God answers prayers

Merry 2 days after Christmas!!! We were able to get settled into our new apartment yesterday and we are very happy to be here. My parents and brother were able to help me move everything since Brian can still barely stand up. The apartment is older than the one we were in, but we have found it to be much nicer. It has a lot more room with a couch with 2 recliner chairs in the living room and a very large bedroom and even a washer and dryer. Brian is very excited about the recliners (the small things matter). We are so grateful that we were able to get into a church apartment so quickly and we will be able to stay here until we can move back home permanently.

We spent all day today at the hospital for a few appointments (blood work, ultrasound, etc). When we received the results of the blood work we were shocked. His white blood cell count that was at a 0.9 on Christmas Eve is now at at 134!!!! A normal person's white blood cell count is typically between 4-11, so 134 is extremely extremely high. When he finishes chemo each time they give him Neupogen shots to take for 10 days to increase his count since he is at a very high risk for infection with low counts, but we didn't expect his body to respond so suddenly. The drs even said today they they have never seen anyone's levels increase this dramatically in such a short amount of time. On Christmas he had very bad sharp pains in his bones that he described as someone breaking all his bones to where he couldn't even hardly walk. We called the ER since we were concerned, but they said it was normal with the shots and to not be alarmed, so that calmed our nerves long enough until the hospital opened again today from Christmas. He had been going through a lot of pain meds because of the pain, but never thought the pain would be related to his count being too high since it was so low only a few days before. Needless to say, he doesn't have to take the shots anymore for now, and the dr said his results looked so good that they even cancelled his blood work that was scheduled for Saturday! Besides the bone pain, Brian has still be experiencing daily migraines, nausea, and fatigue related to the chemo. We are trying to treat it the best we can with medicines and home remedies, but it is still frustrating for him since he isn't used to being fatigued and stuck at home for so long.

Because of the great blood results, the next time he will have to go to the hospital will be next Wed where he will be restaged and have to undergo all the diagnostic tests again to see how the cancer is reacting to the chemo. We will need a lot of prayers for that day, we have appts from 6:30 am to 8:40 pm, and I'm sure it will be both physically and mentally exhausting for both of us.

God is awesome!!

Praises:
- Our nice new apartment!!
- Brian's white blood cell count reacted very well to the Neupogen shots!!

Prayer Requests:
- Pray for January 2nd when Brian goes back for several different tests to see how the cancer is reacting
- Pray that Brian's side effects will subside and he will regain some energy

Merry Christmas!!!

Once again, I'm behind on writing this, but better late than never...

We finally got released from the hospital on Thursday afternoon after a very very long 9 days. On Wednesday he had another lumbar puncture along with another unit of blood transfused. The lumbar puncture went well, although he is now having headaches again because of it. We also found out that Brian is allergic to some of the chemo that was in the second round (and will also be in the 4th and 6th rounds). The rash that he developed after the chemo iv had started to subside, then within a few hours of getting the same chemo injected in his spine during the lumbar puncture, it got a thousand times worse. His entire body was covered in a red rash and he described the pain as a million fire ants crawling on him all stinging him at once. He tried several different medications trying to ease the pain, but the only thing that worked was to give him some pain meds that knocked him out so he wouldn't think about it. The rash is starting to go away now and the itching only lasted for 2-3 days, but he will probably have to endure this during the 4th and 6th rounds of chemo as well since they can't just not give the chemo. They will just have to try to treat the symptoms and hope it isn't as bad as last time.

