Sami Lahoud

Background
You may know that we moved from Houston to Dubai almost a year ago (July 2010).  We prayed for God’s guidance and everything fell into place (a lot of details).  It was a great assignment.  Our three kids integrated very well into the American School of Dubai, my wife Jacqueline was able to quickly surround herself with solid friends and I had a great position.  The icing on our Dubai cake arrived when we discovered the Fellowship of the Emirates Church.  So all in all, in a few months, everything became business as usual for all.  Homework night, family time, Friday services, etc. until, all of a sudden … everything changed.

What Changed
It all started while the family was spending July 2011 in Houston and I was by myself in Dubai. In the second week of July, I started feeling harsh symptoms including  severe, ongoing, headaches that over-the –counter medication would not help.    I endured the symptoms, however, when high fever surfaced,  I decided to go to the closest Hospital. To keep the timing of this in perspective,  it was  Monday the 18^th of July, 2011 around 5PM.

Spiritual side – note#1:

In church, three days earlier the Pastor’s message was titled, “What would you do when all of sudden you are faced with a tragedy where everything around you just falls apart and you are all alone?” The sermon hit me hard that Friday and I was meditating on it Saturday and Sunday when … everything changed.   I had no idea that the Lord was preparing me for what is to come. (The main verses used from the sermon were from Psalm 62: 1-2, verse 1  Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him;  and verse 2 Truly he is my rock and my salvation;  he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.) – My anchor was being stabilized, and, little did I know, that a huge storm was heading towards my boat. J

Details Surrounding The Preliminary Diagnosis

Back  to Monday the 18^th of July, 2011 around 5PM.  The first hospital in Dubai checked my vital signs, added an IV for headache medication and blood test.  Once the results were back, Physician #1 asked me to seek another Hospital since they were not equipped with dealing with cases that had “such” a high/abnormal number of white blood cells.  At this stage I thought that Physician #1 needed assistance, so I had to think quickly and recommend we contact my brother- in- law (Dr. Issam Raad, Chairman of Infectious Disease at MD Anderson Cancer Center ) for a second opinion, for which she was very flattered and agreed to it.

Spiritual side – note #2

While Physician  #1 was sharing the news with me, I unlocked my Black Berry  to call my brother-in-law, Issam and realized that I had a new email titled DIVINE HEALTH on top of my inbox – – –  as you can imagine, I had to read it, since it took me by surprise … little did I know that my anchor was being  further stabilized.   How could I possibly know that a huge storm was heading towards my boat. Here it comes:

From: Bonnie –removed last name  <removedmailaddress@yahoo.com>
To: Lahoud, Sami S
Sent: Mon Jul 18 16:36:44 2011
Subject: DIVINE HEALTH

Thank God for what He has already done!  Make this affirmation 3 or 4 times per day.
I see health as a divine fact in my life.  I am accepting the Resurrection of health in my life and it is a divine transaction. Therefore, there is no greater power than the power of God.  I am at one with God therefore I have an inherited right to be healthy.  I have authority over all sickness and disease.  I permit the Holy Spirit to release divine and permanent health in my body now.  Cells of my body, I speak to you now!  Cells function like you were designed and created to function.  Cells, line up with God’s word now!  Health, peace and prosperity run through my body NOW!  In the name of Jesus Christ!  The BLOOD on it!  Amen!

WELL AND BLESSED ON PURPOSE!!!
—————————————————
From: Lahoud, Sami S
Sent: Monday, July 18, 2011 10:57 AM
To: ‘removedemailaddress@yahoo.com’
Subject: Re: DIVINE HEALTH
Msg Class:Unclassified

I am at the emergency room. I was told I have a nasty infection that is unbelievable. They are going to run the tests again … I just read your timely email. My family is in Houston. You always show up on time.
——————————————————–
Continuation of Details Surrounding the Preliminary Diagnosis

