It Takes A Village |5-2-16|

It takes a village to raise a child, but it takes a village, plus some, to cure cancer. We are so grateful for our village, and for all of the extras, too.

Saturday was Lucy's Dance Recital. It's always so much fun to watch her dance. I'm glad Mike got to see her, too. She loves the stage. And I mean loooooooves the stage! She definitely doesn't get it from me, because I get anxiety just walking in front of the seats to get to mine. All of the kids did a fantastic job!

I had posted on Friday that we hadn't gotten results from the biopsy yet, but then the nurse called about 20 minutes after I posted that. I decided to wait to write another journal entry until we had the actual game plan though. The biopsy came back with the same results. Classical Hodgkins & Large Cell Non Hodgkins. On one hand I was just relieved that they even got a good enough sample to get conclusive results. On the other hand, I guess I was hoping it would just be one type of lymphoma to take the guess work out of things. Regardless, we have a new plan now. 

I'm sitting here trying to decide if I should write things out like they happened today, or keep this short and simple for the sake of anyone reading this. I'm choosing to write out our day, though, because this is my memory keeper. These words will be read for years to come by me, by Mike, and by our children, and who knows... even our grandchildren. I want to be able to remember the details that happened on this journey. I also want to be able to have proof of the facts for the days ahead when Mike will argue details with me. ;)

While I was picking the girls up from school, Mike received the call from Dr. Bennani from Mayo about the new plans that are being put in place. When we met back up at home he told me that there was a lot we needed to talk about and things we needed to figure out. We decided to load the kids up and go for a drive to talk because a)kids contained b)kids quiet, because duh, food! and c) the best conversations take place on gravel roads.

He told me about how they wanted to do a stem cell transplant and how he would have to be away from the kids for about 6 weeks. He said that she talked about some harsh chemo that he would get as part of the procedure. We needed to decide if we wanted to go back to the Mayo Clinic or do it in KC. We talked about the pros and cons of both places. In the end, he was leaning towards Mayo, and I was leaning towards KC. I was feeling so overwhelmed by this news. I thought it was just going to be another few rounds of a different type of chemo regimen. I felt like a million pounds were dropped on my shoulders. I couldn't breathe.

I decided to talk to  my oncology nurse friend and ask her about this whole transplant thing. She works at the hospital and is familiar with Mike's situation, so I figured she could help shed some light on this for me. After talking to her, she made me feel better, if only for the reason that I felt like I wasn't in this alone. I knew she would be able to hold my hand through this. She's been through cancer with her husband, too. She gets it. Gets me, without me having to even say what I'm thinking. She helped ease our minds about where to go. We decided on KU Med. We hung up, but then she was back on the phone with me soon after, and she informed me that I needed to get ahold of Mike's oncologist, which I already had a message in with his office for him to call. She didn't think they'd do the stem cell transplant before doing more chemo. I was getting more hopeful by the minute.

Dr. Sirridge finally called back, and it turned out that Mike got a little overwhelmed by Dr. Bennani's first phone call. I think all he heard was "stem cell transplant", and knowing him, he wasn't focusing on anything else. The anxiety had taken over for him, and the rest was just white noise.

So here's the plan as we understand it:

Mike will go back into the hospital this week for a few more cycles of a different type of chemo. This regimen is called ICE. My aunt said it's because Mike is so hot. haha.  Mike's never going to let that one go, now. :)

He is going to do 2 rounds of this chemo, which will involve a 2-3 day stay in the hospital. Each round will be 3 weeks, just like the last chemo regimen. After 2 rounds (5-6 weeks) he will get another PET scan to see if there is a response. The goal is for the cancer to respond to the ICE chemo, and be nearly gone. If there is a good response, and he tolerates this chemo well, then he will get one more round of the chemo. After the 3 rounds (Mid July) then he will get the Stem Cell Transplant. I guess I don't have to worry about where we should vacation this summer. Kansas City, it is! I'll write another post about what the stem cell transplant will all entail another time after we've had a chance to talk more about it with his doctors.

Dr. Sirridge did tell me that Dr. Bennani wanted to be involved on the team and get reports as things happen. This really made Mike feel better to know that Mayo is going to be directly involved throughout the process.

This isn't quite the game plan that I thought they'd present to us, but it IS a game plan. For that, I am thankful. I read a quote tonight that was so perfect for this time in our life. I've been feeling a little down about all of this. Feeling sad for wanting our "normal" life back. If you get a chance to read about Jay & Katherine Wolf's story, please do. It's so inspiring. Here is a quote from their new book, Hope Heals.

"Don't wait to celebrate the life you have been given, even if it looks different from the one you thought you'd have." - Jay Wolf

I didn't think our young family would be facing something like this, but I've gained so much from this already. I'm just going to keep on loving life, loving my family, and especially, loving my husband. It's not the life I imagined, but my heart is larger than I knew it could be, too.

Thanks to all of our villagers. You are so special to us.

And Donna Zinke, your hug on Sunday will stay with me forever. Thank you.

XOXO

Robin