We also had to go back for a blood test on Saturday to see what his levels were at and we were hoping if they were close to normal we would be able to go home for Christmas. Unfortunately, his white blood cell count and his platelet count were extremely low, so we were advised to stay here. We didn't want to get to Dallas and Brian get a fever or something go wrong and have to go to a local hospital where they didn't have his records or know how to treat him. The dr also set him up with an appt this morning to go in again for his blood counts. Unfortunately again, his counts had dropped even more and his immune system is at a 0.9 and his platelet count is at a 17. After getting these results, we are glad we decided to stay close to the hospital here. They have adjusted his medications with hopes that his counts will increase with time. He also has another appt Thurs morning to get his blood count again to see if he will need a transfusion. He is borderline right now with his platelets, so we are keeping a close watch and are ready to go to the ER if need be. We will be taking as many precautions as we can and will be spending Christmas wearing masks to try to prevent infections. Other than that, we will try to have a normal Christmas, Brian's dad got here last night and my mom, dad, and brother will be coming today. Although there isn't a Christmas tree, and won't be that many presents, there will definitely be a lot of food and the best gift of all is getting to spend time with our families during this wonderful holiday.

God also answered a prayer yesterday by providing us with another apartment. We are currently in a nice apartment, but it is owned by a corporate apartment leasing company and the rent is really expensive. We had put our names on a list for the church apartment ministry and typically the waiting list is several months long, but we were called with an apartment for us after only 1 month! The rent is less than half as much, which is definitely an answer to prayers. Better yet, we can move in starting Wednesday which coincides with the date our lease is up on our current apartment. My family will also be able to stay an extra day to help us move and get settled in our new place. Our new address starting Wednesday will be:

Brompton Court Apartments
7520 Brompton Road, Apt # 684
Houston, TX 77025

They should be forwarding our mail from this address to our new apartment, so hopefully we will still get anything that has already be sent.

I think that concludes everything from our busy week. I hope everyone has a great, terrific, wonderful Christmas and remembers to be thankful for everything that God has blessed us with over the past year. Merry Christmas!!!

Still in the hospital

Sorry it has taken me so long to update the blog, but as I have said many times before, this has been a long week already. The weekend was another good one, we were both able to catch up on our sleep and relax as much as you can in a hospital room. As we become more familiar with the process it seems like the days you have chemo are the easy ones and the bad ones are the days following chemo. Brian finished his second round on Sunday without too many problems, however since Sunday he has had several different complications. He developed another temperature of 102 that lasted close to 2 days, he was having severe chills as well, so he was bundled up in blankets with ice packs on his head trying to cool down and sweat it out at the same time. Since he had the temp, the drs took some more blood tests and x-rays to make sure there weren't any infections, and in the x-ray they discovered that his CVC had moved and wasn't in the right spot of his heart anymore. They had to power flush it again, which is very painful. The past 2 days Brian has been extremely sick to his stomach and has been throwing up a lot and hasn't been able to eat. He was able to take a few different meds and is getting better today and was able to eat a little dinner tonight. Also, today he developed a rash all over his body that has been very itchy. I tried rubbing lotion on his legs and his hair started coming out, so we are thinking hopefully the itchiness is just from his hair follicles and his hair coming out. I doubt I will be able to talk him into shaving his legs though. I guess these are all just standard side effects of chemo, but it is still hard to just sit by and watch Brian in pain without being able to help very much. Everyday we think we might get out of the hospital, Brian develops another side effect and they keep him to observe him and make sure everything is ok. He still has one more lumbar puncture to do this week so they can inject his spine with chemo, and we are really hoping that it goes as well as the puncture last week. Hopefully we will still be able to go home for Christmas, but we won't know until Friday when he has his last blood work done before the holidays. We won't get go home if his blood results are less than normal since we will be 5 hours away if something happens, but they have already been giving him the shots to boost his blood counts, so we are optimistic. We are still keeping in good spirits and have been able to laugh a lot in between the bad times. God is still watching out for us and we know that things could be a lot worse so we can't complain. I guess those are all the updates for now, hopefully I'll have a better report next time.

Prayer Requests:
- Brian's side effects, that they will subside and he will start feeling better
- That Brian's blood counts will be normal and we will be able to go home for Christmas

Praises:
- We have such wonderful family and friends that are incredible and do everything possible to support us (I know I say this every time, but we can't thank everyone enough)

Chemo, chemo, and more chemo...

