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!!!