejoiced in God's faithfulness.
5. Phase two began a week after Phase 1 ended. Donovan was led to believe that this phase would be a lot easier. He was not prepared for the intensity of the treatment, it was very difficult to handle. He was really ill with the treatment. Another complication is that during phase 1 of his treatment, he fell onto his side, and injured himself. This injury has not healed and in fact, has got a lot worse since then.
6. Today, he went back to the Cancer Hospital at Duke for this week's Chemo treatments. The pain in his side had been increasing in intensity and was not getting better as predicted. His white blood cell count was very low, making him open to an infection. Before very long his temperature began to rise, indicating that the body was indeed fighting an infection. He was re-admitted into Hospital, medication given for the infection and the pain and a blood transfusion begun. The current situation is that the fever has broken, the pain medication is working and after he showed signs of an allergic reaction to the blood, the transfusion was stopped. A chest x-ray has been ordered to get  a better understanding of the pain in his side and he will go for an MRI tomorrow.

What can we pray for at this point?

• Pray that the healing that has been evidenced in Donovan's body, is proof that God has already done the healing, but we need for continual prayer coverage for the battles ahead. We believe that the war is won, we are simply taking each battle, each day in a positive way - Donovan is healed!
• Pray for an accurate diagnosis for the pain in his side, that whatever it is, that is dealt with in the same swift manner that the leukemia was dealt with, in the first week of his treatment.
• Pray for his recovery, complete restoration of his body to full health . Donovan will continue to go through the required treatments for the next 2 years to ensure that the Leukemia does not return. He needs plenty of strength for the journey ahead.

Morgan's update on Donovan as of Friday May 9th, 2014

Donovan had a much better day today that included eating food and walking laps. He did receive a couple of blood transfusions which also seemed to help him look and feel better. Currently Donovan is in what's considered the neutropenic phase which means his immune system is nearly nonexistent so right now it is pretty much just close family visiting but this should only last 1 more week. Please be praying for Monday because Donovan will be receiving 3 different Chemotherapys, 1 of which is known for bad side effects plus they do a bone marrow aspiration so it is looking like a hectic day. Because Donovan's treatment is a clinical trial through Memorial Sloan Kettering (#1 cancer research hospital in America) located New York they will also be sending off for an extra test on Monday which is called the MRD test. It checks for microscopic pieces of Leukemia in the bone marrow. Normally this test would only be on day 29 if at all but for research they are testing his on day 15. The doctors do not expect it to come back negative yet but I am believing it will. Jesus has conquered the grave, he has conquered cancer, he has conquered chemotherapy side effects and I am sure this MRD test is no big deal either. I look forward to sharing the results next week. Also today a family friend asked us what the name Donovan means. Unknowing, his mom looked it up. The meaning is strong fighter, that was good timing to find out.

Barry's comments: Donovan was indeed looking really good last night. From the night before there was a 100% improvement in every aspect. Thank you God for your restoring power.

May I ask you to continue to pray for Donovan? We believe that he is healed and is being healed everyday. After two weeks of treatment, Donovan's fighting spirit is showing strongly. His faith in God is unwavering. At his lowest times physically, through all the pain he remains a gentle loving son, father and husband. As parents, Debs and I are very humbled by your example son.

I will be posting again a little later today to update you on the financial needs that they are facing, so that you can be better informed.

Donovan's update from his wife Morgan as of May 8th

Update on Donovan: he has had no leukemia related symptoms in over a week but now he is experiencing a lot of the terrible side effects of chemotherapy. Today his throat was so sore he could not even swallow water. Our main doctor for this week was thrilled as this is a good sign from patients who typically end up in remission. She said the chemo attacks all rapidly reproducing cells, including the entire GI tract which means:
1. His body is responding well to the treatment
2. He is in a lot of pain.

His blast count is still zero which is great and they will do a bone marrow test on Monday to get a better idea of progress. In my opinion, he is healed. It is done and finished. I am just excited to see the lab test line up with what we know has already happened. We fix our eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen because what is seen is temporary but what is unseen is eternal.

Please continue to pray for Donovan, Morgan their daughters Maddy and Irelyn

Thank you

Contempalting healing on this Sunday, May 4th 2014

This is the Lord's day, a day to have our eyes focused on the God who created the heavens & the earth, in a instant. To me, God has displayed His wonder in creation, and His love to me as a son. I am always overwhelmed by His generous and lavish love towards me.

In the comfort of knowing who I am in God, my heart is nevertheless very tender as I consider my son Donovan Engelbrecht ,being cared for at Duke hospital for leukemia.

Both my wife Debbie Engelbrecht & I would have willingly swopped places for our boy, so that he could be healed and home with his wife & children. What is there left to do then? We cannot take his place & he remains in the fight for his life.

Again my heart cries out to my heavenly Father, heal our boy & may Donovan return to complete health and may he fulfill everything that he had hoped to achieve in his life.
In my anguish of heart, I am still at peace, we will come through this time of travail. Donovan will recover.