Additional good news, when I called Issam, it turned out that he was in Lebanon instead of the US, which was perfect. When Issam was finished speaking with Physician #1, he had agreed that they are not set up to deal with my issues. Accordingly, I ended up going to the only hospital in Dubai that I was told could help.  When I arrived, it had a full Emergency Room (ER) yet only one physician on duty. They were supposed to have two physicans, however, one had not shown up.   I requested to see the nurse and showed her my blood results.  I was immediately admitted to the emergency room,  however, keep in mind the picture of just one Physician and a crowded ER.  By that time it’s almost 8 PM.  When Physician #2 showed up to my room, he was very kind, a bit stressed, read the results from the other hospital, asked his questions, then paused for a second, which gave me the perfect  opportunity to recommend we contact my brother in law (Dr. Raad) J which, of course, he welcomed the idea.   After a strategy was devised, I had multiple blood tests done, a chest x-ray, Lumbar Puncture test (believe it or not by Physician # 2 – a story by itself) and two IV antibiotics. By 7AM on Wednesday morning (approx. 14 hours later) I was told that I will be relocated from ER and admitted to the Hospital, that news was delivered by Physician # 3 (day shift) who was clueless as to where things were, since he had just arrived, which gave me the perfect  opportunity to recommend we contact (yes you guessed it) my brother in law (Dr. Raad) which, of course, he  also welcomed that idea.  While the Physicians were chatting, Physician # 4 showed up to discuss my admission to her floor. While she was asking me to provide her the history of my saga, a new Physician, # 5 popped out of nowhere, he was a Hematologist and demanded to speak with me in private.  He spoke in plain Lebanese and was very strict. He said “Sami you are a US Citizen. Do not waste any time here.  Leave tonight for America since you have Leukemia.  Nothing can be done for you over here”.

Now let’s keep things in perspective here for a  second.   There is a difference between someone suspecting sinusitis or even meningitis, however, once you start talking Leukemia, you have crossed over to the dark side … that is a totally different ball game for which I was not expecting to qualify.  Still, since he was the last physician that had not met my brother- in- law I went ahead and introduced him to Issam J.  Afterall, what’s one more introduction!?

After further discussion, Issam agreed that I should return to Houston asap!  That decision was made on Tuesday, the 19^th of July around 9PM.

Back to Houston

Before flying to Houston, I returned to our home in Dubai, called the family in Houston, shared the news and grabbed a few items while trying to secure a direct flight with Emirates, that would put me in Houston on Wednesday the 20^th around 4:30PM.

Spiritual side – note #3

If you do not have real strong prayer warriors in your life, you are missing a lot of blessings. So I had to send a handful of emails to my serious prayer circle and they immediately extended it from there. One example is below

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Instead of sending the Prayer of the Day I need to ask for your diligent and effectual prayers for a dear brother who is a member of the small group that I regularly send the Prayer of the Day. His name is Sami and he has …

And the emails started flying around among the faithful.

Once in Houston, we had a mini family reunion and I was informed that I had an appointment at MD Anderson first thing in the morning which was for Thursday the 21^st .

MD Anderson (MDA)

Issam was arriving the next day, but had arranged the appointment.  The first surprise was when MDA  welcomed me as a patient (while I thought I was just seeking a second opinion).  I was not given a chance to consider otherwise.  I guess once you get to MDA it means you need serious treatment. I was immediately given a wrist band with my patient number.  I looked around and I was surrounded by patients … and now I was one of them too.  It was a humbling experience. Think of it.  All of a sudden, in less than 48 hours, you became a cancer patient.

MDA spoke to us, reviewed the charts, data, and most importantly, re-ran all the tests and confirmed that I had Acute Leukemia (AML).  A Bone Marrow test was requested to confirm which type in order to determine the treatment.  So the bone marrow biopsy was done and we were asked to return in the morning.

Spiritual side-note 4

Things are getting serious…pause for a minute…no panic.  Concern, yes.   Of course concern.   Panic?  No.  I have a very strong foundation.  This foundation will steer my course. and will be explained in detail, later on..

What’s next

I just finished 4 days of Chemo. I will be disconnected tonight at 1030PM.  I then have to go through a phase of 3 week remission.  Once done, I will get a bone marrow test to see where things stand.  That test will determine my next steps.  Accordingly, we are praying for God to provide fully negative bone marrow results.  However, whatever His Will, we know that everything will work out for the best.

Going forward I will try to provide a short daily update to keep you all posted.  Thank you for your faithful and loving prayers.

Requests

1. Continued fervent prayers for me to be able to eat, drink and exercise as much as possible; please also pray for my family.
2. Please no unannounced visits.
3. Please no phone calls.
4. Understanding  and patience with me, while I am trying to establish a “routine” in my protective, limited living environment.

 Questions to ask yourself

I’d like you to ask yourself a question:  “What would I do  if all of a sudden I was faced with a tragedy where everything around me fell apart?”

Consider more throught provoking questions:

Do you have a relationship Christ?  How well do you know the Lord?   How established is your daily quiet time?  Are you a Sunday Christian?  Think about it.

Saturday, July 30, 2011
Sami