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So today is extra special to us because I am breaking a previous pattern. Ordinarily I would be sitting in chemotherapy right now, but I am not! Praise the Lord again. This is the first Thursday since February somethingrather that I haven't gone to the hospital and I am loving it. Thanks again for all your support. We pray that God has used these challenges from our lives in to grow you as well. He is quite good.

Braden and Christy

Hey!

We don't have cancer anymore. We just got back from the doc and he said so. The PET scan came back clear and clean which is a miracle in itself considering it's proximity to my last session. I still have to go in for one last session next Thursday, but that's the last of the nasties. Praise God.

PET Scan!

Just a quick note: I got a call today that my PET scan got bumped up to tomorrow. So here I go. Praise the Lord.

Two updates in one day! Someone must have been very well behaved.

We found out today near the end of Braden's chemo session that our PET scan has finally been approved by the insurance! This means that we'll be able to confirm that cancer has left the building, and we can go about our business (yes, I know I mixed my references). This is a HUGE answer to prayer since we've been waiting for this to signal the end of our treatment so we can start our kick-butt summer plans.

In other news, my students started the hugest food-fight ever recorded in the history of our elementary school. It began, as far as we could tell, with a student deciding to toss his entire tray in the air (full of food and beverages), and see if he could catch it without spilling anything. He failed. This is why 7th graders are awesome!

Thanks, as always, for your prayers and support! We're looking forward to our end-of-cancer party!

Nearing the end

Hello friends and family!

I'm sitting in the business seat right now. Not that one. I'm hooked up to the chemo dripper, but it's just saline right now. I'll have about a 1.5 hr wait till I begin, but I wanted to tell you all the good news. The doctor said that we only have to do 4 rounds. That means this is my second to last time to come in for chemo. The last session will be on June 2nd. We still don't know about which scan will be approved by insurance, but either way we'll be done with the bad juice soon. Thanks again for your many prayers and support especially today. I don't know how I made it here today except for prayer and I'm doing quite well. We'll be celebrating soon.

Love,
Braden and Christy

Hello there...

Hello,
Pardon me, it's been a while. Finishing up this lymphoma journey is being a bit tough. I've now completed round 3 and had a good visit with the doctor. I asked him if it was reasonable to think that I am cancer-free and he confirmed it. There is no sign of the initial tumor and no other lymph nodes in any sort of distress. He walked in to see me asking, "what kind of insurance do you have that denies everything?". It was a little bit funny to me.
     But the good news is he decided we won't wait on the insurance for a PET scan. He said we would complete round 4, do a CAT scan, see what we can see, and maybe finish up with round 5. Right now, the thought of any more rounds sounds like the worst thing in the world to me, but this means there is an end in sight. The conversation continued and will continue more within the next weeks to get the CAT scan scheduled and hopefully not do a 5th round. In the unfortunate scenario that we do a 5th round my last day of awfulness would be June 30th and from there on out I could be getting the bad bad chemicals out of my body. It's tough to describe having your body want chemicals out of it so bad including the power of the mind to support it. Much of my recovery is fought on the mental front. There's certain things I can't think about without getting sick, let alone talk about. It's pretty wild how we're made.
    Thanks again for all your loving support. Christy and I are so blessed to have you all. We're pushing to get through to the 30th of June when she'll be all done with school. In the mean time we have a whole slew of fun visitors! We're very excited.


Thanks again!

Braden and Christy

Happy Easter!

Hi all. We realized it’s been a while since our last update. We have started month 3 of chemo (Braden went in last Thursday, and is almost fully recovered now!). We were hoping this would be our last month, but sadly, the insurance company decided that it was too soon for the PET scan to show any change in the cancer, so they denied paying for the PET scan for at least another month. I’m still unclear on how the insurance company has final say in our treatment instead of our doctor, but that’s the way it is. Right now, we’re hoping that they will cover the PET scan in May, so that we can know how much longer we have for treatment. We’re pretty sure Braden is cancer free now (based only on intuition and hope) but we need the scans to confirm it.

