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