Back to the hamster wheel...

Hey everybody. Just a quick update to let everyone know that we are both doing well and getting back to the daily grind of life. Brian is really enjoying being back at work and I'm really enjoying cleaning and organizing our house. Brian has had to go to his Oncologist in Dallas a few times since we have been home just to check his blood levels, and she seems to be really happy with how he is progressing. His next scheduled appointment in Houston isn't until the end of September, so hopefully he will only continue to get better.

We have both been extremely busy since we have been back and haven't really found the time to slow down. It's hard getting someone like Brian to slow down and not push himself too hard or fast, but occasionally he listens and takes time to rest. We have a really long list of home improvement projects to keep us busy for the next decade that we have been working on and have been enjoying doing things together besides watching tv like we were doing for so long. My brother is also living with us for a few months and it has been a lot of fun having him around as well.

Guess that's it for now, hopefully next time I'll be able to post some recent pictures.

Home... God Bless it, We are Home!

Wow, I didn't realized how long it has been since Amanda and I have provided an update. So much was happening during June that it slipped right on by and I am sorry for that. As many of you may know by now that I was finally released from M.D. Anderson with a report of full remission of the cancer. Amanda and I have been back for a few weeks now and let me tell you... nothing feels as good as your own bed!!! Now the theme of our house is trying to learn how to live again, but more on that in a minute.


There is so much to say about the last month. After finishing my last round of chemo we had the final round of testing which very well. The challenge for June was mostly related to the fact that after 8 rounds of chemo your body takes longer to heal and recover from the chemical onslaught that it is put through. Remarkably I only needed two platelet transfusions which is actually a lot less than after prior rounds. I was very tired but stayed in good spirits since I knew that it was my last "scheduled" round. I never wanted to be pessimistic but not knowing what the doctors would say about whether the cancer was still in remission and gone or if that would want to continue treatments in another kept the stress levels up in anticipation. Learning from prior experiences with the doctors I wasn't going to relax until the doctors released us and all of our stuff was packed up and heading home. So many things could have changed it was just too scary to think about.


The good news is that things always work out for the best and God was in control of this just as he has been through it all. So the PET/CT scans were effectively negative, I still have the spot under my arm but it is still assumed to be benign. After the last visit with the doctor and he released us we were able to go have dinner with our Physician's Assistant who has been a great help throughout all of the trials. She is our age and was always fun. So during some great Mexican food Kara informed us of how they saw us from the doctors side which is always interesting. Come to find out they had never seen anyone with Burkitt's Lymphoma as bad as I and recover before. Apparently my original PET/CT scans have been used to help teach their follow students there at M.D.A. which totally blew our minds. In no uncertain terms she described how bad they thought I was originally but of course during that time they had to be positive and hopeful. It just shows what God can do and I appreciate all of the prayers that we received during this ordeal.


So after a great night with Kara and her husband Amanda's dad came down to help us move back home. In many ways we didn't think that we had that much down there but we were shocked to see how much stuff we had accumulated over the past eight months. My dad had already been down to Houston a month earlier and we had loaded him up with our stuff and we still had our cars piled as high as they could go. However we were able to get everything cleaned and loaded up in about half a day which was amazing. I was still recovering my strength so I did what I could but it was Amanda and her father that did all of the work, I "supervised" a lot. With us able to pack up so quickly and we were able to get back earlier than expected. My boss was coming in town for a meeting with my group so I thought it would be fun to show up and surprise them. He said I almost gave him a heart attack but it was so good to see everyone. Being out of work for the past 8 months has made me realize that I will never be the retiring type, especially when you like the people that you work with.


Since returning we have had a few other surprise parties with our friends from church and family members. It is soo good to be back. I have been healthy enough to already go back to work full time and not a minute too soon. It is fun to jump back in the saddle and feels good to be wanted. Amanda and I were also able to spend the 4th of July weekend with her side of the family in Tennessee. Her aunt and uncle as well as their church were very good to us while we were down in Houston and we wanted to repay them by going out to see them and say thank you to the church. It was an awesome trip up on the Cumberland Plateau in Big Lick, Tennessee. We had almost 30 members of the family show up and filled up the church on Sunday.


As I mentioned 5 paragraph's before our theme these days is to learn how to live again. We have Allie, our dog, back from our friends who had kept her the whole time we were down there. Amanda has gone back to work as well. My only real restrictions are my own which is if I get tired I rest. The first week was a little weird because your mind thinks you can stand or walk around a lot more than your body is willing to do. We are going to church again which is great and very emotional. We have a lot to be thankful for which brings a whole new set of emotions and tears. Happy tears, but I am sure that people wondered why we were balling during the service. I am ok with it though because I am beginning to realize how great of a story this adventure really is and who I give all of the glory to. I still haven't been able to pull together my testimony because it is just to fresh in my mind and feel that I am still recovering from everything. My body is starting to look normal again. I have my eyebrows back and my hair is growing back. I am walking and starting to lift light weights again.


So I am sorry that it appears that I am writing a novel here but since I have neglected the blog for so long I wanted to capture at least all of the highlights of the last month. Amanda and I want to continue with the blog because after all this time fighting the cancer we want to celebrate our lives that have been given a second chance. To say our attitudes have changed about life is an understatement and we want to share it with everyone. We plan on raising funds for Team in Training so that we can give back for everything that we have been through. So don't be surprised to hear about us training for a half marathon pretty soon. We will post some new pictures soon so everyone can see what I look like these days. Again I appreciate everything everyone has done for us, we can't say enough!

