Serendipity |8-31-16|

It's been a whirlwind around here, these past 6 days. I definitely see now why they say that time really starts to fly when your kids are in school full time. This is cccrrrraaaaazzzzyyyyy.

Saturday night I went out to the fish fry at our friend's shop. I just couldn't believe what I was seeing. This is the 3rd benefit that has been hosted for us, and I was STILL in shock. I was nervous, anxious, overjoyed.... EMOTIONAL.

So many of our friends and family were there. I didn't get to talk to 3/4 of the people there, but I hope everyone knows that if I could have, I would have thanked you all individually. I had the afterthought that I wish I would have been working on the food line because then I would have gotten to see every single face! (And maybe some of them twice!) There were over 200 pounds of fish caught, cleaned, and fried. All of it, gone. An entire hog cooked, and 1/2 a pan was left. Insanity. (And not the workout.) I hope you all had full bellies, as full as my heart was.

I want to name names and say thank you, but I KNOW I would forget someone and then feel like poop about it. I'd stress about it for days, and then awkwardly and profusely apologize the instant I saw them next. Let's skip all of that, mmkkaayy?

So here is my THANK YOU. To the fishermen, the cooks, the organizers, the workers, the cleaners, the donators, the everythings. The LOVE.

The most memorable thing for me was that a few of the employees from the Oncology Unit at North Kansas City surprised us by driving all the way up here, out in the country of Atchison County, because of how clever, witty, and cute I am. That might be wrong. I suppose it was probably more about the fact that Mike is a good patient for them, and he should act like he's at NKCH when he's at home. (Hint, hint, Michael Horton)

So for this, I don't think I can screw it up too bad, but THANK YOU to Derick, oncology pharmacist, and Mike's go-to man... Marta, the case manager, (and her hubby!)... and Megan. My sweet Megan, the RN who has become a dear friend to me. Her and her husband, Marshall, whom has also battled lymphoma, their beautiful children, Stone, Lola, and Knox.... they are forever in my heart. I am so touched that they all came up to show their support for our family.

On to less lovey dovey feely sort of stuff:

We had an appointment with Dr. Ganguly today to figure out what we're going to do now. Mike is going to start 2 different meds for the TB. They will not cure him, or get rid of the TB, but they will "contain it even more" so that it *Hopefully* won't disseminate during transplant. By taking these meds beforehand, it will help decrease the likelihood that the infection could become active. Usually, a person would be treated for TB with these meds for a year, but we don't have a year to wait. They have suggested we wait 9-12 weeks for the transplant.

During this time, Mike will receive an immunotherapy drug called Brentuximab. It is specifically for the protein CD30 which is what shows up in Mike's cancer. So this drug will target these antigens specifically, and kill them. He will get this infusion 1 day (it's only a 30minute infusion) every 3 weeks. Dr. Ganguly thinks that it is very likely that this treatment could get Mike even closer, if not completely in remission. That was a word I had given up on getting to hear. If he does get to remission before the transplant, then his chances for a successful transplant will go even higher.

So this really could be even better than before. Tell me- How many people do you know with cancer are glad to hear they have TB and have to postpone their transplant? Wait, first tell me how many people you know with cancer find out they have TB? Anyways, doesn't matter. My point is: This is nuts. But we are kinda sorta grateful for this little sidestep. And like I said, Mike is really excited to get in that combine.

Xo

Robin

P.S. I'll add pictures later this week. I can't find my phone to transfer them to the computer at the moment, and I am WAY too lazy to go look for it. :)