Chemo's Over!!!

Tom finished his chemo a little over a week ago, but has been so wiped out I didn't want to update, for fear that he would need another trip to the hospital. We have avoided the hospital and Tom seems to be on the rebound. He has had to go to Dr. Tucker's office every day this week to get neupogen injections to increase his white blood count. We'll go back on Monday to get his blood counts and tumor markers checked and then go across the hall to get a CT scan. All of which will hopefully help us plan for surgery in a couple weeks.
Tom is feeling a lot better, and even ran a couple errands with me (he stayed in the car), I think it was the most he has been out of the house in a LONG time. He is still anemic and gets really tired, even just walking across the house (not that we have a large house at all). He's really getting better every day, and that is very encouraging to see.
Will keep you posted.
MB

Almost there

Well, it’s again been awhile since I updated on the Greenways, but here we go.
10/27 was scheduled to be Tom’s first day of his last round of chemo, but his white blood count, was too low. So they gave him a shot (Neupogen?)to increase it. He got it Monday and Tuesday when he got his weekly treatment. When he got home Tuesday he started having chills (temp 98.8), he called the doctor and me, I came home from clinical (temp 101.3), then I took him to the doctor’s office (temp 103.3), and then he was admitted to the hospital (after almost passing out again). When we got to his room, his temp was 103.1 under his arm. That night the temp broke and he hasn’t had any temp since. While in the hospital (from Tuesday-Friday) he got IV antibiotics and a new PICC (big semi-permanent IV) because the oncologist thinks it was why he got a fever, but I have my own theories ;).
His surgery date has likely been postponed for a week, to give him more time to recover from this last bad week of chemo. So surgery will be sometime mid-December.
We are back home now and planning to start the last bad week on Monday. He’s feeling pretty good and walking around the house and stuff.
We appreciate all your prayers and kind words!
MB

3 down 6 to go!

Some have been asking for a new update, sorry. Things have been a little crazy here.

We have made it through round 1 (of 3) fairly well I think. The weekend after week 1, Tom got dehydrated and passed out once and tried to several other times. After a quick (read: ambulance) trip to the hospital and 2 days later he was much better and got his second week's dose on the way home. This dose caused him to spike a 103.9 fever Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. All of that is much better now and he has finished up this first round and is feeling ok. A little nauseous,a good bit of fatigue, and a little thrush, but sitting up working on stuff for the church finance office (cause you cant keep a good auditor down).

I took last week off of clinical to deal with all his craziness, but have gone back this week for my last week at this rotation. Boy, time flies when you are having so much fun... (?) I have actually enjoyed this rotation when I have actually been there and haven't been worried about Tom. Next week I start a rotation in Gadsden which hopefully I will be able to work 3, 12 hour shifts a week and be at home more.

Again we cannot express how grateful we are to all of you for your support, prayers, emails, texts, hugs, warm wishes, food, flowers, candy bouquets, etc.

MB

One week down...

Well the first week of chemo is under our belt. He has done great. Very little nausea, a lot of fatigue. He gets really tired, especially in the evening and he's just not as sharp as he is normally.
These next two weeks will be "light" weeks, he only has to go on Mondays for about 30 minutes. (A lot less than the 4-6 hours he has spent there every day this week.)

Thank you so much for your prayers and words of encouragement.

MB

Update

Sorry, it has been awhile since I have sent an update. Tom is feeling a lot better from his surgery. He will start chemo either tomorrow or next Monday (we will find out in the morning). His chemo will be 3 rounds of 3 weeks each. Week 1 of each round will be the roughest with chemo for 3-6 hours Monday-Friday, then weeks 2 & 3 will be one treatment about 1 hour on Mondays. After his three rounds we will wait 3-4 weeks to let him recover before surgery to remove what is left of the tumor in his back and other surrounding lymph nodes.

Thanks again for all your prayers and concern,
MB

So we didn't hear on Thursday

but at least we didn't have to wait the whole weekend again. The preliminary pathology report came back today and Dr. Bragg gave us a call late this afternoon(actually I was still at clinical making up the time I had missed). It was testicular cancer, immature keratoma, which we will treat as we had anticipated, with a few (2-3) rounds of chemo and the big abdominal surgery (lymph node dissection) to remove whatever is left (after chemo) of the mass in his back, and whatever surrounding lymph nodes may have been affected.
Tom is really doing well, he has only had 1 lortab today and has been sitting up and doing more.
Thanks again for all the support and prayers.
MB

Surgery is over!

At least for now...

Tom is out of surgery, home and doing pretty well. We should get a pathology report back tomorrow sometime.

Finally a diagnosis!!