- Brian

Happy Birthday to me!!!

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone, and there were a lot of you, that wished me a happy birthday. I truly felt special and it was great to hear from all of you. Turning 30 can normally be a big milestone in someones life but it can be an even bigger one when you are surviving cancer. You put the two together and it makes you think about life especially how I have lived mine up until now. It makes me very grateful to have Amanda in my life and know that I couldn't go through this mess without her. I am also grateful to my family and friends that have supported me in so many ways. With all the support that I have received it has made going through cancer much more bearable.

We haven't updated the blog in a while because we are still dealing with the shingles on my face. As many of you know this can be quite painful and unfortunately I can't disagree. To me it feels like I have burned my face with a frying pan. We have been using pain medications and Lidocaine patches to try and manage the pain. It has even carried into my eye which has made wearing contacts impossible. Everyone that knows how blind I am and can attest to the fact that it would take something severe for me not to wear my contacts. Believe me this is one of those times. I have been to the eye doctor several times and they have assured me that this will pass and more than likely I will be able to wear contacts again in a few months. We feel that while my face is healing slowly it shouldn't stop me from going through my last round of chemo.

We should start my last round of chemo on Wednesday and should last about five days. You can't imagine how badly I want to finish this round and get the final testing over with. I would appreciate everyone to continue to pray for me and that I can finish my last round of chemo with little side effects. I need to get this done and begin to get back to a more normal life. Of course once we get back from Houston I know we won't go back to being normal. We're already looking at running small triathlon's together.

Again I appreciate everyone's comments and I look forward to writting the next update that can tell you that I am done with chemo. Talk with you folks soon!!!

Brian

Another Setback...

Hi everybody!!! It's my turn again to write the updates so I hope I'm as amusing as Brian is with his writing. We haven't updated in a while since things were going so great and he is in remission now. I'll start with all the good things first...

We had a super wonderful weekend. The weather was perfect in the 70's and 80's all last weekend so we took a blanket, picnic, and some books with us and headed out to a pretty park to enjoy the outdoors. It was exactly what we needed after feeling confined to our apartment and hospital on most days. We were able to relax and nap under the tall shade trees while we watched everyone else jog by. We had such a great time on Saturday that we did the same thing Sunday afternoon. We even took pictures intending on posting them on here, but I don't have the camera cord with me, so that will have to wait until next time.

Brian also had an easy time with the outpatient chemo this time. It was a great change to having to be inpatient for 8 days and he didn't seem to have a difficult time with any side effects either. We even had better news that Brian forgot to post last time, no more lumbar punctures!! Since he is in remission and all the punctures have come back negative, they decided he didn't need any more. Of course he was thrilled about that and jumped off the table to hug the doctor and I even made batches of cookies for the drs and the Diagnostic Imaging team that have been so nice and accommodating through all the procedures. Things couldn't have been going better, or so we assumed...

Now we have been back in the hospital since Monday. With Brian's wonderful luck, he ended up getting shingles. Think of it as the chicken pox nightmare part II. And not only did he end up getting shingles (which most people get on their stomach or back), he ended up with it across his face and head. It really isn't a pretty picture. I really didn't think that shingles was common, but apparently it happens occasionally in cancer patients because their immune systems are already compromised. He started having small red spots on his forehead last weekend and by the time we came in for our normal appointment on Monday it was getting a lot worse. We just thought it was a small rash or something, but all of a sudden the drs started getting really concerned and sent him to the dermatologist, ophthalmologist, and ultimately the ER. Now we are quarantined in the hospital until he starts getting better. Anyone that comes into his room has to suit up like a space alien with robes, masks, gloves, etc, in the hall before they can even open the door. From looking at it you would think he has the black plague or something. But they do have to take precautions to try to prevent spreading it to others and prevent Brian from getting a further infection. He is in a lot of pain, and he describes it as feeling like his face has been burned and blistered and he can't touch it. His right eye is even swollen shut because of the blisters on his eyelid. To me it looks like it is starting to getting better, but he still has a fever and is in pain. He is doing a really good job of not touching his face to try to prevent it from scarring too bad, and he even has a morphine pump on his IV so he can administer his own meds. We'll probably be in the hospital through at least the weekend and have been told it could be as long as 2 weeks and the pain could last for several months. Brian was supposed to start his last round of chemo on the 15th, but with the bout with shingles I don't know how long it will have to be delayed.

That's all for the update for now...please continue to keep Brian in your prayers while he fights this new setback.

The Power of Abbreviations - C.R.

Sorry it has taken me so long to update the blog this week but to be honest I was appreciating everyone saying "Happy Birthday" to Amanda so much that I didn't want to jinx it. This week was a pretty good week for Amanda and I. I was lucky enough to get a present right along with her. We found out the results of the needle biopsy this week and they are NEGATIVE.

Yes, the results were negative and this is great news for us. First of all I want to thank everyone who has been praying right a long with us. With the results being negative it means that the cancer is no longer showing up in the PET or CT scans. Yea! In talking with the doctors this week we learned a new abbreviation that nearly brought tears to our eyes when they said "He's C.R.". It took me a minute to figure out what they meant... in Complete Remission. :) Yes folks, the doctors are now referring to me as being in complete remission. This is great news for Amanda and I and it was great to hear. This battle has been long and arduous and it now appears to have an end in sight.