Yet in the deepest part of my inner being, I feel and have the desire to worship God with all of heart. God is not the author of sickness. God is the giver of life.

Our eyes remain fixed on you Jesus!

Navigating by faith

Here is my wife's post from yesterday, it is very good indeed:


Faith in Action - Hebrews 11:1-3 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for.

3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.



Everything that is a current tangible was conceived as an intangible; everything that today is visibly seen was birthed in the unseen. Everything that is worth spending your life on and giving every waking breath for was forged as an invisible dream, an intangible word, and as an unseen, yet vital, prayer. Just because you don’t see something in reality today does not mean you won’t get it or that it will not happen tomorrow. Just because you don’t see something in reality today does not mean God won’t do it. God specializes in the unseen, yet promised. God is focused on the call of your life toward His Kingdom of faith. This is an extraordinary way to do life!

We are a people who build our lives on the strong foundation of that which we do not see in the natural. We construct an abundant life on the invisible and unshakable goodness of God. We create a life of rich and rare resources on the faithfulness of God. We marvel not at what we are able to do, but on what He is able to do through us. We are more aware of the blessings of God than we are of the ground upon which we walk.

If you long for more than an ordinary and comfortable life, then you will be more aware of God’s unseen presence and outrageous kindness than you are of your loud, demanding, and mountainous circumstances. When God places a word of hope or faith in the spirit of a human being concerning their impossible circumstances, He seals it with the promise of His Word. When God gives you a dream, ask Him for the accompanying Scripture to seal it. God’s Word always prepares the way for the miraculous during our tenure on Earth. What you see with your eyes is the untruth, and what is viewed only with your eyes of faith is the ultimate and resounding truth.

Clinical trials vs traditional treatment

First of all, on behalf of Donovan, Morgan, his two daughters Madelyn and Irelyn, Debbie and I want to express our gratitude for your prayers and support. Many of you have brought us to tears, in a good way, by expressing your love and concern for us as a family. We feel really loved and appreciated, thank you.

Thank you for your financial support as well, we are very grateful for your help.

Treatment will only begin tomorrow. This is due to the many hours of discussion that the incredible medical staff of Duke Hospital have given to the family and the time needed to weigh up the options presented. It has been decided that the traditional method, based on techniques and knowledge formed in 1980, would not be advantageous for Donovan's treatment. Instead, the most successful methods of treatment are going to be used and the process will form part of ongoing case studies in his particular form of treatment.

Needless to say we are now anxious to get started.

The entire family are remaining very positive and have their eyes fixed on Jesus for the ultimate healing that Donovan needs. This is a choice that we are making but we are very passionate & convinced about the fact that Jesus has not only provided for our salvation but healing too.

I want to also highlight in this post, the incredible strength that Donovan's wife Morgan is displaying through this time. Clearly she is a strong young women. However, her strength is strong because she has trusted God fully during this time of trial. A topic of discussion lately has been about how we know that we know something or when is it that truth comes home to rest in our lives with great conviction? The answer that we are finding is that we are learning the reality of what we really know and believe when placed under a test, a test in this case, as large as the one that we are all facing, walking with Donovan through his fight with Leukemia.  God has been very real to us during this time and we all stand firmly on the conviction, that God is going to be edified as a result of Donovan's healing.

Here are some scriptures to pray over Donovan today:

Psalm 91:14-16
“Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;
    I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call on me, and I will answer him;
    I will be with him in trouble,
    I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him
    and show him my salvation.”

So this is the full diagnosis of Donovan's Leukemia...

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Well this is a quick note to give you the results of the many tests run on Donovan's blood and bone marrow. It is known as Acute Lymphblastic Leukemia (ALL).  The Chemo therapy regiment, can now be applied to his specific illness. In essence, he will send a month receiving Chemo, which is due to start tomorrow. Depending upon the results he will also spend various stints back in the hospital receiving further chemo therapy over the next two years.



As to prognosis, I choose to believe that He will be healed and come through this completely well. I know that ultimately only God can heal him and that is Who I am resting in. Without faith, it is impossible to please God, and so my faith is in Him to bring healing to my precious son.



I have inserted a photograph of him, taken just last Sunday, with his two daughters, just two days before we discovered his condition.

Other than prayer, here are two ways that you can help them:

1. f you live close by, bring a meal. Here is a site to see how best to do this http://www.takethemameal.com/meals.php?t=KIEA8393&welcome=1
2. We are in need for financial support and if you have access to PayPal here is an e-mail address that you can use to help: helpdonovan@gmail.com, otherwise I will send you bank account details.
   Some folks have been experiencing trouble trying to access the paypal link to helpdonovan@gmail.com.
   
   • Here is howyou go about using this "PayPal" site:
     
     • in your browser, go to the paypal site at www.paypal.com
     • click on the send button
     • where it says "Their e-mail or phone number" key in "helpdonovan@gmail.com"
     • In the box that says amount, enter the amount you are planning to donate
     • Select the currency that you are sending from the drop down menu.
     • click on the continue button
     • Select friends and family
     • at this point, if you have a PayPal account, log into your account and continue.
       
