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.