We're not done yet since we still have the last two rounds of chemo to do but barring any new anomalies in the final PET and CT scans we will be done with Houston in another couple of months or so. Some may wonder why we have to go through the last two rounds but it is to make sure that we get any of the last cancer cells in my body. It will make it harder to go through these rounds knowing that I am in remission but it could be worse. Actually it is getting a little bit easier on me, you see for every A round that I go through I would normally be in the hospital for 8 to 9 days. This time the doctors allowed me to do the final A round as an outpatient. This really made me happy to be able to sleep in my own bed, eat our own food, and relax at our apartment. We will have to go into the hospital every day but that is far better than having a grumpy lab tech waking you up at 4:30AM to get a blood sample. I also get to wear a backpack that will hold the chemo and a pump.

Overall this week was a great week for Amanda and I. We now see the light at the end of the tunnel and can't wait to start packing up to head home. With a little luck we should start packing in early June. Again, thank you to everyone who has prayed for my health over the last six months and I have to say that it appears God has answered all of our prayers. :)

Brian

Happy Birthday Amanda!!!!

Everyone, it is Amanda's birthday this week (April 22nd) and since I am in between chemo rounds right now we thought it would be a great time to celebrate. Obviously we would rather be with our friends and family celebrating Amanda's 23rd birthday (haha!!!, you can add a 4 to that number) but its always good to make lemons into lemonade. I am just gratefull to be here and celebrate her birthday with her this year. For those of you that have wondered what I look like these days we thought we would put a picture up from our adventure to Kemah. Yes, you can now call me "Cue Ball". As some of my colleagues have said "Bald can be Beautiful too!" I did have a little hair left before the last round of chemo but it finally gave way and became too patchy to manage. So I shaved the rest of it off and now only wished that I had my eyebrows back (and maybe my goatee). Oh well, hair can always grow back, right???


So Amanda and I went down to the Kemah Boardwalk which is about 30 miles Southeast of Houston. It isn't as big as Galveston but it has a nice little boardwalk that has 4 or 5 nice restaurants and a few amusement park type rides for the kids. It was a very nice change from the apartment we stay in most days. Honestly, I think we would even go stir crazy in our own house day in day out after 6 months. So Amanda and I went and ate at a restaurant called Aquarium, it was a great time. We got to walk around the boardwalk at sunset until I got tired and we called it a night.

As a minor update to the cancer thing, the needle biopsy last week was a success and they were able to get samples that they are running tests on to see if the spot under my left arm is cancerous or not. We should get those results on Wednesday as well as start my 7th round of chemo that night. It is our prayer that the biopsy results will be negative and that we can start looking to an end to this speed bump in our lives.


As a favor to me I would appreciate everyone to comment this week and wish Amanda a happy birthday. It would mean a lot to me and I know she would appreciate it as well. Don't worry, I can handle the Cue Ball comments, bring'em! :)


Thanks!


Brian

Test Results... Another Big Day Coming Up

Well, we received the test results from last week's PET and CT scans and they were less than what we prayed for. The spot under my arm is still there and based on the tests has not changed very much. I think it shrunk something like 0.1 Cm's but it was still being picked up by the PET scan. So after talking with our doctor we are going to try again with another needle biopsy.

As you may recall, we tried to have a needle biopsy done back in February but was unable to extract any tissue samples due to its size and location. It's current size is 1.3 Cm's and is stashed somewhere deep in my left armpit. They are going to try another method of extraction and see if they can get a hold of it this time. The procedure is scheduled for Wednesday. We are delaying the 7th round of chemo for this procedure so we are now praying that it will go well and they can get enough tissue for testing. Honestly, I am at the point where I will be extremely adamant that they keep trying until they get what they need. We need to know what we are dealing with. Apparently there can be additional risks involved with this type of extraction method so I would appreciate every one's prayers tomorrow. Luckily we didn't have to wait too long to get in for the biopsy so to further delay treatment. If all goes well tomorrow I would expect to start the next round of chemo on Friday or Monday.

Amanda and I have appreciated your continued support and prayers during this testing phase. I think this is harder than the actual chemo because of the unknown factor. We just don't know what the doctor's will find and what they will want to do about it. There has been a lot of talking about different options but we are still hopeful that it will be negative. Amanda or I will update you as soon as we know something.

Thanks,

B

Brian's Update - Huge Prayer Request Thursday

Well folks it's Brian again. Apparently Amanda liked me updating the blog so much she has nominating me again. Luckily I am feeling well enough this week to do the update.

Last week was a little rough for my blood work. We had doctor's visits at 7:30AM on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Each time I had to get some kind of blood products to help boost my counts back up from danger levels. In all, I had four units of blood and three large bags (18 units) of platelets. The doctors have not been surprised with my recovery so far as they expected me to react this way to round six of chemo. I, on the other hand found last week a little trying as I had no stamina to walk around the hospital. Amanda got her workout's in by pushing me around the hospital in a wheelchair. I started feeling better on Sunday and yesterday's blood work confirmed my levels have gone up and my body is starting to recover.

This week is another round of M, W, F blood testing along with some very important tests on Thursday in which I will undergo another round of PET and CT scans. These tests will be one of the most important round of tests I have had to date as it is our hopes and prayers that the spot under my left arm will be gone. Currently the doctors won't really give us any firm answers on what will happen if the spot remains after the eight rounds of chemo. I know I have two more rounds of chemo regardless of the test results but for me this is a mile stone. Amanda and I understand that it may still be a little early for the doctors to tell us what's next but it is so hard to not know what's next. Many of our friends were hoping we would be back by now but it is looking like it will be at least late June. We just don't know which is why are praying so hard for the spot to be gone.