We had a good time recently, during my spring break. Even though Braden was sick for almost all of it, thanks to a bad bratwurst, it was nice to spend time together. We went to the zoo on Wednesday and hung out with some lions. Lions are pretty good at curing cancer.

Now we’re back to regular schedule and looking forward to the end of the school year, when we’ll be done with 13-year-olds for a while, done with cancer FOREVER, and off on some crazy summer adventures. I’m trying to convince Braden that we should drive to Alaska and go moose wrestling, but we’ll probably only make it as far as my mom’s casa in the Seattle area.

Thanks, as always for your prayers and support! We have the best friends and family ever.

Round 2: all done

It feels like I'm a walking miracle (even though I'm lying down right now). Thank you all for your prayers. I was really dreading yesterday till a point and then God gave me peace and strength about it. I leaned on Him and He held me up. Yesterday was the best I have felt on a chemo day, no upset stomach, no headache, and not too much lingering grogginess which makes no medical sense to me. So far today I feel pretty good too. I'm taking it slow, but I'm very thankful. I'll go in for a booster shot this afternoon and figure out when my PET scan is scheduled for. It sounds like it will need to throw off the rhythm of chemo that I've been on, but we'll see. Thanks again for your prayers. God is good.

Braden and Christy

3rd session: Champed

Pardon my delay in keeping you all updated. This third visit for chemo was definitely the most challenging. I'm finding my head has associations with all sorts of details surrounding my treatment that causes me to feel ill if I think about it too much. It's a common response in chemo patients. Everything went as before including great blood counts, kind nurses, and good friends taking great care of us. But the rest of Thurs- Sunday morning I just felt more off and gross than before. It's kind of hard to describe because they are very different feelings than a cold or a flu or anything I've been through, but the thought of doing this again several more times got me down. Our prayer for before the next treatment is for a ready, thankful, trusting, and strong heart rooted only in Jesus. After that, we get a scan to see the progress and we're very excited for that. Thank you all again for your support.

Braden and Christy

Encouraging Doc Visit

I just got back from the doctor where we had an encouraging interaction. From his checkup he couldn't find any lymph nodes behaving abnormally and I appeared to be quite healthy given the situation. Even the previously swollen node behind my collar bone only feels different due to scar tissue from the biopsy. We will continue as planned and do 1 more round (two more sessions) and then scan me up. We are praying for a clear scan and in the event of a clear scan would probably only continue for 1 more round, but I don't want to get ahead of myself so I'll just take what comes and be thankful for how good I feel right now. Thanks again for your prayers!

Braden

Round 1.1

Just got back from the second half of chemotherapy round one. Praise the Lord they cut my benadryl dose by half and the whole process was smooth sailing. I fell asleep, leaving my poor mother to fend for herself for entertainment, but I had my computer with and now she may be hooked on Text Twist. Only a few interruptions later did I wake up and find out I was done. I don't think I could ask for better considering what we're getting done. Thanks again for your prayers!

Some pictures!

Hello all!
Pardon the delay on the promised pictures. Tomorrow I go in for the second half of chemotherapy round one. The last handful of days have been smooth sailing with virtually no side effects. On Saturday, we got a new niece! Her name is Katy. Also, on the same day, I got a new lathe! It does not have a name yet. Thanks again for your prayers. God has been answering them.

 Us and Katy!

 Just turning bowls in the dining room... 

This is where the lathe lives now.

Doing Fine

Hello family and friends!

Day 5 and I feel good. I've held down all my food, only got nauseous in a car ride, only a little bit dizzy sometimes, and not too fatigued. I know as the treatments layer up it may not all be as smooth sailing, but I'm quite thankful for now. Yesterday I walked to the post office and took the L up north to a tea shop and only got a little dizzy once. The fresh air was quite nice and I ran up some stairs once. Thanks again for all your prayers He really is answering them and has promised to do good things through these tough times.

Braden

first round!

Hi all!

Braden got through his first round of chemo today! It took about 6 hours, but now we're home, and so far, side-effect free! The day started out early and trafficy, but once we got to the hospital, everything was smooth sailing. The people at Mercy are amazing. All of the nurses we've interacted with have been incredibly kind and helpful.

