I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.” Psalm 9:1-2

We received the best news ever this week! It worked!! That’s right, the stem cell transplant worked.

Dave’s stem cells are now 99.9 percent his brother Paul, and that’s huge! Dr. Lopez told us that 99.9 is the highest that she ever sees. And there’s more… there is no detectable leukemia in Dave’s blood. Wow, wow, wow! This is such amazing news. We are incredibly thankful and relieved and hopeful.

There’s still a lot of recovery ahead that requires patience and perseverance. We have to be really careful with Dave’s brand new immune system. And graft-versus-host-disease is still something to deal with. But we have achieved a very important milestone in our process, and we couldn’t be more grateful to God and to all of you for your prayers and encouragement.

Donor Paul’s response: “Oh, my God! That is AMAZING!!!!! I’m crying in my office.” And then he made sure Dave knew he will now be a Steeler’s fan. We’ll see how that goes!

This week we also had a Pomona Valley Hospital ER visit because of a persistent headache. A 43-day-old stem cell transplant patient has a headache and they have to rule out brain bleeds and serious things like that. Crazy. We found out how to get instant care at the ER… Walk in with a face mask on and tell them you had a stem cell transplant a month ago. We saw a doctor in minutes! That was pretty cool. After the uneventful CT scan that showed no problems, the ER doctor reminded us that he was the doctor who cared for us on that fateful day last November when we arrived at the ER with Dave in such terrible pain. He may have actually been the first doctor to say that he seriously suspected the possibility of a leukemia diagnosis. It was really great to tell that doctor a little about our journey in the last six months, and especially about our 99.9 news. He loved hearing that follow-up; something he seldom hears in his line of work.

We are excited to share our 99.9 percent news with you. And we hope you will keep praying for Dave as he continues to heal and gain strength. 

We are celebrating,

The Stoeckleins 

It’s been over a 12-hour day so far, and still counting. We left the house this morning at 6:45 and arrived at Cedars at 8:30. We are definitely gaining an empathy for all of you who have a long commute every day. After drawing Dave’s blood and waiting for the results, we were informed that his magnesium, potassium, and fluid levels weren’t in their “sweet spot” so he was going to need four hours of infusion today followed by another blood test. After that second blood test, we discovered that his potassium had actually moved even further in the wrong direction during the day so we were going to have to stay for another four hours of infusion. Yikes! So here we sit, not knowing if we will get to go home tonight after they take yet another blood test at around 9 o’clock.

Have I ever said that this journey is teaching us patience? I have finally figured out why a patient is called a patient! I wonder when that started. I think I need to do some research.

As we arrived at the hospital this morning, I realized that I had forgotten my wallet at home. And David has long since given up carrying his wallet with him. No cash, no credit cards, no i.d., nothing. Crazy day. Our nurse, Wendi, loaned us the $2 we will need to get out of the parking lot when we do finally get to go home tonight, and we ate yummy hospital sandwiches and juice for lunch. Mid-afternoon I realized I had a Starbucks gift card in my backpack so I headed upstairs to get a much needed coffee and snacks. When he swiped the gift card, the cashier informed me I still owed .37 cents. I look at him and laughed. Then I had to let him know that he was going to have to take one of the snacks back because I didn’t have any money. Crazy day, for sure. He smiled at me and reached into the tip jar and pulled out the .37 cents I needed. Nice guy. I’m going to make sure I give him a hefty tip next time!

As I was waiting at the counter for my skinny vanilla latte, I saw the strangest sight. Out from the elevator came a man who looked to be in his mid thirties with stringy long hair, wearing hospital pants and a hospital gown. His gown was wide open in the back and only had a few of the snaps connected. That gown wasn’t covering much and it didn’t look like it was going to stay on for long, and this guy was in a hurry. I laughed to myself thinking, that’s exactly how David and I feel right now. We would loved to just get up and run out of this place! Who knows where this man was going. Maybe we was headed to Judi’s Deli for a sandwich that ranks a little better than the one he could get on his hospital tray. Maybe his parking meter was running low. I don’t know. The best thing about it is that it made me laugh on a day when I needed that.

Well, it’s now almost 8 o’clock. I guess we should order another round of hospital sandwiches and juice. Hopefully we get to drive home tonight because we don’t have the credit card and i.d. we would need to go to a hotel for the night. And hopefully I’m a really good driver so that I don’t get pulled over on the way home. You’ve gotta love a day like today!

Carol

Hey friends, 

Thanks for your continued support through this battle we are in. We know some of you check this site five times a day just hoping for more updates!  We love you for that.  This last week was a busy one for our family.  Carol, Paige, and Kayla were at a women’s retreat with nearly 500 other women from Inland Hills.  Andrew was also there helping to run tech for the event as well as still overseeing the weekend services at IHC.  Austin and Dave were able to come home for the weekend and rest.  It was so relaxing for Dave just to sit on his own couch and watch some basketball playoffs! Go Lakers!

On Monday we headed back to LA and Dr. Lopez said Dave needed to stay a few more days to get some fluids.  He is now day plus 35 from the transplant, and in very good shape!  Hopefully in the next few days they will release him to come back home again!  Please continue to pray for those new stem cells to take hold, it’s working!

Also, Andrew and Carol will be doing the message together at Inland Hills Church this Mother’s Day weekend!  See you there, you don’t want to miss it!

God’s Got This!

The Stoecklein Family

We are thrilled to let you know that Dave was released from the hospital a few days ago. That was such an exciting day! It kind of felt like we were graduating. But then on the other hand it felt like we were breaking out of prison. The last two days we were in that room, we couldn’t see out our window because they covered it in preparation for painting the outside of the building. We actually missed seeing our block wall and our ugly parking lot!