Brian is 2 days into his second round of chemo and we have yet to have more than 2 hours of uninterrupted sleep since we have been here. His first chemo drug was started at midnight Wednesday night and lasted through the night with the nurses having to come in every 15 minutes to check his vital signs. I don't know why they couldn't have waited until during the day to do this one, but they wanted to get it started right away when we got here. It is typically the strongest chemo drug, so they have to keep a constant watch on you to make sure your body doesn't have any adverse reactions. Thankfully, Brian's body did well and he hasn't had any bad reactions to any of the drugs. On Thursday, he was able to have a CVC line inserted in his chest so he won't have to be poked with IVs as much. The procedure was a long and painful one for Brian, the sedation he was given before the procedure wasn't strong enough, so he was able to feel everything as it was happening. They also had problems getting the line to his heart and it had gone up into his neck when they were trying to insert it, so they had to "power flush" it with fluid to hope that it would redirect itself. He had an x-ray to make sure it was in the right place and started getting chemo through the CVC last night. He also had to have another lumbar puncture today. He was really anxious about this procedure since he had so many problems with the first one, but as with everything we lifted him up to God and continually prayed that he would be in God's hands and everything would go well. Thankfully our prayers were answered and this one went a lot better. We insisted on him getting the strongest medications he could to make sure he was calm and sedated for the procedure and they also had the head dr of the department to do the procedure since he had so many complications before. Luckily, they didn't hit any nerves, and although it was still painful, Brian was a lot happier with the outcome. Also, we will be able to request the same dr for the rest of the lumbar punctures, so that is reassuring as well. So far, he hasn't had any headaches since the procedure either, so we are continuing to cross our fingers. If everything continues to go well, we should get to be discharged from the hospital on Monday with follow up appointments scheduled for nearly everyday for the rest of the week.

We continue to be extremely grateful for all the support our friends and family provide. There has not been a day since we have been here that we have received any less than 3 cards in the mail letting us know that everyone is thinking about us and praying everyday. We also are extremely grateful for those that have contributed to the medical fund for Brian and I to help ease the burden of the medical bills and all the other expenses that come along with this trial. It has allowed us to focus on getting well and not spend our energy worrying about monetary responsibilities. We are truly blessed and can't thank everyone enough.

We're back in the hospital

After a very nice, relaxing 4 days outside the hospital, we're back for round 2. Of course every time you come in to be admitted you have to go through the process of blood work, dr appt, then wait a few hours for a room to open up, so it turns into a very long day. Unfortunately there weren't any rooms open on the Lymphoma floor this time, so we are in a different area with different nurses, but everything seems to be going well so far. The blood work showed all his counts were at or above normal, so that is great. We did get the bad news from the dr that Brian is going to have to go through a lumbar puncture before and after every round of chemo, so that isn't good, but hopefully things will go better and he will have more drugs for the upcoming procedures (the lumbar puncture is what caused Brian's migraines before). We just got admitted to the room tonight, and they are going to begin chemo as soon as they can get it from the pharmacy and hopeful he will have a CVC line inserted Thurs or Fri. I think the chemo is going to last 3-4 days and we should get out on Sun or Mon if everything goes well.

These past few days have been great. Brian has been feeling good and has had minimal pain and I have been able to work quite a bit. We were even able to have a date night with an early bird dinner at Texas Land & Cattle Monday night so we could eat before it got crowded. Monday night is all you can eat sirloin, so I think Brian gained a few more pounds just to make sure he wasn't losing too much weight with the chemo. Each round of chemo is supposed to be tougher on the body and it should take longer after each time for him to recover, but we are still hopeful that his body will handle it well. There is even the possibility that we may be able to make it back to Dallas for a few days for Christmas. Of course it all depends on how he feels and his blood counts, but just being home and sleeping in our own bed would be the best Christmas present we could have.

