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