PORT

Hello,

Nic is home and doing well, they used a different type of anesthesia, so not so sick. His chest is a little soar, but that is to be expected.

So this Port has a little tube under the skin that goes into the vein. You can feel the tube-- kinda feels like a tendon.

They gave of quite a bit of information at a "chemo orientation" this morning. For anyone who wants to know-- he will be taking AVBD Chemo treatments, every other Wednesday, starting this Wednesday.

For a fun little game- who can think of the most creative acronym for AVBD Winner gets--a plate of home made cookies? Maybe a candy bar?... Get posting, Nic & I would love a few laughs..

Thanks to Nate & Jen for watching Stockton & Thanks Amy & Clint for dinner!

PET Scan Results

We had another call from Dr. Stennitt. Bone marrow biopsy's were clean- Hurray for that- We'll take what we can get.

The PET Scan, however, revealed that there was a mass forming by the pancreas. Which would put him at a stage 3. The mass is not big enough to be classified as a tumor, but showed potential. Nic will be starting Chemo on Wednesday, & that will prevent the mass from turning into a tumor. He will do treatments once every 2 weeks. & go in for another scan after 4 months. We should notice the tumor in his neck decrease in size after 2 treatments.

A new day, A new test

So today's test was CAKE compared to yesterdays! The only problem with today's test was that it left Nic radioactive for the evening. The test took about 2 hours, not bad. We go to Davis tomorrow for the other tests.
On the way home Dr. Stennitt called & stated that the Pathology reports were as he thought, Hodgkin's lymphoma-- Still not sure on the stage, that is what today's test will provide him with. We should be getting a port put in on Monday (tentatively) & will start treatment next week as well. Not sure on what day or what frequency, that also depends on the stage. If all goes as planned we will probably need a meal on Monday.. Nothing set in stone yet...

Change of Plans

Okay, change of plans-
We are able to have the PET scan tomorrow. (Thursday) Hurray a week earlier than planned. That means more answers sooner. After finding out more about the test, it will take a few hours. Monica is in charge of meals & tomorrow is a meal day. I'll update again when we get home tomorrow.

Dr. Stinnett

Okay, well the results were not in- So both the doctor & pathologist are going off assumptions. I am sure they are right on, however, they will be calling with results tomorrow.
What we did find out..
More than likely it's- Hodgkin's which has a 90% survival rate
More than likely it is in stage 2.
He does has 2 lumps in his chest
1ST is 2 inches
2ND is 2.5 inches
He still has more testing to do-
Today they did a bone marrow biopsy
Friday they will be doing an Eckocardiogram
Next Thursday (unless we can get in sooner) they will do a PET scan
For info on a PET scan, check out this link
http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?PG=pet
They will wait for the results before deciding on a PORT or LINE-
Port goes under the skin
Line hangs out of the skin
We will be getting a call tomorrow to confirm this diagnosis or tell us a new one.
He will be treated with Chemo- Once all tests have been finalized, they will decide on a treatment, once a week, or once every 2 weeks. They have said he can still work, just not on the Chemo days.

Ready for the Bone Marrow Biopsy test story... Okay, well they warned us it would hurt & how they preform the test. We all know that I am not in a medical field, because I am not a blood person. So I picked up a magazine, and glanced over every few minutes to see what was going on. Saw some fat long needles- I would compare one of them to a meat thermometer. I could hear Nic taking deep breaths, so I knew it was killing him. I kept hearing the doctor say, sorry, sorry, I'm going to try over here. So I am sure Nic was dying. In the mean time I had to keep my composure. I started feeling really sick to my stomach and light headed. So I was trying to decide which to do first, If I stand up & go to the sink (cause I wouldn't have made it to the bathroom), I may faint on the way, but if I stay in my chair, I may puke. The room was spinning & my mouth was watering like crazy.. Which was going to happen first. In order to get to the sink I would have to cut through the doctor & nurse- I don't want to bump or ruin anything, but if I pass out, they might not have finished the procedure. I keep hearing- Sorry, go ahead and cuss if you need to. By this time I quit looking, I had my back to Nic. The Nurse was still in my vision & she had taken a sample of bone- The first sample didn't get any marrow- & was placing it on a slide. Whoa. Took some deep breaths, looked at the ceiling. I could feel that I was swaying. Oh man, here Nic is in pain & I can't handle the thought/sound/ and little sight I had seen. Then the doctor was done. My eyes were watering, my mouth was watering, I couldn't read the posters on the other side of the room. Then the doctor went out. I went over to the sink, had a drink & splashed some water on my face & went and sat down with my head between my knees. I was still woozy. By the time the doctor came back in I had gotten some color back into my face, but was still a little light headed as we stood.. Came home, my head was pounding, so I took a migraine pill. now all I have left is a little nausea, and a smouldering headache. Nic on the other hand hurts, his neck & hip are throbbing. For now he took a pain pill & is tyring to sleep. I think he handled it better than I did.