Besides that, everything else has been going great. Everyday we realize how much God is watching out for us and how we shouldn't worry about the minuscule things of life. We are soo lucky for everything that has been given to us and how great our life is. This is only a short trial of our faith. My mom sent me this verse from her bible study earlier this week and it is perfect for our situation so I thought I would share:

1 Peter 1:6-7
vs. 6
So be truly glad! There is wonderful joy ahead, even though it is necessary for you to endure many trials for a while.
vs. 7
These trials are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold – and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold. So if your faith remains strong after being tried by fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.

Wonderful weekend

Brian and I have been able to spend the entire weekend at the apartment! He had a follow up appt on Friday to have routine blood work done and it showed that he is doing very well. Last week when he was admitted, his immune system was at a 0.5 (the normal level is 11-14), and on Friday he was at a 55!!! The dr said he definitely wasn't at risk for infection anymore and he thinks he's Superman now. They took him off the shots to boost his white cell counts and his counts should come back down to normal by next week. Also, since he is doing so well he doesn't have to go back to the hospital until next Wednesday when he is scheduled to start chemo again. Of course we are still being cautious with germs, taking all his medications, and checking his temperature, but so far everything is going great. He also has been feeling so great that he hasn't had to take any pain medications in 2 days! He is still a little low on energy though and is pretty much just staying on the couch all day watching tv, playing xbox, and napping.

Brian's dad came down for the weekend and was able to spend some time with him, and I was able to do my routine Saturday activities of running errands, doing laundry, and cleaning. The big event this weekend was shaving Brian's head. His hair had started coming out by the handfuls, so he decided to go ahead and shave it. He was brave enough to let me play barber, until I accidentally nicked his head and he took the razor away. It was kinda sad, but we weren't going to give cancer the power, and Brian wanted to go ahead and shave it himself before cancer took it all away for him. He should definitely get some good use out of the hats we have now. With how great the weekend was, I would have to say the low point is not being able to watch Cowboys games down here. For some reason the tv stations want to televise the Texans games over the Cowboys!!

Praises:
We have had a great weekend
Brian's body is recovering well from the first round of chemo and the infection
We are very lucky to have such a wonderful family and friends that we are so grateful for

Prayer Requests:
That Brian's body will continue to fight through the second round of chemo

Home sweet home

Brian was released again this afternoon after another 5 day stay in the hospital. He is feeling a lot better and no longer has a fever or infection. His white blood cell count is back up considerably so his immune system is almost normal again. The doctors decided to forgo the day 11 chemo that we originally went in for and he will just start again next Wednesday with round 2. We had the option of staying in the hospital for another 2 days so Brian could have the blood patch done on his spine tomorrow, but his headaches have improved and are able to be controlled by medicine, so he elected not to have it done this time. The lumbar puncture is supposed to heal itself after 2 weeks, and it is getting close to that time, so if he isn't completely healed by the time we go in for his appt next week we may reconsider. When given the option of going home or staying in the hospital for another 2 days, you have to be feeling really bad to elect to stay at the hospital. We go back again tomorrow for another blood test and follow up just to make sure everything is fine and his counts have remained normal. Hopefully this really will be a quick visit and it won't be like our last appointment when he had to be admitted. By the way Brian is feeling, I think the blood and antibiotics really helped and now we will know what to look for next time he is feeling bad. All of this is new to us, so we don't really know what to expect, some of what we think is "normal" for chemo isn't, so we will learn over time how Brian's body will react and how well he will be able to tolerate the treatments and what his "good" and "bad" days will be like. So far the only consistent side effects have been the headaches and fatigue and we have gone to classes on how to try to manage these side effects.