The unknown time frame is one of the hardest things about being down here. It is starting to feel like we have had our lives on pause for the last five months with no end in sight. That is why the tests are so important to us. If the spot is gone then we could start looking forward to the end of this trial. Amanda and I were just commenting today on how it feels like February and not April to us. Time has flown by very fast for us which is good as long as there is an end in sight.

We have appreciated all the support and love that we have received so far and am grateful. We really need everyone's prayers on Thursday. We want to come home! We really want to come home. We won't be able to find out the test results until Monday the 14th when I start round seven. We will let everyone know when we find out. Talk with you soon!

B

Brian's first attempt at an Update

Well folks, you are in for a treat as I get my first chance to write my own update. I can't promise to write as well as Amanda but she asked if I would give it a shot.

First, I have to congratulate my wonderful bride for giving blood for the first time last week. I was very proud of her for doing this for me. That being said she also wanted the T-Shirt that you get when you donate, but hey, everyone needs a reward. Of course I had to tease her a little bit by saying that if I can get stabbed, poked, and prodded at over 500 times she can give a little blood. Now we are comparing bruised arms. She thinks hers looks worse. :)

We finished up with Round 6 on Tuesday and it went pretty well. This was a B treatment round which in the past has been quite tough on me from being able to hold down food and dealing with various tastes. However we worked with the doctors and nurses to get the nausea medications working together appropriately which limited the amount of discomfort I felt. I was able to hold down all of the cafeteria food without any special requests. M.D. Anderson actually has a decent selection of food but when you have ate off of the same menu for over 4 months everything gets old. Amanda and I both can order from memory without looking at the menu. A lady came by to ask how I was liking the food and I just had to laugh, asking her to change it up once a quarter.

In addition to what I would consider a good chemo round I also had a good lumbar puncture procedure... which is like saying that the doctor stabbing me in the back did his job well. :) Actually after 10 lumbar procedures we have worked out many of the issues related to the procedure and have mitigated most of the discomfort. We have a specific doctor (Dr. Kumar) who knows me by name and a nice little drug called Verced. The biggest concern we still have is if I will get the dreaded lumbar headaches after the procedure. The headaches seem to happen more after the second procedure than the first so we will have to see. We are going in tomorrow for the second lumber puncture for this round of chemo.

Other than the lumbar procedure tomorrow, Amanda and I only have NCAA Basketball to watch and for me to rest up. Next week will mostly consist of lab work to make sure that my blood work is staying up. The Physician's Assistant today indicated that Round 6 recovery is notorious for a patients blood work to drop. So they have us coming in every other day. Currently we are scheduled for another round of testing on April 14th with a PET and CT Scan. Our prayers are that the spot under my left arm is gone. Regardless I will still have to complete the next two rounds of chemo but it would be a prayer come true if it is mostly for protection purposes instead of trying to continue to reduce the remaining spot.

Also, I wanted to just take a moment and thank everyone for their support over the last 4 months. The support has just been awesome!!! You learn very quickly in times like this how you might have impacted people over the years and I just have to say thank you for your blessings. I have been amazed how God has provided friends and family, even total strangers, to help Amanda and I through this challenge and I have to give God everything. Yes, Cancer Sucks!!! However, I was never promised an easy life but one that God could provide everything that is needed. I would appreciate your continued prayers for Amanda and I. We both need your continued prayers for patience, strength, and that stubborn cancer spot to go away.

Surprise trip home!!!

Guess what!!! We are in Dallas!!! Brian has been doing very very well and when we went in for the last blood test in Houston they said there was no need for him to have any more appointments before he starts chemo again on Monday. We were surprised since we are typically at the hospital every other day for something, and we hadn't expected to come home again until June. But the drs seemed to be fine with it and just wanted us to have one blood test while we were here and be ready to come back early if anything happens. So we are excited to be in town through Sunday when we have to drive back. We didn't tell anyone that we were coming home since we didn't want to jinx it, and it has been really fun surprising everyone.

So far our trip has been great!! We were able to go out to dinner to celebrate a friend's birthday, surprise our church hometeam by showing up for bible study last night, and we have several other things planned for the remaining days we are here. It really hasn't been a restful trip at all since we are so limited on time and there are so many things we want to do and so many people to see. I have been able to go into the office to work this week and have really enjoyed being back and seeing everyone. Everyone has been so supportive and it's really nice to catch up after 4 months of not being there. We were also able to get Allie back for the week and have enjoyed having her around again.

We don't have any new news about Brian's progress, but we are soo happy to be home this week and rest and relax with our friends and family. This was totally God's work with the way everything was laid out for us and how smoothly everything has gone. We are so blessed to know there is a higher power watching over us and leading us where we need to go.

Another round down, 3 more to go

Brian finally finished up the 5th round of chemo today. He actually got out of the hospital last Wednesday, but the A rounds have a day 11 chemo that he has to come back for and do outpatient. It is a small quick bag, so we were only at the hospital for a little over an hour today. We had a few appointments earlier in the week for blood tests and to restitch the central line in his chest that had ripped out. So far, his counts haven't dropped and depending on how his blood work is tomorrow we may be able to have a few days off from the hospital. On the last visit we even overheard the nurse telling her assistant how great Brian looked and how well he was doing!