Because this whole chemo thing is new to us, I wanted to describe how it went for all of you who, like us, have never experienced chemo close-up before. First off, the chemo room looks like the first-class section of an airplane -- all fancy recliners and personal TVs and funky equipment. We went to the back of the 7 chair room, because that's where all the cool kids sit. Our very kind nurse offered us breakfast, then we had an hour-or-so wait while they did a few tests, attached the port, and ordered up the chemo drugs. We were a little surprised at the wait, but were told that, for some inexplicable reason, these drugs are hideously expensive, they don't put together the doses until the patient is physically at the hospital and ready to begin. Praise the Lord for our insurance! I can't imagine being uninsured in our position. It really is criminal that so many people have to go without good medical care in our country (and...end rant here).

Once we were ready to go, they started out with an injection of anti-puking drugs, and a heavy dose of benadryl to prevent reactions. The benadryl got into Braden's system immediately, put him right to sleep, and made his legs all twitchy and dancy-like. This was the worst part of the day. We were both unprepared for his reaction to the benadryl, and it scared us both quite a bit! Now that we know what to expect, next time will be easier. After that, the rest of the truly toxic drugs held no problems at all. The only side-effect we are currently experiencing is that the A of the ABVD round turns urine bright red...which, if you think about it, is pretty awesome. How many of us secretly want multi-colored excretions? Maybe it's just me. Sorry.

Now Braden's zonked out on the couch, sleeping off the rest of the benadryl. We're as prepared as we know how to be for the next few days. We're both curious, and a little apprehensive, to see what side- effects come with time. We are prepared for all sorts of stomach yuckyness, but praying for the best!

Next post will include a picture of Braden with his shaved head! We thought it best to preemt any hair loss, so we cut his hair as short as we could last night using sewing scissors and a straight razor. Booya.

Thanks again for all of the amazing support and love we've received! We'll keep the updates coming!

~ Christy

Ready to rumble

I've just come back from my lung test which seemed positive and was a little bit fun. Tomorrow is the big day of starting chemotherapy and Christy has been given the day off to accompany me (on piano). We sent Laura and Dawn (wonderful in-laws) packing this morning back to New Hampshire and Connecticut respectively after a very fun visit in which I won the train game and the monk game an embarrassing amount of times. They did not let me win. I did it with skill and sneakery. They will be driving all day today. Please pray for their safe arrivals.

I think today, when Christy gets home, we will see if my head looks lumpy without hair. I've been curious on the matter for quite some time and now we'll know. I was excited last week about starting chemo, then I got a bit scared, and now I think I'm excited again ready to get active towards the cure. We've been praying against false hopes,  like statistics and just wishing, and instead have been praying for God's strength, His peace, and trusting Him. Thanks again for your prayers! I'll let you know how it goes.

Option 3

The doctor has chosen option 3 so we will have a relaxing weekend with family in town, await a new niece, and then go the hospital on wed, thurs, and fri for lung test, chemo, and booster respectively.

Braden

A little more news and a little more prayer

So I've just come from the hospital after a bone marrow biopsy, which I do not recommend, but I have a prayer request regarding scheduling. I need to get a lung test before I begin chemotherapy, but I am scheduled to begin chemotherapy this coming Monday, the 21st. Unfortunately there was not an opening until Wednesday at 8 AM for this test. This gives us three options, pray for a cancellation in the lung test schedule, forgo the lung test, or delay chemotherapy till next Thursday. We're praying for a cancellation or some other way of getting the test done before Monday at 9 AM.

Thanks again for all your support. I've been quite busy with the frequent visits to the hospital, but have been getting excellent care and good news and making friends. Today I was also able to eliminate a visit to the hospital on Sunday for blood work by doing it today and my favorite lab-worker did the procedure and I didn't feel a thing.

update-schmupdate

It’s amazing how suddenly a day becomes a week, and then ten days, and then we realize we haven’t posted anything on the blog yet!  We have lots of news to share, mostly good.