We have had a great night at home, it has almost been like normal. We ate dinner on the couch, and even though I just cooked a simple meal, it beat anything we could have had at the hospital. The hospital food really isn't that bad, there just isn't much variety when you have been eating off the same menu for a month. Then we watched Survivor and CSI and now I'm on the laptop while Brian's playing XBox. It's good to have some normalcy back. Hopefully Brian will feel like this the remainder of the time before the next chemo treatment.

We are so grateful to God for everything He has done for us and is continuing to do for us. It's really easy to lose focus and to get mad, irritable, or disappointed, but we know that God is watching out for us and has His plan already laid out. This is only a small trial in our lives and we know God has given us the courage, determination, and faith to get through this. We have to remain positive and remember that trials in life are preparing you for the greater journey ahead.

No such thing as a simple appointment

Well we are back in the hospital again. It has been a very stressful 48 hours for us and we hope the rest of the week gets better soon. Brian came in yesterday at 3 pm for day 11 of his chemo. It was supposed to be a simple IV dose and we wouldn't be here for longer than an hour. Since he has a blood clot in his right arm, they had to try to insert a new IV in his left arm, and unfortunately the nurse couldn't find the vein. She called in the IV specialty team and they couldn't find a vein either even though they tried several times to find one with the needle. Finally 3 people later, they finally found his vein and they were about to get started with the chemo when he developed a fever. They had checked when he first got there and he was fine, but after being poked and prodded with the needles he had a fever of 101. While he is on chemo anything over 100.5 is considered critical and he has to go to the ER. Since we were already in the hospital they went ahead and did a few tests and then wheeled him down to the ER where we had to wait for an ER room to open up. His fever was up to 102.1 by this point and he had an excruciating migraine since his spine still hadn't healed from the lumbar puncture a few days earlier. We finally got into an ER room where we stayed for 6 hours not knowing if he was going to have to be admitted back into the hospital or not. Then at 2 am they decided to admit him and we were moved up to a regular hospital room. His fever has since gone down today with the help of tylenol and antibiotics, but his white blood cell count is extremely low. On a scale of 1 to 10 they said his immune system is at a 0.5 and his body doesn't have any defense left and is very susceptible to infections. Every one that enters his room now has to wear a mask to prevent the spread of germs and we are having to limit visitors. He received 2 more units of blood today and they had to postpone the chemo and blood patch for his spine until the infection is gone and his blood count is back up. Most likely we will be in the hospital this time for another 2-3 days and then hopefully have the weekend at the apartment before he has to be admitted again next week for the second round of chemo.

Between Brian's health and the stress of normal everyday life like work and bills that we are trying to keep up with, this has already been a very stressful week for us. We have to trust in God to provide for us during this time and can't let the stress of life overwhelm us. We know God is in complete control and everything happens for a reason, so we have to hold on to that truth and focus our energy on more important things (which is easier said than done).

Praises:
Overall Brian has had minimal side effects apart from the headaches, fatigue, and fever.
Brian's fever had gone down and we hope to be released again in 2-3 days.

Prayer requests:
Pray for Brian's immune system to get stronger and be able to fight infections.
Pray for our stress levels as we try to manage Brian's health, my work, bills, etc.

We're home.....kinda

Brian was finally released from the hospital last night after 12 long days!!! We made it to the apartment and it has been so great to be able to sit on a couch and relax with him. We still have to go back to the hospital tomorrow for another small chemo IV, but it should only last about an hour and we will be able to go home afterwards. He also has another procedure on Monday to put a blood patch on his spine to help with the healing from the lumbar puncture. The fluid they took out during the first procedure hasn't equalized yet so it has been causing Brian excruciating headaches whenever he stands or sits up. He has been laying flat as much as he can and that seems to be the perfect position to watch tv or play xbox, so I guess he lucked out. Unfortunately, he will have to have the lumbar puncture every time he does chemo A since there is a 30% chance that the cancer could spread to his spine. We also have 2 other dr appts scheduled for next week, so we should be staying busy. When Brian was released from the hospital, they also gave us a huge bag full of prescriptions to keep up with. I've made a spreadsheet for all his medicines so I can keep track of them and try to be a good nurse when he's in my care.