       • if you do no have a PayPal account, please go through the process and set one up. You will need your e-mail address and a password.
   This is a very secure way of sending money. Donovan’s employer, (Bank of America) has set up a
   specific savings account designated for this. Thanks for your patience.

Here is a scripture that I am praying over Donovan tonight:



Zephaniah 3:17

 The Lord your God is with you,
    the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
    in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
    but will rejoice over you with singing.”

We need help for Donovan in a number of ways...

Good morning,

It is early in the morning and I am in the hospital room with Donovan and Morgan. Morgan spent the night here with her husband and she has certainly helped his morale. Donovan is pretty drugged up, and as a result is sleeping, I can hear his labored breathing, it is shows that he is under sedation.

As far as the current diagnosis is concerned, here is what Morgan posted yesterday evening:
Today, Thursday,  we find out if it's AML or ALL (both are acute forms of Leukemia which is at least better than the chronic forms) at that point they can start chemo. Either way, a typical medical progression would be to spend one month in the hospital doing chemo. Please pray that no matter what form of cancer this is, that God will heal Donovan anyway.

Well as you can imagine, all is seemingly peaceful. Today we will hear the specifics of the type of Leukemia and the planned regiment of chemo therapy. Please continue to hold this wonderful family up in your prayers. Their two daughters, Madalyn and Irelyn are at home, with the two grannies, and great granny doing their normal things each day. For the foreseeable future, Morgan and the girls will stay in our home and when Donovan comes out of the hospital, he will be staying and recovering in our home as well.

Yesterday, I was going through the process of getting a medical leave of absence from his new employer, Bank of Amercia and resolving when and how his medical insurance will kick in. Clearly, a month in an oncololgy ward at Duke Hospital, and all the medication and treatments are going to cost more than I can imagine at this point.

In going through the process, we found out that his leave of absence will be without pay, that he needs to invoke COBRA from his previous employer and from next week, his new medical insurance will be available. The scarey aspect of all of these news items is that not only will he have no income for the way ahead, but the COBRA payments and  his new insurance are going to require that his portion and the company's portion will have to be paid by him. In addition, his normal bills will be coming due each week and they have to be taken care of as well.

Whilst I was making the necessary calls, Donovan overheard what was happening, and said, I m very worried about how we are going to handle all of this.

So I have done a bold thing, I have set up a PAYPAL account linked to this e-mail address: helpdonovan@gmail.com which I am putting out there for everyone to consider helping financially. It does not matter how much you can afford, but please could you help? I believe that this will enable our friends from overseas to contribute tangibly as you also continue to pray.

I know that Morgan also requested some help with meals and someone has graciously set up an application to co-ordinate this giving. Details will follow on the next post.

Here is the scripture that we are praying over Donovan today, that he and all of the family might rejoice in God's faithfulness, in spite of the circumstances:

Psalm 34 1- 7 
I will extol the Lord at all times;
    his praise will always be on my lips.
2 I will glory in the Lord;
    let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
3 Glorify the Lord with me;
    let us exalt his name together.
4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me;
    he delivered me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to him are radiant;
    their faces are never covered with shame.
6 This poor man called, and the Lord heard him;
    he saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him,
    and he delivers them.

Trusting and claiming God's healing for our son

I am so conscious of the fact that people will read my blog and think that it's about me. This is far from the truth, it is all about experiencing a loving God whilst we walk through a difficult situation.

Firstly, let me give you the progression of events:

1. Donovan began to feel a little un-well last week - he put it down to some stress that he had to walk through.
2. By the weekend, he was experiencing some muscle spasms on the left side of his rib cage.
3. The pain increased to the point where we decided to bring him to Duke University Hospital's Emergency Room, yesterday morning. After a relatively short time, the diagnosis came back: leukemia. The muscle spasm's were caused by the enlarged spleen trying to cope with the cancer cells.
4. Further tests were run including a bone marrow extract to study further, and to determine what type of leukemia is present.
5. Last night Donovan was admitted into the Oncology ward at Duke 

The first thing that Donovan said to me when we were given the news yesterday was this, "Don't worry Dad, God is going to be glorified in all of this, no matter what"

As I have dealt with all of the emotions and thoughts I can honestly say no matter what, we will all come through this, and the Name of Jesus will surely be lifted up. As a good friend of mine said yesterday, they defeated Satan with the Word and the word of their testimony.

So let me say this very strongly, we chose to believe that Donovan is healed of this sickness and that he will recover. As we have been overwhelmed with prayers, thoughts & messages from all our friends all over the world using Face Book, Instant messenger, "What'sUp" and texts, we are very grateful for your support.

Here is what we are praying over Donovan today, I trust that you will declare this over him with us who are with him in his room:

Isaiah 53: 4 & 5 Surely he took up our pain
    and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
    stricken by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
    and by his wounds we are healed.