Braden’s tests have been going well, and he now has a portal in his neck that runs directly to his veins. This is supposedly the best way to receive IV medicines, and give blood samples, and will keep him from having his arms poked all the time.  We’re hoping in time to find other good uses for said port – like directly uploading coffee into his veins or something equally useful.

Last Friday, Braden met with a doctor who is something of a guru when it comes to Lymphoma. She was able to answer a lot of questions, as well as seconding the information we had from our primary oncologist.  She assigned us a couple more test to have done, mostly for peace of mind.  This week, we met with our regular oncologist, scheduled those tests, and got the order in for starting our chemo early next week.  Braden will be having a lung scan at some point soon, as well as a bone-marrow biopsy.  Nobody really thinks that there is any threat of cancer in those areas, but we all felt it is better to be sure now, then to have unwelcome surprises later. 

We have both been blown away by the amazing support of everyone around us – both far and near!  If we haven’t responded to phone calls or emails, it’s not because we don’t love you!  It’s mainly because Braden’s super busy calling doctors, and Christy is scared of her phone. 

Beyond cancer (because really, this whole cancer thing is just a little blip in the larger picture of our lives), Braden continues his search for engineering jobs around the country, as well as working on wood projects. He’s currently on a lathe kick, so if you’d like a turned bowl, now is the time to get that order in!  Christy is trying not to lose her mind, as she continues to teach 7^th grade to southside Chicago students, as well as coach two Science Olympiad teams.  Most of the time she succeeds, but not always.  We’re both enjoying the extra time together that this cancer stuff is giving us, and already planning our, “Take That, You Nasty Malignant Cells!” party. 

The next few weeks are looking to be exciting, as we finally start the cure, and enjoy a visit from Christy’s step-mom and sister. We’re really, really, really excited to be actually starting chemo, because that means that the end us close!  We’re praying for a short stint with chemo – three months or so -- and then a clear prognosis. 

More scans and visits to the nice Doctor

We have a large amount of snow and I like snow. Unfortunately, it pushed some of my appointments back, but seeing it makes me quite happy and I played in it some. It was also great to see the neighborhood unified all out digging out their cars and clearing alleys. We have great neighbors.

The latest news hasn't changed much, but I expect to get a call in the next couple of hours confirming my PET scan tomorrow (Saturday). I have my heart scan on Monday and I will have my port put in on Wednesday. For not having a car when Christy is away winning us bread the hard way it takes some clever planning and leaning on kind friends and family to get there 3 times a week, but I'm very thankful for the prompt scheduling. Also, last night I was afraid of another poor night's sleep due to some rib/back discomfort of recent, but 3 ibuprofen and some prayer later we slept very well and I feel wonderful today.

In our meeting with the oncologist we planned on working towards starting chemotherapy on the 15th of Feb. This is why we're doing all the scans. The specific chemo is called ABVD and is very common in the treatment of Hodgkins Lymphoma. As I currently understand it, we will have a PET scan then 3 months (6 doses) of Chemo, then another PET scan and work from there.

Thanks again for your prayers and kind words! More to follow...

1st Oncology visit

Christy and I met with Dr. Sub today for the first time and learned a good bit of info. As might be expected, he requested several tests in preparation for treatment. Hopefully in the next week I will have a test to determine the health of my heart (MUGA test). One of the proposed chemotherapy drugs can strain the heart. We hope to get scheduled for a PET scan this Saturday. There is a mobile PET unit at Mercy Hospital on Saturdays only. This scan uses a contrast causing cancerous cells to stand out and is usually overlaid with a CT scan for orientation. We have been enjoying the results of my previous CT scan. The radiology department burned us a cd with viewing software and we can see the majority of my body within about 100 cross-sectional scans. It's extremely fascinating to see my innards. Before we see Dr. Sub again I will have had the PET scan, more blood work (done today), the MUGA test, and a convenient electrical outlet will be installed in my chest. They called it a port of some kind for future chemo doses as to not have to needle me every time. I hope it's USB 3.0 compatible -- it's about time Texas Instruments!