My dad had been here helping us the entire time we've been down here, but went home today to allow Brian and I to have some much needed normal time together. Even if we are only able to spend a few days at the apartment in between chemo sessions, it definitely rejuvenates us and gives Brian the energy to keep fighting. He has been so strong both mentally and physically during this time and is determined to go home cured. Struggles like this make you realize how precious life is and that we shouldn't take the little things for granted. The welcoming hug, admiring look, quick kiss, comforting shoulder are just some of the routine things that we can quickly become accustomed to and not realize how precious they are until something happens that makes you cherish them even more.

The first round of chemo is complete

It has been a very long week. Brian finally finished his first round of chemo yesterday with only a few complications. He has been really nauseous lately with really bad headaches, so we are trying to get that under control with oral medications before he is released from the hospital and doesn't have his IV. The central venous catheter that was in his arm caused a blot clot, so he had to have that removed Tuesday night and replaced it with 2 regular IVs so he could continue his chemo. They will probably try to insert another CVC in his chest, but will wait until his second round so we don't have to take care of it while he is out of the hospital. For now, they put him on blood thinners and are cautiously monitoring him to make sure his stomach doesn't start bleeding again. He will have to take 3 shots in the stomach everyday until the chemo is over, and I had to learn how to give these to him as well. I'll probably be a certified nurse by the time he is cured. He also had complications with the lumbar puncture procedure and had to go through that very painful process twice this week. We have been trying to get out and walk around the hospital as often as we can, but unfortunately he hasn't felt like it very much. He is also back down to his normal weight and looks almost like himself again. We are still hopeful that Brian will be discharged tomorrow and we will get to spend some time outside the hospital before the next round of chemo starts. I have taken most of the education classes the hospital offers so I will know what to expect and how to help treat and reduce some of the side effects he will have. Luckily we are staying in Houston and will only be a mile away from the hospital if we have any problems or questions. Brian will also have to have follow up appointments every 2-3 days through the first few rounds. Overall, Brian is doing as well as can be expected and he is remaining positive and optimistic. We are remembering to laugh everyday and for some reason I seem to be good at making sure he has something to laugh at.

Praises:
Round 1 of chemo is complete!!
Swelling from the chemo has reduced.
Brian hopefully will be released from the hospital tomorrow.

Prayer Requests:
The chemo will work and his cancer will be cured.
Side effects are minimal and are able to be controlled with medications.
Brian will continue to feel better and we will be able to continue a somewhat normal life in Houston.

Thank You!!!

I just wanted to take the time to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone that has called, emailed, visited, commented on the blog, etc. All of your thoughts and prayers are so powerful and it is overwhelming to see how much everyone cares and is so supportive of Brian and I during this time. I probably won't be able to respond to everyone's calls and emails, but please know that everyones words are very comforting and makes us realize how great God is to give us such a wonderful support group of family and friends.

I also wanted to send a special thank you to our church hometeam who surprised us before we left with a "hat party". It was completely unexpected and Brian and I were both overcome with emotions as everyone came in and gave Brian a hat and their favorite encouraging bible verse to remember. Only the best hometeam in the world would do something like that!! We brought all the hats with us and hope to be wearing them around Houston soon.

We miss everyone and hope to be back in Dallas soon.
THANK YOU!!!!!!

The chemo has begun...

These past few days have been hard. We received the test results back from earlier this week confirming that Brian's Lymphoma is at stage 4. He has been on chemo since Wednesday and the side effects are starting to hit and he has been completely exhausted. He is sleeping as much as he can and watching football when he is awake. His body is very swollen and he weighs close to 30 lbs more than he did when he was admitted on Monday. They are starting to cut back on his IVs so hopefully that will help reduce some of the swelling and water retention. His blood count still isn't back to normal yet, so they gave him a pint of blood yesterday and another one today. He is trying to get up and walk around the hospital when he can, but he has been in quite a bit of pain and can only walk for short distances.