He has been feeling remarkably well too. We keep getting scared that he is feeling so well, because it's usually when he is feeling his best that something happens and he has to go back to the hospital. We have been able to get out the the apartment some and even had a nice date night last night. He has been trying to get out and walk around more since the muscles in his legs and neck are really weak from not being used. I think his body has started getting used to the chemo though. He hasn't been feeling bad, and was even able to go through the chemo today without the nausea meds that were already prescribed for that round. His hair has also started growing back! After having a baby face for a few months without shaving, he is now having to shave on a every few days basis. His eyelashes and eyebrows that had thinned out are starting to come back as well. I don't know how long it will take for the hair on his head to grow back, but I'm sure he will proudly wear his Red Sox hat until it is back to normal.

Overall, everything has been going great. Our only concern is still the one spot under his arm that shows up on the scans. Unfortunately we won't even have a chance to find out more until after the next round of chemo when he is restaged again. So, keep praying for that one spot and Brian's continued recovery, but everything else for us has been a wonderful praise to God.

Nothing New

We are still in the hospital as Brian is still on his 5th round of chemo. We should get out tomorrow or Wednesday and then have to come back for a few outpatient appointments later in the week. There really isn't anything new to report, this round has been a little easier on Brian than the rest. I guess his tolerance has been going up with each round that he really doesn't complain too much unless he is really in a lot of pain. He has been a little nauseous, but has still had enough energy to get up and go on small walks around the hospital. His blood counts have even been good, so that is an encouraging sign (even though they will probably drop really low later this week).

The highlight of this stay at the hospital has been discovering a new food court in the next building. We were so excited about our field trip and all the new food! Sounds sad, but hospital cafeteria food isn't exactly 5-star dining, so we were excited about discovering chinese, mexican, greek, and italian all within walking distance.

I guess that is it for now, short and sweet.

The best weekend ever!!!!!!

That's right, we had the best weekend ever, which could only mean one thing......we finally were able to go home!!!!

I'll recap the last week since I have been too busy to post the updates as I should.....

Brian had the PET scan last Tuesday and we were scheduled to go in to the dr on Wednesday for the results and to be admitted for chemo again. Since nothing is easy for Brian, and for some reason he likes to be difficult, he came down with an ear infection Tuesday night. He was in a lot of pain and when we told the dr the next day, he gave Brian some antibiotics and sent us back home again. He can't start on chemo with any kind of infection so we had to delay treatment until he gets better. We were able to get the results from the PET scan and the dr says the cancer is 99% gone!!! Praise God!!! They don't see any spots in his stomach anymore (that is where most of the tumors were) and there is only one small spot under his left arm. That spot has been there all along and hasn't been responding to the chemo. The dr decided it would be best to continue with the chemo treatments through the 8th round and if it still hasn't responded after the 6th round we would look into more options of what we can do. Worst case scenario would be a stem cell transplant, so we are desperately praying that Brian won't have to do that. It is a major ordeal and something you can only go through once in your life with your own cells (after that you would have to have a donor and it would be a major major ordeal). The good news though is that we aren't even sure if the spot is cancer. Brian tried to have a needle aspiration of the spot yesterday, but after they poked around under his arm 10 different times they weren't able to hit the spot. They tried as many times as they could, and probably as many times as Brian could tolerate, but apparently since it is in a fatty area it kept moving around on them. We were hoping that test would be able to tell us if it was cancer or not, but unfortunately we still won't know and will have to continue treatment as usual. He is getting a CT scan now and he is scheduled to be admitted into the hospital tomorrow to start on his 5th round of chemo again.

Now on to the happy stuff....our trip home!!! We really weren't even thinking or anticipating going home last week, which probably made it even better. When the dr postponed chemo because of the ear infection he said he would schedule the needle aspiration for later that week and we would have another appt with him Fri or Mon. Then on Thursday morning when we checked the online schedule we didn't have anything scheduled until Monday morning!!! We both lit up with smiles and decided that we should celebrate with a trip home. We threw everything in our car and left within an hour. Brian said he felt like he was escaping from Alcatraz. We were just waiting for the dr to hunt us down and drag us back. Then, 2 hours into the trip the home, the hospital called confirming his appointment for FRIDAY!!! We frantically called our dr assistant and she said the dr had requested everything be moved up and they had moved the Monday appt to Friday. But when she looked into it further, it was just a consultation for the needle aspiration so she called in some favors to see if they could do that appt by phone. In the meantime we pulled over at a gas station and cried and did a lot of praying. She called us back and was able to get the consultation done over the phone. We were so excited and made sure to take her cookies on Monday. Needless to say we would have been upset to have to turn around for a 15 minute consultation and that be the reason we didn't get to go home.

The weekend at home was exactly what we needed to relax and destress. Since we hadn't planned on coming home we didn't tell anyone until we got there and even then could only let a few people know since we were so limited on time. We were able to see our dog, Allie, and were glad to know that she hadn't forgotten about us and still remembered most of the things we had taught her. She's almost out of her puppy stage now and is twice as big as she was when we left. We were also able to spend some time with family and visit a few friends. Brian felt the best he has felt yet when we were there and we were able to forget for a few minutes about the cancer and just enjoy a bit of normalcy. Being at home really cheered him up and I'm sure he felt better because of it.

