Eric update

Sorry I haven't posted anything about Eric lately, but to be honest the last week has been pretty uneventful. His first round of chemo went pretty smoothly. He did not vomit and only felt nauseated a couple times. There were a couple days where he felt pretty tired, but overall he was okay. The worst side effect yet hit him yesterday - mouth sores. He has one big one on his lip and little ones all over the inside of his mouth and down his throat, which makes it very difficult to eat. He has a couple medications that should help. The oncology nurses told him to expect his hair to fall out in 10-14 days from the start of chemo so we are anticipating that happening soon. Eric is stoked to see what his bald head looks like!

We are off to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN on Sunday for a second opinion. There are lots of great cancer centers near us, but our insurance doesn't cover any of them. We have a friend whose husband was a resident at Mayo and they encouraged us to go there, and amazingly our insurance will cover it! It usually takes 2 months to get an appt there, but we got in in 2 weeks. We are anxious for that trip and to see what other options there may be for us.

Thanks for your continued support. We'll try to post something more entertaining and upbeat soon!
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. Be sure to count your blessings, there is much to be thankful for!

Treatment

Eric started chemo treatments today. We had to wait an extra day to get the final ruling on his diagnosis (it is what we thought it was), which was torture. We are so tired of waiting for results! Eric was pretty excited today to finally get the chemo pumped into his blood. He hasn't had any negative effects yet, the nurses told him it usually takes 3-5 days to start feeling crappy. He has 4 anti-nausea medications to take, so they say he shouldn't experience any vomiting. He had his blood drawn yesterday and his doctor told him today that his LDH (lactic acid dehydrogenase) levels are down (a very good thing) and his platelet counts are back to normal, after just the one dose of Rituxin! Eric says that his abdomen even feels slightly less tight now. These results were very encouraging to us and we know it is the work of the Lord. Thank you for your prayers, they are working!

Diagnosis?

We think we may have a diagnosis for Eric. Our doctor said they are almost certain that he has T Cell Rich Large B Cell Lymphoma. It is a rare subtype of Large B Cell Lymphoma, which is considered a non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Eric's lymph nodes were sent to one more pathologist to confirm the diagnosis and we should get those results on Monday. He is in Stage 4, which is the worst stage. The cancer is in his abdomen, several organs, and his bone marrow. His lungs and brain are both clear, thank goodness. Our oncologist told him he has a 50% chance of being cured through chemotherapy. If chemotherapy does not knock out the cancer in his bone marrow, he will need a transplant. He started on Rituxin today (it took 8 hours of infusion), which is part of the chemo that he will be beginning no matter what the diagnosis. He will start receiving the full-blown dose of chemo on Monday once his diagnosis is confirmed. Although this diagnosis was rather bleak, Eric is so relieved to finally be killing those cancer cells. We remain firm in our faith that he will beat this.

More Tests

We were going to wait until we had an exact diagnosis to post anything new, but test results keep coming up inconclusive. We do know that Eric has lymphoma (cancer of the lymph system). There are many classifications of lymphoma and we do not know which one he has or what stage he is in. He has had 2 biopsies and multiple tests that have not told us anything about how sick he really is. He goes in tomorrow morning for a surgical biopsy to take a portion of a lymph node out for testing, so hopefully the third time will be the charm. He is been so strong through all of these tests, even though they have all been awful. He will start chemo just as soon as we have a diagnosis, he even has a portacath inserted into his chest already for direct access to his veins. We are both anxious about all the unknowns, but we feel an inner peace that tells us that he will be able to fight this. I have been very calm this last week and I know it's because of all your prayers. Thank you and please continue them on our behalf. As much as I would like to talk to all of you, I would appreciate it if you would hold off calling for the time being. Much of our days are spent at the hospital and when we aren't there, we are trying to be as normal as possible for our kids and I don't want to be on the phone constantly. I also don't want Mason overhearing my conversations about Eric. Thank you so much. We love you all!

Still Waiting

I know so many of you are worried about Eric and I wish I had good news, but we are still waiting for a diagnosis for him. Test results are not coming back as quickly as we'd like. Thank you for all your encouraging comments and for your prayers. We definitely have felt strengthened. Hopefully we'll have an answer on Friday.

Halloween

Happy Halloween! We were held up at gunpoint by a tough talkin' cowboy....
Had to relinquish all our gold and silver to a Jack Sparrow impersonator...
And were spooked by the cutest ghost in town!
Busted! This girl knew there was good stuff under those wrappers and would have gotten them open if I'd given her enough time. It was so fun to have a baby in the house for Halloween. Mason and Logan loved dressing her up and wanted to share all their candy with her. We hope you all had a happy Halloween too!