From the timetable we were given today, it looks like Brian should be done with his first round of chemo and getting out of the hospital next Wed or Thurs. I have taken 2 classes at the hospital to learn how to take care of the central iv lines in his arm that will be there throughout the chemo. We have found an apartment about a mile from the hospital that has 30-day leases for hospital patients that we will be living in until we can go back home. Hopefully this will feel more like home than a hotel room so we can try to resume some normalcy outside the hospital. We know that these next few months are going to be extremely difficult, but we also know that God is watching after us and doesn't give us more than we can handle. Even if we have to endure this journey for another 6 months, that is only a fraction of time in our long life together.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!!! We are so grateful for today and for all the friends and family we have supporting us through this difficult time in our lives, we couldn't make it through this without all of you.

Today has been a good day. Brian, Brian's dad, my dad, and I were all able to have a nice Thanksgiving dinner around the hospital bed. Brian had the typical Thanksgiving quesadillas, and we had some form of turkey and dressing from the hospital cafeteria. Brian also started chemo last night!! We are so thankful that we was able to get started on this so that we wouldn't have to wait until after the Thanksgiving holiday. The chemo side effects haven't hit him yet, so we were still able to get up and walk around the hospital for a little while to try to get his blood circulating through his legs. In addition to the chemo, they have been giving him some steroids that have brought back his appetite. He was able to eat the quesadillas and a piece of cake today without throwing up. This may sound minor, but when he hasn't been able to eat for a week, this is a huge accomplishment. He started to have a few minor side effects tonight affecting his smell and taste, and I'm sure they will be magnified tomorrow. Hopefully the pain meds and nausea meds will help with this so that he isn't in too much pain or discomfort. We are cherishing all the time we are getting to spend together, even when it is in this situation.

Praises:
Brian has started chemo and is on his way to recovery!!
Brian has been able to eat today without getting nauseous.
Our dads were able to be here with us for Thanksgiving and help out with everything.

Prayer requests:
Continued prayers for the chemo treatments, that Brian's body will accept them and he won't have too many harsh side effects.
Continued prayers for the doctors and nurses, that they will be given the training and knowledge to treat Brian's cancer in the best way possible.

The first few days at MD Anderson

We made it to Houston for Brian's appt at MD Anderson. His first appt was on Monday morning at 9 am, and for how large the hospital is, the process was actually really smooth. We had to register, and meet with several different people before we were taken back to the doctor, but once we met with him, he was able to outline what the treatment would be for Brian. He told us that he will be going through 2 different types of chemo, chemo A and chemo B. Chemo A will be given first and could most likely be given as an outpatient session, but they will keep him as an inpatient for at least the first treatment to see how his body reacts. It lasts for 5 days and then he will have a 2 week break where he will be released from the hospital, but will have to stay close to the hospital so he can come in every 2-3 days for blood work and tests. 21 days after the first round of chemo A started, Brian will be admitted to the hospital for a round of chemo B that will last for 3 days. He will always have to be put in the hospital for this round and it is supposed to be tougher on his body. He will alternate back and forth from chemo A and B for 6-8 months until hopefully he is clear of the lymphoma. He will continue to undergo tests along the way to see how he is progressing, but because he has such an aggressive form of cancer, the chemo is supposed to attack it and get rid of it quickly. Because the doctor wants to keep a close watch on Brian to see how he is progressing, we will be staying in Houston for at least 4-6 weeks until he has had time to do at least one round of each chemo type. Once they determine how he is progressing, there is a chance that we can return to Dallas to do the remainder of the chemo close to home.