We often wonder if it would have been easier to stay in Dallas and get treatment there since we would have been surrounded by so many friends and family, but we know we are in Houston for a reason. Since Brian's cancer is so aggressive and his chemo so tough, MD Anderson is one of the only hospitals in the country that would even give him this treatment. Any other hospital would treat it with weaker chemos and we weren't willing to take chances since Brian's cancer was so far along when he was diagnosed. Please continue to pray for Brian as he goes through treatment and for the one remaining spot under his arm. God answered one of our prayers by letting us go home for a few days and now that we are back we are ready to endure another 4 months of treatment.

One more test before chemo

Brian's blood levels are back to "normal" again, so that means it's time for another round of chemo to knock them down again. We packed our bags and headed back to the hospital yesterday fully anticipating to be admitted and start chemo last night. During our dr appt he proceeded to ask us about the tests that Brian was supposed to have after his last round of chemo. We hadn't had any of the tests yet and they weren't even scheduled until next week, so that put a delay in being admitted. They like to see how he is progressing after every 2 rounds, but the problem is that our insurance will only cover the tests once every 50 days. I guess that's why they hadn't scheduled them for until next week when the 50 days would be up. 1 week doesn't sound like a long time to wait, but of course when you are dealing with an aggressive cancer, every day of a delay is a big deal. Luckily, the dr thought there was a way around the insurance to where they would cover it under certain circumstances. They sent us home with our suitcases still packed and told us they would contact the insurance company for us and make sure it would be covered before we went through with the testing. Also, instead of having the full day of several different tests, the dr said he could just have the PET scan (still a 4 hour test) and then be admitted the same day once he got the results.

We went home and still weren't scheduled with a time for the PET scan, the dr said he would call us once they got an answer from the insurance company. Then at 8:30 this morning the dr called and told us to get to the hospital as quickly as we could, insurance had approved the test and they were going to try to fit us into the schedule for the PET scan. Anyone who knows me knows I'm not a morning person, but we hopped out of bed, threw on whatever clothes we had left in our closet, and caught the next bus to the hospital. Luckily our suitcase was still packed, so at least we were somewhat ready. With another strike of luck and a phone call from our dr, the imaging clinic was able to get Brian in for the test within 30 minutes of us getting here. Today seems to be off to a great start, so hopefully it will continue.

As soon as Brian is finished with the test we are supposed to head over to the other hospital building to see the dr again. Hopefully it won't take that long to get the scan results and he will be able to admit him today. Brian will be on the 5th round this time, cycle A, so we should be in the hospital for 5-7 days again.

I'll post another update soon with test results.....

Another long day

Happy Valentines Day everyone!!! We are enjoying a restful relaxing day at the apartment after another long day yesterday. We were still really optimistic going into the dr yesterday thinking that there was still a good possibility that we could go home yesterday...but we were wrong. Brian had been feeling a lot better after getting the 2 units of blood on Monday and we even went in to appointment early yesterday hoping that they could get us in early and we would be able to make it back to Dallas last night. He was able to get his blood drawn at 10 am, but because it takes so long to get the results back it was still 2:30 before we saw the dr. When we got the results they were almost the same as Monday. His blood level went up a little, but he was still critical and his platelet count had also gone down to the very critical level. His white blood cells hadn't increased very much either, so he is still having to wear a mask. Our hopes were dashed again as we had to accept the fact that we would have to spend what was supposed to be our "easy" week in Houston without getting to go home.

They set Brian up for 2 more units of blood and a large platlet transfusion for later that afternoon. We had to wait several hours for them to prepare everything and by 6 pm they finally had a bed in the transfusion unit for us. They went through the process with the pre meds, then they transfused the platelets, but after the platelets were done, he started having a reaction and breaking out in hives. That delayed the next transfusion while they gave him more Benadryl to try to make the hives go away. Luckily it worked and that was the only complication he had. Of course since he had twice the dosage of Benadryl, he was passed out the entire night while I was monitoring him and reading magazine after magazine. He finally got through the blood units and we were the last ones to close down the transfusion unit for the second time this week. It was 1:30 am before we were able to leave the hospital and even though I was exhausted, Brian wasn't tired at all since he had slept during the entire process. So of course we celebrated an early Valentines Day by starting on our taxes at 2 this morning. We are such exciting people...

Brian has his next blood work tomorrow to see how his levels are reacting. If they haven't increased by then they discussed having to do more in depth tests to determine why his body isn't reacting. It is necessary to get his levels almost back to normal before he starts on his next round of chemo that is scheduled for Monday. If his levels aren't normal, they would have to delay the chemo again while his body becomes strong enough to fight through the chemo.

Happy Valentines Day!!! We really wish we were back home this week to visit, but we are still thinking about everyone and miss you all.

No good news today

Well, we aren't going to get to come home afterall. We came to the hospital optimistic this morning about his blood work to make sure Brian's levels were ok to travel. We thought everything had been going well and was pointing us towards going home today, but when we got his results back all of his levels had dropped dramatically. He was critically low on blood so they had to set him up for a blood transfussion this afternoon. It has been a long day since it takes several hours to get the blood prepared and each unit takes 2 hours to transfuse (Brian needed 2-3 units). His immune system is also close to non-existant at a 0.3, so he is wearing a mask constantly now to try to avoid germs. Of course the dr said we couldn't travel after we got the results so we are stuck here until at least Wednesday when he has another appointment. It is very unlikely that he will improve that quickly to the point we feel safe to travel, so it doesn't look like we will make it home at all this week. Maybe, if a miracle happens and his body responds very well we would try to go home for the weekend, but we aren't getting our hopes up. We were really optimistic about this week to the point where we had already packed some this morning, and were so excited about getting to be home, but God had other plans. It's really frusterating and hard to understand when our plans don't match up to His, but we try not to get mad. It's better for us to be in Houston near the hospital if something were to happen than in Dallas where they aren't familiar with his treatment regimin. With the chemo getting harder and harder on his body the dr said his levels would probably get like this after every round, so that didn't help our spirits either. A week at home would have been a great way to mark the halfway point, but we are strong and will fight it out in Houston till the end even if we don't get to come home for a few more months.