On other fronts, I have been trying to find a specialist at a teaching hospital that my insurance will cover and have met only frustration. Thank you all for your kind referrals. Everyone that I have called and attempted to set up appointments with have been extremely friendly and helpful. However, my primary care doctor would not refer me to any of them, calling them out of network. But today, Dr. Sub recommended a colleague at UIC whom he believed to be in network and a phonecall 5 minutes ago to the primary's office sounded promising. I don't have the referral yet, but we'll be praying.

There seems to be quite a bit of info and action so I'll leave it at this for now and update more this week.

Thank you all again for your fantastic support and most of all your faithful prayers. God continues to provide for us and is teaching us about Him as the Great Healer as well.

Braden

Newstronics

First off, thank you everyone for your amazing support!  We have felt so loved during this time! 

We met with the ENT doctor (Ears, Nose, Throat) this morning to see the results of Braden's full-body CT scan last week.  We were trying to determine how much, or if, the cancer had spread.  According to the CT pics, there are several nodes along the sternum-area, and in the neck that are also cancerous. Luckily, it hasn't spread below the diaphragm, which is the main separating-thingy between the upper and lower body parts.  This means that we caught things early and have a much higher poop-on-cancer chance then if it had spread lower.  Praise God for no cancer below the diaphragm! 

We meet with the Oncologist on Monday to talk about test results, and set up treatments. Hopefully we'll be able to get Braden in right away to start whatever it is we need to start.  We are also pursuing a second opinion. Unfortunately our health insurance is quite restrictive on where they will send us, and will not cover us outside of a very small network.

In other news, we might be able to use this extra time together (Christy is taking days off to go with Braden to the doctor) to finally get rid of our Christmas tree, which has now lost all it's needles.

Thanks again for all your support and love!  We'll update again Monday, after we know next steps.

Christy

                                                 * In case you forgot what we look like!

Our Big Adventure

On the 21st of January, mine and Christy's big adventure included another challenge. The nice doctor that I had been seeing regarding my enlarged lymph node behind my left collar bone informed us that I will be recovering from Nodular Sclerosis Hodgkins Lymphoma. Although we knew a tumor was a possible report of my biopsy surgery we were still expecting something different especially since the symptoms seemed to respond to a round of antibiotics around Christmas and the area has been pressure sensitive from the beginning.

Some backstory:
As Christy and I were about to leave for a friend's house I noticed that my neck was sore and started rubbing it saying, "Why do I have a sore muscle here? Wait! There's no muscle here! What's behind the collar bone?!". Thankfully Google knows what's behind the collar bone and told us that it was most likely a lymph node. It also told us that the human body has between 500 and 600 lymph nodes! This was news to us indeed.

Once I got to see a doctor about it he appeared a bit alarmed because no other lymph nodes on my body were inflamed. He was quick to refer me to the Ear Nose Throat doctor at Mercy Hospital. I was able to get an appointment for the day before Christy and I drove to Connecticut for family Christmas on her side. The proximity to Christmas was a blessing from God because the kind doctor was able to see me, get blood work done, perform a needle core test and have a CAT Scan performed all in one long day at the hospital with the results emailed to me 4 days later.  When the results of all this came in we still did not know what was going on with the left side of my neck, but we found that there were 2 masses showing on the CAT Scan. See? That's what I look like on the inside!

Two weeks later I met with the ENT doctor for some brief paperwork and showed up the following day for a surgery to remove a 1CM cubed piece of the top mass and perform a biopsy on it. I must say, anesthesia is bizarre. Brother-in-law Nathan was kind enough to transport me for the process and sat through the entire thing with the reward of seeing me come out of very confused land. As far as procedures go, this brings us up to last Monday when we heard the results of biopsy and were immediately surrounded by countless kind family and friends and their prayers.

Last Friday I had 2 more CAT Scans done in hopes of determining where the cancer started and where it plans on trying to spread. We have an appointment this coming Thursday to hear the results of the CAT Scan and will most likely know the stage of the cancer. The following Monday we will have our first meeting with the oncologist to start planning our attack. We're a bit fearful of the results and I know I'm a bit fearful of the process, but we really couldn't be in a better situation with such a fantastic support network around us.

We'll be looking back soon saying to ourselves, "remember when we kicked cancer?"