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.