Keep praying!!

Homeward bound...hopefully

Things are looking good for us to be able to go home next week!!! We are so excited that neither one of us can sleep in anticipation. It's pretty pathetic when you are that excited about just getting to be in your own house. Brian has had blood work done twice in the last 3 days and the results, while not great, are good enough for us to travel. He is already on some shots to help increase his white blood cells and therefore boost his immunity and they gave him another shot today to try to do the same for his red blood cells. He was borderline on needing another blood transfusion today, but the dr opted for the shot instead since he wasn't below a certain level. We have asked all the drs if it would be ok for us to travel next week and they are ok with it, so we are so excited. We have our last appt Monday morning and as long as nothing has dropped too dramatically and his levels are good we are hoping to come home Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning. Of course we are still praying like crazy because there are still a lot of things that have to go right in order for us to make it. We may have to go to the dr a few times while we are in Dallas for blood work, but that should be it. He hasn't gone that long before without blood work done, so we are nervous about going a week and not knowing his levels. Hopefully this will be a great "vacation" before he starts on the 5th round the following Monday.

Brian had his 8th lumbar puncture on Wednesday and his side effects seem to be getting better (only 8 more to go!). He puts an ice pack on his back immediately after the procedure and wears what they call a binder around his stomach for the few days following and it seems to help force the blood into his spine so he can heal quicker. I think we may have finally figured out something that works and gives him less complications. They were also able to change his migraine medicine to something stronger than Imitrex so that when he needs it hopefully it will work better.

These past few days have been great. The thought of going home has lifted our spirits and we already have a long list of things we need to do once we are there. Brian's best friend, Jeff, was in town again last night and Brian felt well enough for us to go out to dinner at a local restaraunt and we all really had a great time. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and I'll hopefully update the blog with some great news Monday.

Happy 31st anniversary Mom and Dad!!!!

The hardest part is behind us

Brian has finished the 4th round of chemo and was released from the hospital last night. He is now officially half-way done with the chemo (hopefully, as long as they don't add more rounds). We can now optimistically say the hardest part is behind us and it is all downhill from here. He did really well with this 4th round and it went a lot more smoothly than the rest. He didn't have any allergic reactions and has only had a few bouts with nausea. This was by far our shortest hospital stay at only 4 days!! Since they released us so early we still have to go back everyday this week for outpatient tests and another lumbar puncture, but we definately rather do that then have to stay in the hospital longer. He is still in some pain and isn't feeling "normal" yet (whatever that is), but since the weather is so nice here we hope to be able to get out and go for a few short walks during the next few days. It's hard to stay couped up inside all the time especially when we are outdoor people.

Also, we have been working hard to get our dr schedule rearranged to where we will be able to come home for a few days next week. We are remaining optimistic that Brian's blood levels will be good and he will feel well enough to travel. It would be great just to be able to be in our house and sleep in our own bed for a change. I think a few days at home around friends could do wonders to recharge us for the 2nd half of treatment. No promises yet, but we are trying our best.

I think that is it, short and sweet. No huge news, but at least this gives everyone an update on how we are doing. God is continuing to watch over us and we have been incredibly blessed by how things have gone so far.

Finally.....

Finally another post, I know... The past few weeks have been misrable with Brian and I both having pneumonia. I got sick first and even with me quarantining myself in the bedroom for over a week and Brian staying in the living room the entire time, he still managed to get sick. We were as careful as we could be and even the dr laughed at us when we told him all the precautions we took. My parents came down for a week to help take care of us and make sure we were eating well (all parents must think their children starve without them). They helped out a lot and let Brian and I catch up on our sleep and try to get better. Brian was supposed to go back into the hospital last week while they were here for his 4th round of chemo, but since he was sick, the dr put him on some meds and wanted to wait until he got better. My dad even helped take him to the ER at 3 am when he had a 102 temp. After a few weeks, Brian and I are finally starting to feel somewhat better again and the dr put him back in the hospital yesterday.

Admissions days are always long days. We got to the hospital at 10:30 am and didn't get admitted into a room until 9:30 pm. Apparently the hospital was at 100% capacity, so we had to sit around and wait on someone to leave. My proudest accomplishment was working an entire 550 piece puzzle all by myself while waiting all afternoon for the blood results and to see the dr. I know, I'm pathetic, but when you have to sit hours in uncomfortable chairs anything to keep your mind off the boredom starts to look good. Brian has the 4 day chemo this time, but it is typically a lot harder on his body and he has harsher side effects. He is still having the really bad migraines everyday, but at least while he is in the hospital they can give him iv meds that usually work a little better than the pill meds he can take at home. He had yet another lumbar punture today and is currently recuperating from that. This whole process is really starting to wear on both of us. The stress and pressure from everything that is going on makes it more and more difficult to try to stay upbeat and positive on a daily basis. He is only halfway done and the shear boredom of everything starts to get to you after a while. We are continually trying to come up with new things to do to keep our minds active and take advantage of the free time we have.