Thanks Jen for watching Stockton- Appreciate it!
We are good on food tonight-

Day after

Nic is doing better today- hasn't thrown up once. Yea!

Hopefully we can get answers at the doctor's tomorrow.

Thanks Mom & Monica for helping out with the kids.

& Thanks DeLaine & Crystal for a delicious Chicken Spaghetti!

~Also, I gave out a lot of your E-mail addresses to my sister so she can coordinate help when needed. So if you get an E-mail from a MONICA.... Thats her sending out an update or asking for help. If you want to help and I don't have your email-- ask a friend if they have it-- or find her on face book-- listed as my sister.

Post OP

Okay, he is out...


He wasnt too silly, but a little out of it. He made it through the recovery room-- into the car- stopping at Walgreens to get his pain meds, then into our neighborhood before throwing up. I had to pull over. Ohhhhh, he is feeling better now though, has some color to his face.


Not much new news. They were able to get a good chunk, but werent able to get remove any of it-- that was a thought at first... HOPEFULLY the results will be in by our Wednesday appt.

BEFORE

AFTER

Sorry not much new to report, but all is well. He said the normal lymphnode is the size of a jelly bean- Nic's was the size of a 1/3 of a hot dog. Good comparisons....

Thanks for dinner Crystal and DeLaine!

Biopsy

Here is how tomorrow will go:

Check in at the hospital between 11:00-11:15

Surgery starts between 12:15-12:30

Surgery will take between 30-60 minutes

In patient recovery 30-45 minutes

Out patient recovery 1 hour.

Biopsy

We met with the surgeon today. Nic will be getting a biopsy on Monday. He let us know that Nic had quite a few soft tissue "Mass" in his chest, about 2 inches thick, which is why he has been coughing-lots of pressure on the lungs. The biopsy will help decipher which stage and which type of lymphoma it is. Nic will likely get his "line" put in next Friday or the following week. We still have our Wednesday appt to go to, to get our treatment plan mapped out. I will update again on Monday after the biopsy & let you all how he's doing.

The downfalls of life.

Hi everyone,
I am afraid I have some bad news. Last week Nic found a lump on his neck. We went to Dr. Julien the next day & he said it didn't look good and took an X-ray. He then found another lump to the right of Nic's heart, towards the middle of his lungs. Nic had a CT Angiogram today, and with having 2 lumps, it is in stage 2, 3 or 4. Being that it is close to the heart, it is more likely that it is stage 4. It is Lymphoma, but we don't know if it is Hodgkins or non-Hodgkins. One has a higher rate of survival than the other. He should be going in for a biopsy tomorrow, & we will find out the results to that on Wednesday when he sees his oncologist/internist. That is the only info we have right now. I have really good insurance, so that is a positive. Nic's hours were cut to 20 hours a week with Rainey, so that will work for now. There isn't anything we need help with right now & I am going to start using my blog as an updater, so's not to have to repeat myself, or be on the phone all day. I will post the news in a few days. You can leave questions and comments on that if needed or E-mail me. We haven't told the kids yet, we would like to wait until we find out the survival rate & type of cancer. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers.
We Love you all!
Amber & Nic

Better

Well my kids are feeling better, hurrah for that! Unfortunately I've heard some bad news about my Aunt. She was diagnosed today with stage 4 breast cancer today. Our thoughts & Prayers.....