October 20, 2011
THE WAITING EXPLAINED
The prayer of little Samir: Yesterday evening, after I gave Samir his birthday gift, he smiled and raised both hands to the sky and said, “Lord I release my Dad. He can have his transplant now.” We all looked at Samir in a funny way (???). He then explained that he prayed that I will be able to spend his birthday with him. He was very “sad” that I was going to be admitted to the Hospital a week before his birthday and miss that event. He was very concerned about the transplant and wanted me to attend his birthday before I go through it. Accordingly, now that his wish has been accomplished, he was thanking the Lord and “releasing” me to have my transplant. 😉
Well, well, well … when we showed up to MDA this morning, the Transplant Doctor shared with us that the Donor was indeed “cleared” of all issues and the transplant is back on track! I should be admitted as soon as they find out when the Donor can provide their Stem Cells. (lol) PTL !!!
Sami’s Wish: On numerous occasions, I voiced my concerns to the Transplant Team regarding the procedure they followed. I had a concern that they were going to give me 5 days of heavy Chemo, that will wipe all of my cells, in readiness for the transplant, before securing the Stems Cells from the donor. In other words, once I was done with the Chemo, they would then obtain the Stem Cells from the donor Just-In-Time (JIT) … but what if something happened to the donor by that time? what will happen to my empty vessel? what if the donor got in a car accident? or changed their mind? or got sick? … or whatever ! and was no longer available, able or willing to give his/her Stem Cells? the answer was – “We’ve always done it this way. We’ve always followed a JIT approach. Freezing the cells was not an option since it was cost prohibitive. The insurance companies had reserved it for “special” cases only.”
Well, well, well … I just received a call a few minutes ago from the Transplant department. The Donor is able to provide their Stem Cells only on Tuesday October 25th, thus they have no choice but to freeze it until I am done with my Chemo by October 29. In other words, we now have a “special” case (lol!!!) – – – Ayayayaya … The Lord is so good, He even addresses our minute concerns . PTL !!! As I mentioned in my previous blog entry … The Lord said “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” after all “He makes all things beautiful in His time …” So how could I worry? Even if I try, it will be too hard 😉 Let’s praise the Lord since all of our prayers have been answered … and please pray for a safe and miraculous transplant !!
You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy (Psalm 30:11)
Sami Lahoud 
Oh, Sami, I am BAWLING as I read this to Jackson. I don’t even know if he can make out the words I am saying. Praise the Lord just doesn’t seem adequate at this moment, but my heart just wants to shout it from the rooftops! Praise the Lord!!! He cares about ALL things big an small- a blood marrow transplant and the sweet prayer of a precious son who just wants his Daddy on his birthday. What an incredible, mighty awesome God we serve, and what beautiful faith He is growing in your children! Thank you so much for sharing this! We will be praying for all of you!
Sami (my friend) – Oct 25th is a special day here as well, my daughter Heather’s Birthday, very interesting. And, she is on her way here today with the 2 grandchildren. The 28th-29th, was the day we heard about Heather 28 years ago, and adopted her on Nov 2nd. So I expect to hear about your new blood around Nov 2nd.
Amen. Dear Sami, this is so encouraging. I love our God who cares about us in such a tender and wonderful way. He keeps no hole or any space for the devil to step in, especially when we are going through hard time. He shows again and again that He is in control and He is able to make all things right
PTL my heart is dancing with joy .
And please tell Samir to not keep secrets between him and God.
We love you all
Oh my brother How much I love you and thank the Lord for you. Although my eyes are filled with tears of joy , my heart is dancing with thankgiving to our amazing God. I will continue my prayers for you, the family and for the Donor… he says that his ways are different than ours and his thought are different from ours too… All is good in His timming…Love you all
Hey Sami – Thanks for the updates. We are following your progress and you are in our prayers. We are all continuing the march and hope for the day you are able to return and continue what we started. You have a lot of friends and the Good Lord on your side, so with all of this, keep the faith and just know we are here for you. Keep the updates coming. Not a day passes by that you are not mentioned and prayed for.
Hello Sami, I am so glad to hear that news, but let me tell something also Nour and Raneem are joining Sameer in prayer, every time we pray they always left you up in their prayers with all of us.
May the Lord give you strength and joy through His presence at this time.
“The LORD hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee” Ps. 20:1
Samer
سامي: يا اسما على مسمى، فصفاؤك ونقاؤك وحلاوة كلماتك، كلها صفات تفيض من جمال روحك، يا صاحب الأخلاقالسامية، هنيئا لك بما وهبك الله من نعم تستحقها. وما هذا إلا سمو من فيض صاحب السمو. وهذا ليس غريبا فأنتم المثل الصالح. تأمل كيف استجاب الله طلب سمير الصغير، أرأيت ماذا تفعل البراءة يا سامي؟ أجل، إنها بداية النهاية السعيدة ـ إن شاء الله ـ لرحلةمضني وشكرا لله على كل حال. حبكمجميعا وأنابانتظار اليومالذي نجتمع محتفين بك بعودتك سالما. مري.
hi brother, believe me i used to wake up nervous very early as a result of my lonality, but these days i wake up very calm walking on balcony praying for u waiting for far sound telling me that u r in good health, sure this sound is your strength and power. half of rimidy is your strict personality and your strengh, not doubt we are optimistic which given to us by mrs. Lahoud. happy birthday to samir, in believe with sharing him his birthdays
Samsoum, you are always in our prayers. Very soon habibi, you will be finished with this ordeal and will celebrate every Birthday and every Holiday with your precious family.
Keep pushing habibi, you are at the finish line…
I love you dearly.
you are a very special person so u deserve a special treatment too! 😉 i just said to miled: come and read the update of sami, this is so wonderful; he said to me: ma ili jlédi o2ra inglisi (these French!!!:), tell me what is new?, i said: the Lord has made a new miracle, that’s all! 🙂 waiting 3ala nar for the coming days and in the same time we are in full confidence. May the Lord bless u more and more. love u all so much. bisous…
Dear Sami, once, when I was studying communication art in LAU, I stood behind the camera. By the information given to me through the earphone, (as “tilt up, tilt down, zoom in, zoom out”) I could shoot a very beautiful picture. I thought in myself “even blind people can shoot beautiful pictures”. I stated this story to tell you that though you are imprisoned either in the hospital or in your house, in your hopes or in your doubts and anxiety, inspite of all your troubles you are inspiring people to glorify God. Sami can you imagine how Lord feels when he hears thousands of voices glorifying Him at the same time?? Maybe you don’t know, but surely you cannot hear us praising God after we read what you write. God does and knows that you are giving happiness to people and Himself out of your pains and sickness. God bless you, your mother, all your family members and your donor. PTL.
PTL…as I….was worried same about the jit!! too..We are with you Sami..
Dear Sami,
All my prayers are with you. Stay strong and let go and let God!!!! You are an inspiration to us all!!!
Sammy: It brought me to tears to read this .Thank God for the sensitive heart of your son and his great faith in the Lord. You and Jaquelin did a great job teaching him God’s love and trust. We keep praying for you and your family, and we know that with Him, nothing is impossible. Hang in there and remember you have the BEST DOCTOR OF ALL. Give our love to your family. (Psalm 23 was very encouraging to me when I was sick)
Sami, God willing, the stem cells will end up in a petri dish tomorrow! Hope you chemo is going well this week, and lots of prayer for a smooth transplant.
Habibi Samsoum, this is the last sprint.
With all the prayers we re having you will win.
I love you cousin
Said
We are praying for you!!!
With you in the journey. Praying all the way. His is faithful.