Dave’s doctors are very encouraged with how he is doing, but Dr. Lopez wanted him to stay in the area for the first week so that they can closely monitor his progress. We have been staying at a hotel about a block from the hospital. Every morning we get up early and head over to the hospital where they draw Dave’s blood to see how he’s doing, and then they give him infusion treatments based on what his body needs for that day. Today was a long day. He needed a lot of magnesium and we spent over 8 hours at the hospital.

Paul’s wonderful and hearty stem cells are working overtime in Dave’s body, and his blood counts are showing great results. The doctors and nurses were actually amazed at how quickly his blood counts responded after the transplant. We KNOW that we owe that to all of your faithful prayers and God’s powerful intervention. He is with us in all of this, and we wouldn’t want it any other way.

We are tired, but we are very encouraged. This progress certainly teaches you patience… the only other choice is to make yourself miserable and go crazy. We want to be better now! But, unfortunately, that’s not how it works. They will soon be doing a test that will tell us what percentage of Dave’s stem cells are his brother Paul’s and what percentage are still Dave’s. We are rooting for Paul’s to win by a landslide!! 

Thank you for your faithful and continual prayers. We are looking forward to being all the way home very soon.

“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer.” Romans 12:12

Many blessings to you all,

Carol Stoecklein

Pastor Joshua is our good friend and brother in the Lord living in Rajahmundry, India. He and his church, as well as Christians from many churches in the surrounding villages, are praying for Dave and his recovery from this leukemia. We love that! These people in India truly know what desperation of many kinds feels like. Many of them live in desperation and struggle every day, so to know that they are also diligently praying for Dave is just so amazing.

We wanted to share with you part of an email Pastor Joshua sent this week:

Every day watching godsgotthis.org. I am broken in my heart with the battle Dave is fighting. After prayer, God has given me a promise which is, “I, the Lord, watch over it. I water it continuously. I guard it day and night so that no one may harm it.” Isaiah 27:3.  

Dear sister Carol, God is watching and guarding day and night. I believe it with my whole heart. Please cast your burden on him. Regularly and continuously praying for our Beloved Pastor Dave for his good health. Praying the stem cells do not cause any side effects and increase required other cells which can help him recover full health.

Thank you, Pastor Joshua! We love that promise God gave you for Dave. We are going to take that promise to heart and know that God really is watching and guarding day and night. That is something we can hang onto and something that gives us great confidence and hope.

We love you and all the people there in Rajahmundry and surrounding villages who are praying for Dave. Please tell them all thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

The Stoecklein Family

Hey friends, 

After the services this weekend at Inland Hills, I drove straight to the hospital to spend some time with dad.  As I walked into the room I could see a major improvement in his progress just from looking at him.  As I glanced at the white board to see his numbers, I noticed they had climbed incredibly!  These numbers reflect his white blood cell, hemoglobin, and platelet count.  What this means is that the donor’s marrow is starting to take hold in Dave’s body. This process is called engrafting. 

The doctors walked into the room soon after I showed up.  They expressed how proud of Dave they were and that he should be headed home shortly!  Possibly this week sometime.  I say this lightly because things can change quickly around here.

Every time I get to spend the night with dad it is a blessing full of special moments. Last night we were able to sit up for a while and watch Meta “World Peace?” pretend to be a boxer again (joke for my Laker fans). I told dad some cool “God stories” that many of you have shared with me lately. We even had the chance to talk and dream about future message series and ministry plans. I am beyond excited about what God is doing both here and now, and in our near future!

Even though most of the night went well, Dave was still experiencing some pain and discomfort from some of the medications.  It ended up being one of those sleepless nights, but we got through it!  Here are some ways you can focus your prayers this week: 

• Thank God for the wins we already have!
• Pray for naseau and stomach pain to go away.
• Pray for his blood count levels to continue to climb to where they need to be.
• Pray for sleep and rest.
• Pray for everything to line up so he can get home soon!

Thanks for your prayers and support. Our family loves you deeply.

Andrew Stoecklein

Looking out the window of our fourth floor hospital room, we first see the lovely view of a three-story high block wall. Yes. Actually, not so lovely at all. On the other side of that block wall is a four-story parking structure that is usually empty at night and full of employee cars during the day. If you look beyond that parking structure you can see the tops of trees, buildings, and street lights. And then finally, if you choose to look long enough and high enough, you can see some beautiful hills in the distance.

This view from our room reminded me of the verse in the Psalms that instructs us to lift up our eyes. To lift up our eyes and look to the Lord where our help comes from. It would be so easy to simply look at our block wall. It would be so tempting to focus on the ugly parking lot of cement and steel. Yet, it would be a tragedy to miss the view of the beautiful hills peeking out from behind the ugliness. You can even choose to look so intently at the hills that you forget the depressing sight of the block wall and the parking lot.

For us, living in this small hospital room in the middle of our current circumstances, that block wall is leukemia. It is chemotherapy. It is a stem cell transplant. It is odds and percentages and statistics. It is fear and pain and human limitations. And the parking lot? The parking lot is the perilous fight against side effects and rejection. The parking lot is the dark uncertainty of what life is going to bring in the days and weeks and months to come. The parking lot is the ongoing, and sometimes ugly, journey ahead.

What is the window you are looking out of? What is your block wall? What is your parking lot? Look at it. Acknowledge it, own it, name it. Look at it intently and seriously, and then look up. Look up! Look up to the Lord from where your help comes from! Look into his eyes and see his deep and very real love for you. Look at his nail-scarred hands and see the forgiveness, the freedom, and the incredible hope. Let hope come alive in your soul as you look up to your helper, your healer… the maker of heaven and earth!

Looking up to the hills, and looking up to our Lord of incredible mercy and hope and help today,

Carol Stoecklein