A Beautiful Gift

One of my favorite scriptures is found in Doctrine & Covenants section 46:8 "Seek ye earnestly the best gifts, always remembering for what they are given."

I have always believed that the gifts the Lord gives to us are to build and strengthen His kingdom. Some people are great listeners- others are great athletes- some are talented in music and others are patient.

Sheryl and I view this disease (scleroderma) as a blessing truly a gift. I feel that Sheryl is a servant of Heavenly Father who is worthy enough to be blessed with this trial- even a disease that will bring her close to death before her immune system is re-born. As the next several weeks approach we are so grateful for all of your prayers.

We would never trade Sheryl's gift. It has brought us many blessings. It has given us a greater desire to search out the Lord＊s will in our lives. It has given our children opportunities to be more kind and eager to serve. It has given us the blessing of knowing that we have neighbors & friends who go out of their way to serve us and give of their time. How could we ever want to trade all the love and the charity (pure love of Christ) that we have felt from this experience?

We are grateful for those who have attended the temple and for the fasting and prayer in our behalf. In Alma chapter 17 vs 1-3 it lays out 4 things you and I need to do to stay close to the Lord.

1. Search the scriptures diligently
2. Much Prayer - labor in the spirit (vs 5)
3. Fasting
4. Service

How many of us have experienced these acts of FAITH?
Vs #9 The Lord would grant unto them a portion of his Spirit to go with them, (and abide with them) Vs #10 And they were comforted
Vs #11 Patient in long-suffering and afflictions, that ye may show forth good examples unto them in me.
How could anyone take this away from the sons of Mosiah and Alma- or from me, you and especially Sheryl.

Many of you have wondered why we had to go to China to get treatment. Well, in the USA the only way you can get stem cell treatment is if you are on your death bed and I mean your death bed. It is a last effort to save a life. Having organ transplants (lungs, kidney, liver or even heart) is not death- bed in the USA, You have to have the transplants go bad and no other hope in sight to get this treatment.

Why then doesn't the USA do stem cell? It's dangerous (20% of people die from the procedure.)

Now scleroderma has 3 types 1. localized 2. limited 3. diffused

Localized does not attack your internal organs- it will make the skin go tight and make it hard to do things with your hands (a real bad case of rheumatoid arthritis) and your legs. (Knees down- elbows down)

Limited is also knees down and elbows down but it can get more aggressive and attack the internal organs and harden them so they don＊t function any more and then you have to do a transplant or pass on.

Diffused covers the whole body on the outside and becomes very aggressive on the inside.

In March of this year while we were at the Mayo clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona Sheryl was in between limited and diffused. (Neck up- arms and legs.) About a month ago it progressed to diffused. This affects all of her body. She has a hard time swallowing and just functioning in normal daily life. We had an echo done upon arriving in China and it shows that it is now in her lungs, kidney, and liver. It becomes a challenge to keep her warm- for Raynoud's (which is like frost bite on your fingers) becomes a daily challenge. Waiting and watching as her organs fail is not in my DNA.

We went through the summer enjoying the children and sending our oldest of 5 sons, Jason, off on his mission to Brazil. I made the decision with Sheryl that as soon as the kids were in school I would find a place to get stem cell treatment. We were blessed to have Jimmy and Jua-fang Lu help us out.

We are now moving to Hainan, China - an island in the south (like Hawaii). It is warm there. We first came to Chengdu because that is where the best of the best doctors is for her disease. He has a very high success rate with doing this procedure. He will be accompanying us to Hainan along with a specialist from Beijing who is an expert also in Stem Cell separation and has the latest and greatest machine for doing the separation.

This starts on the 13th. There is a 3- 5 day procedure with three doctors doing the separation of the stem cells from the blood. Sheryl then goes in for chemo therapy and will be isolated (in the Box). After chemo reduces her immune system to zero, the selected stem cells will be re-implanted. She will be in the box (isolation) for 3 weeks approximately.

She will lose a lot of weight and all of her hair. After leaving isolation she will be in the hospital for another 2 to 3 weeks to get enough strength to leave the hospital. At that point we will go to our friends' resort (in Hainan) for 3 more months so she can have her immune system built up enough to travel back home to Provo. The concern is that flying home on a commercial airliner will subject her to more germs than her immune system can handle. We'd like her home for Christmas, but cannot risk her flying home in a plane with plenty of germs circulating through the cabin. So about March we will make the trip back home to Utah and once again be a family. Yea!!!!

Our spirits are as high as ever. We have perfect faith that all will be well. "Perfect love casteth away all fear." I have no fear, none. Miracles are real. God does live. His Son gave His all in the garden. Ministering angels will be with both of us as we are at our lowest points. They will be with us in our hour of need and will be with you in your struggles in your hour and need.

"Ask, and you shall receive, knock and it shall be opened unto you." We love all of you so much. Thank you, thank you, thank you for your prayers, fasting, faith and service.

"As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

With hope and faith,

~Lon A. Wardrop