The doctor went ahead and admitted Brian into the hospital on Monday so he could hopefully start chemo before the Thanksgiving break. Monday was an extremely long day between all the appointments, finding our way around the massive hospital, and trying to figure out what was to be expected for the next few days. Brian had already done most of the tests that were needed for a diagnosis in Dallas and had them shipped down here, but for some reason they couldn't be found and the hospital insisted that they be done again. Even though we were able to print out the tracking info and who signed for them, they were apparently lost somewhere in the hospital. Needless to say we weren't very happy about that. Because everything had to be done again, the chemo was going to be delayed for a few days. By this point, Brian had been on a straight liquid diet for a week because he hadn't been able to eat anything without getting extremely nauseous and throwing up. He was hoping that the chemo would help his stomach so that he would be able to eat again.

Tuesday and Wednesday Brian underwent 2 MRIs, a CT scan, a bone marrow biopsy, another PET scan, another endoscopy, and had a central line inserted in his arm so he wouldn't have to always be stuck with an IV. Of course after he had everything done, the hospital found his first test results that were sent from Dallas and said that the PET scan and endoscopy wasn't necessary after all!!! Needless to say, we weren't happy about this again, but at least the good news was that the endoscopy was able to determine that his stomach wasn't still bleeding. The nurses have told us that the first week is typically the hardest for the patients since the doctors are still trying to determine what the treatment will be and review all the test results. Hopefully the next few months will be smoother once we know what to expect and finish the majority of tests. We have been so lucky to have both my dad and Brian's dad down here with us to help out with everything so that we haven't had to worry about anything except taking care of ourselves. They have been a tremendous blessing to us and this past week would have been so much more difficult without them here.

Recap of the past week

As most of you know by now, my husband, Brian, was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma on Nov 12th. These last few weeks have been a complete whirlwind of emotions, dr appts, tests, traveling, and everything else you can imagine. I will try to recap everything quickly so everyone is up to date so far and then I will try to add to this blog everyday or whenever I have time.

Friday, Nov 9: Brian had been complaining of stomach pain for the past 3 weeks at this point, he had gone to a CareNow facility one weekend and was prescribed some medication, but it had not helped. After he returned home from a business trip, he went to a specialist who thought he probably had ulcers. They scheduled a endoscopy on Friday (Nov 9) to make sure that it was only ulcers and not anything more serious. Seemed like a simple procedure, so neither of us were really concerned. When he awoke out of surgery they brought me in and told us that they found 8-10 very large polyps in his stomach that had lacerated and he had lost half of his blood. They went ahead and admitted him into the hospital so they could get his blood count back up, they ended up giving him 2 pints of blood on Friday and another 2 on Saturday. The drs also took some tissue from the polyps to do a biopsy, but still didn't think it was anything to be concerned about. We stayed in the hospital through the weekend while Brian underwent some more tests to try to determine if there were any other polyps. On Monday night, a dr came in to give us the biopsy results, the cells had tested positive as Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. He had cancer... The dr continued to say that this was the most treatable cancer and is even curable, but it still doesn't get the word cancer out of your head. Our world had been turned upside down, we tried to stay strong, but still broke down and cried. Plus, after the dr told us, he released us to go home!! I don't know how we got home safely with the tears that were rolling down my face, it seemed like every song that came on the radio made me cry even more. We were given some booklets on lymphoma that we tried to read and educate ourselves on how our life would change.

Week of Nov 12: The following week Brian had doctor's appointments and more tests everyday. We began telling our family and friends although it still hadn't sunk in yet for us. We were numb and too busy with everything else to really think about it. We prayed about Brian's treatment and felt like it would be best to try to get accepted into MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. We knew the cancer Brian has is a very aggressive, fast acting cancer, and was already at the advanced stages. After a lot of prayer, phone calls, and paperwork, we finally recieved the news on Friday that Brian had been accepted into MD Anderson and had his first appt on Monday morning. We were so relieved that Brian would be in the hands of some of the best drs in the country that specialize in his specific cancer.