Hopefully we will get out of the hospital on Monday. We aren't very excited about having to watch the Super Bowl in the hospital (go Cowboys, wait, go Packers, who's playing again??). This is the first year that I have actually cared more about the commercials than the game. And this will be the only time I will ever actually want the Patriots to win anything. We really really hope that we will be able to go home to Dallas after this round. We say that everytime, but so far Brian hasn't been up for a 5 hour ride in the car with how he is feeling. We miss our house, dog, friends, etc and can't believe we have been down here over 2 and a half months already. After this round he will be halfway done with the chemo and will only have 4 more rounds to go. We are looking forward to him being cured by May so he can be back just in time to have a depressing over the hill 30th birthday (just kidding).

We hope everyone had a great month and I'm sorry for taking so long to update the blog. I know several of you were getting frusterated with me for not providing more updates and I promise to update the blog more often now even if it is just a few lines to say we are doing ok.

Round 3 here we come!!

We have had a great past few days. Brian has felt the best he has yet, with little side effects besides a headache. My old college roommate came down with her husband and son over the weekend to visit and with Brian feeling well we were really able to enjoy the time we got to spend with them. We were able to go out to eat, watch movies, play games, and just catch up on old times. It was a great distraction from the daily reminder of cancer and allowed us to have fun before coming back to the hospital again on Monday.

Brian had his dr appt yesterday to get the results from the tests he had last week and everything looked great. The first 2 rounds of chemo were able to kill 90% of the cancer!!! We knew that Burkitt's lymphoma is very aggressive and would react quickly, but we didn't know how quickly and what to expect. The dr showed us the scans of his body before and after the chemo and for the first time we were able to see exactly how bad it was when he was diagnosed. From the pictures, the cancer occupied his entire digestive tract (which explain why he couldn't eat before) and several other spots under his arm and in the stomach area. Now, after the chemo, there is a huge difference!! All of the spots are either gone or decreased dramatically. There are still several "hot spots" but they definitely aren't as large so you can tell they are reacting to the chemo. The lymphoma specialist even recommended speeding up the chemo process from starting a new round of chemo every 21 days to starting every 18 days. She still wants him to complete the standard 8 rounds of chemo to make sure they get all of it and don't leave any cancer cells to return. So besides knowing that the chemo is working and the cancer is decreasing, our treatment schedule won't really change too much. And since the chemo is what makes Brian feel horrible, he will still have to suffer through another 3-4 months of this. We felt great after receiving the results and were admitted into the hospital right away to get started on round 3. He began the chemo last night and as I'm writing this I'm in the recovery area with Brian while he rests after getting another lumbar puncture. After every procedure the drs recommend something different to try after the punctures to help with the headaches, so after he finishes the last one I'm sure we'll find something that works.

Even though we just came back to the hospital yesterday, it is already starting to wear on both of us. Brian gets very frustrated laying in bed feeling bad and it's hard on him feeling helpless. It's also hard when you are feeling better to come back into the hospital knowing that the chemo is going to make you sick and feel horrible again. He has the long chemo session this time, so we'll be in the hospital for 7-12 days before getting another break for a few days.

Brian and I also want to reiterate again how thankful we are to everyone and everything you are doing for us, whether it's praying, watching our house, dog sitting Allie, helping financially, commenting on the blog, or sending a card to let us know you are thinking of us, nothing is too small and we couldn't make it through this without all of you. THANK YOU!!!

Happy Great New Year!!!

Happy New Year everybody!!! 2008 is off to a great start and we are determined to make this year even better than last. Brian has been out of the hospital and without appointments since last Thursday when his blood levels indicated he was doing very well. Even though he still had some bad headaches we were been able to relax at the apartment and enjoy the time he had off from the hospital. We have tried to take advantage of his immune levels and get out a little every day so that we aren't couped up all the time. He went to Target with me on Friday and even though he had to hold on to the cart and couldn't walk for long, it was still nice for him to get out. We were even able to have a date night and went to Saltgrass for dinner. We both really enjoy our date nights, especially since they revolve around steak since he has to try to keep his red blood count up. Monday we managed to get out and go to lunch and the movies to see I am Legend. Staying couped up all the time is starting to wear on both of us, so it was really nice to be able to spend time out and around Houston before he goes in for his next chemo session next week. Yesterday was the best, we continued our New Years tradition of having 2 tvs in the living room to watch as many bowl games as we could. We set up a picnic in the floor and spent all day being lazy and watching football. And to top it off, most of our teams won (even though Brian could barely stand to watch the end of the Tx Tech - Virginia game).

Today is our long day of tests. We have been at the hospital since 7 this morning and won't get to leave until after 10 tonight. He has already had his blood test and has a cardiac scan, PET test, CT scan, and xray later today. I'm not sure when we will get all the results back, but we are scheduled to come back on Monday to meet with the main dr and start the next chemo round. Hopefully today will go quickly, Brian hasn't been able to eat since last night and he only has a 2 hour window this afternoon where he will be able to eat, and as most people probably know, a hungry Brian is a grumpy Brian.

Hope everybody is having a great new year and try to make this year the best yet. We never know how much time God will bless us with so make sure the time we have on this earth counts.