Root Canal and Chemo; all in one week

Well I am on my second day of Chemo. Yesterday I had Retuxan which was 5 hours and then the E part of the RICE; so all in all it was almost 8 hours. Today is a lot lighter. I have to have the 24 hour pump hooked up soon. Tuesday I also had to go to the dentist for a root canal because of the last treatment of Chemo. What a week, huh. When it rains it pours.

Well I am starting to collect mottos and inspiring words to get me through this. The first one "you must go through bad to know the good!" I also found these messages to be inspiring, "The truth is that our only safety, our only security, our only hope is to hold fast to that which is good. As the mists of darkness gatheraround us, we are only lost if we choose to let go of the iron rod, which is the word of God." and "Your Heavenly Father loves each of you and has sent you to earth with a purpose. He has revealed a plan of Happiness that if followed, will ultimatly bring you home to his presence, having triumphed over the trials and challenges of this world." Words from Hymns mean more now. Even though life has not been as fun lately there are so many good things that come from this experience. Once again I thank each of you for your continued love and support.

Schedule

We went to a patient/caregiver meeting on Tuesday and got the schedule from my coordinator. I got a huge manual for the transplant also. So, here is the schedule.

This Wednesday I start Chemo called RICE. Dr. Kanard found a way to let me do the 24 hour drip from home; with a portable drip that looks like an old walkman. I will do that Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and Saturday I will go in for a IV flush at Poudre Valley Hospital and possibly Nuelesta. I have to do CBC's for 2 to 3 weeks to see if my white blood cells are low enough for the transplant.

Then in June I will have another Bone Marrow Biopsy and PET scan, a heart scan and X-ray on the 10th in Denver. On the 17th I have to go down again to meet with Dr. McSweeney and sign consent forms. That Friday on the 20th I will go back down and get my port removed and another port inserted. Then they will do more Chemo and growth factor to get my stem Cells up so they can harvest them the next week. So, I will go in the 26th through the 30th to get enough stem cells for the transplant.

Then I wait again until the 10th of July; we will go down that day and get settled in the hotel. The next day I will start the high dose Chemo for 6 days until the 16th, I get a rest day on the 17th and the 18th is what I call "T-Day"; we will do the transplant that day. Then I will stay at the hotel for the next two weeks until they decide that I am good enough to go home. Once I come home I have to have the whole house sanitary and someone else has to clean it for a whole year and I can't even be in the room when they clean it. I also have to have all of my immunization shots again like Lizzie, even though she is already one up on me, she has only 1 round of shots left.

So that is the plan. Hopefully it will go smoothly and not too painfully. We still need as many prayers as you can give.

The Next Step

So we talked with both my doctor and the bone marrow doctor yesterday. The biopsies that were suppose to go to Denver to be re-analyzed were sent to the Mayo Clinic again and on the 7th were sent to Denver. So they had no results from that when we saw them. They both recommended an autogalous transplant, which is taking my own stem cells freezing them and then after 6 high dose rounds of Chemo they will put it back into my body.

I don't know the schedule yet but I do know that in a couple of weeks I will have to be in the hospital to have a regular round of Chemo which is called RICE. They put you in the hospital for it because the I part is intervainously injected for 24 hours and it can do damage to your bladder so they give you another drug along with it that is also 24 hours. Dr. Kanard is trying to make it so I can go to the Clinic for the 3rd day but we will see if I can. Then we will wait have another PET scan and in 10 days they will hook me up to a machine and get out the stem cells. Then a week or so after that, I think, I will go to Denver, St. Luke's Hospital, to have the major strong Chemo for 6 days rest a day and have the transplant. I will have to stay in a hotel or something similar for 3-4 weeks later to recover while I am getting my immune system back.

I am a little sad that my hair is finally growing back and now I am going to loose it again for a while. I am also a little worried about the rest of my organs after having so much Chemo so close together. My worst worry is not being able to see my wonderful children everyday. I have never spent a night away from them except when I was in the hospital and now I have to do it again. I just want to hold them all the time right now; which isn't that much different than before. Maybe I didn't learn this enough the first time, but it is really hitting home right now; how precious our time is. I don't know if I am going to be cured. I know that Heavenly Father loves me and watches over me, but I don't know if he is going to cure me. I know that he wants me to be happy during this, even though it may be hard. I am trying so hard to let the little things go; like all of the messes that the boys make. I love them so much, I just hope that this will still be a bump in the road and not a hole. I thought I would include some hair pictures. The second one shows that my hair looks like Isaac's.

Time to wait

Well, we met with our oncologist today and it turns out that things aren't over yet. They got back the last of the 3 tests and they were right that there wasn't any Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. But there was Hodgkin's Lymphoma in that lymph node. Katie is having a bone marrow biopsy on Monday. Then on May 8th, we're meeting with the oncologist and a hematologist. Before that meeting, the hematologist will be looking at the bone marrow biopsy as well as the biopsies of the original tumor and the lymph node that was removed a few weeks ago. Then we'll learn what course of action will be taken. It could be more scans, chemo, and a bone marrow transplant. This is a fairly rare condition. Even the Mayo Clinic report said that there isn't a consensus on what the treatment should be. But until the biopsies are re-examined, they can't be sure what the exact condition is.
So you can imagine that we're a bit frustrated, but we're taking it in stride. We continue to rely on the Lord are feeling His blessings in our lives. We'll let you know as we know more.

No more celebration

Well, I thought it was all great, but earlier today my oncologist called and said they did further testing on the biopsy and found another type of Lymphoma called Hodgkins Disease. So, we have to meet with her tomorrow and do another bone marrow biopsy. Not exactly something you want to do more than once in your life! So we'll know more after those tests are over. I'll keep posting here with details as we get them.

Great News!!

We got some good news this morning. Dr. Kanard called and said that the removed lymph node (from surgery last week) was only swollen. There was no cancer in it! So I get to have the port removed; which is the last step to this being over. So no more chemo is planned, and the cancer is in remission!

We have been very, very blessed. All previous indications of scans showed cancer in that lymph node. The Lord continues to work miracles. Thank you for your faith and prayers!

Surgery

I'm sorry that you have been waiting so long to hear about the surgery on Thursday. I keep meaning to write; I’ve been about as tired after this as with the Chemo.
The surgery did go quite well. There were a few complications that could have come with getting the lymph node out but none happened, which I am very thankful for. One was a punctured lung because it was close to the top of my lung the other was rupturing a small lymphatic form that would secrete a white substance that would not have been good. The first I would have had to stay in the hospital because they can't send you home with a punctured lung, and the latter I would have had to wear a bandage with a ball to keep pressure on it over the site for 2-3 weeks. I am so glad that neither of those happened and I am still alive. I did however have a drainage tube until Friday to make sure there was nothing secreting into the area of the wound, which is protocol by the surgeon, I guess that area doesn’t bruise well.

The lymph node was sent to a pathology lab and possibly on to the Mayo Clinic to be processed. We are hoping that there were no cancer cells in it and I can continue with the Retuxan as planned. I will find out sometime next week. So please, please continue with your prayers and fast if you can, I can use all the help that I can get.