We finally got a diagnosis! Tom's doctors (general surgeon and heme/onc) presented his case in their biweekly "Tumor Conference" this week. As a result the other members of the conference looked at his case with "a fresh set of eyes" and recommended some more tests. Those tests led us to another doctor, a urologist, because everything is now indicating that Tom has testicular cancer. He will have surgery Wednesday to remove the cancerous nodule and then, depending on what type of testicular cancer it turns out to be, they will decide whether to do chemo, radiation, or surgery to remove surrounding lymph nodes and in what order those things will occur.
The surgery Wednesday will be outpatient surgery at St.Vincent East. We are doing pretty well. It has been such a blessing to have Tom's mom here to help out and let me go back to clinical. We appreciate all of you and your prayers and kind words. We are very thankful to finally have a diagnosis and especially something that is so easily treated! (Dr. Bragg, the urologist said ~98% cure rate)
MB

Update #752

Well we heard back just now from the most recent biopsy. They are still going to run more tests but for now we know:

It looks like:
Fibrous outside layers
Necrotic (dead) inside

It's Likely Not:
Lymphoma
Lymphoid Tumor
Hodgkin's Disease
Metastatic
Adenocarcinoma
Aggressive Growth

It Could Be:
Soft Tissue Carcinoma
Desmoid Tumor (although he said it would be unusual because the necrosis inside)
Weird Malignancy (Heme/Onc's words, not mine)
Fibrous Growth/Tumor

He said that surgery may be our therapeutic choice, but we will decide that when we hear back from the rest of the tests (middle to end of this week at the earliest).

Thanks again for all your prayers, kind words, calls, emails, etc.
MB

Update

We just heard back from the biopsy, and still really don’t know much more than we did before. The biopsy revealed that there was “fibrinous and necrotic debris” and that the sample was “suspicious for malignancy.” So we have been referred to an oncologist for further testing/treatment.

I'll keep yall updated.

We still appreciate your prayers and concern.

MB

New eyes

Oh yeah, I am going this afternoon to have Lasik this afternoon. My mom and Luke actually on their way now to help us today and tomorrow.

News... kinda

Well... the good news is we finally heard from the doctor today. Unfortunately (maybe?) all the tests were negative, so Tom does not have a pheochromocytoma. The problem is we still don't know what he does have. We are going to the hospital tomorrow morning for a biopsy so hopefully we will know exactly what we are dealing with by the end of this week/early next week. The doctor really doesn't know what we are dealing with, until we get the results of the biopsy, but he said that it might be either a necrotic lymph node or an isolated (only one node) lymphoma.

Thank you all so much for your prayers and words of concern. We really appreciate all your encouragement.

MB

Still, still waiting

We were expecting to hear from the surgeon yesterday "at the latest," but it turns out that we will not hear back from them until maybe Tuesday (8/12) since the tests were too specialized. That is the only news to report for now. Once the test results are finalized and provided to the surgeon, we should get a call from him with the game plan at that point.

I have been quite "ill" today so far and pitched what my Momma calls a "Yankee Fit" (my Daddy and his family are all from Ohio, so genetics help). But Tom is more rational and has made me back off and wait patiently. I am not very good at being on this side of the healthcare veil.

MB

Still Waiting

We thought we would hear today, but apparently not all of the test results are back yet, so we still haven't heard anything. Thank you so much for all the prayers, we are so grateful to all of you for your prayers and you kind words.

MB & T

Our Whirlwind

(Written 8/4/8 4:00 AM)
Well tonight/this morning has been a sleepless night in the Greenway Casa. Tom's back began hurting this afternoon shortly after lunch, and continued geting worse all day. Finally after we left evening worship service early, we went to the ER around 9:30. Here it is 4:30am and I am still up... not good. We are home now, Tom is resting, but we have an appointment in the morning with a surgeon who is (hopefully soon) going to biopsy the 5 cm "nodule" in Tom's left side. We don't have any idea what it is at this point, but we are begging for your prayers. Two prayers have already been answered; 1) we went to the ER and found out what s going on, and 2) Tom is sleeping comfortably right now.
I'll keep you updated as we know more what is going on.


(Written 8/4/8 4:00 PM)
We just got back and settled in from seeing the doctor. The current thought is that the mass is a extra-adrenal (outside the adrenal gland) pheochromocytoma (epinepherine/norepinepherine secreting usually benign tumor). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pheochromocytoma

We are running more lab and will go have a MRI tomorrow to confirm/rule out this diagnosis. Tom is feeling a lot better, his pain and nausea are both much more under control. I am feeling a lot better since this is a condition that I have both recently studied and seen 2 cases in my short time in clinical. It could be better, but it could be a lot worse.

We still will cherish your prayers and will keep everyone updated. We won't hear back anything until Wednesday or Thursday.
Love to you all,
MB and Tom

New Eyes

For as long as I can remember I have had glasses or contacts. I remember my first visit to the optometrist, which has become a yearly pilgrimage for the last 18 years, I was a pitiful sight. Imagine a frizzy haired, 7 year old with a gaped tooth grin, who has selected the most hideously thick, faded pink, octagonal, from the bottom of grandma's drawer frames, excitedly exclaiming to her mother, " I can see the individual leaves on the trees!"

Friday I hope to begin the process to remedy this nuisance in my life. I will be meeting with Dr. Choi (http://www.gotovisionamerica.com/VisionAmericaofBirmingham.aspx) of Vision America to discuss Implanted Contact Lenses (ICL) versus Lasik. I am so excited and hope to have vision correction surgery within the next month. I can't wait!!!

If anyone has personal experience or opinion I would love to hear what you have experiences and think!

5 weeks in... 15 months to go!

Well, it has been awhile...
Clinical has been an amazing experience so far. Though I am sure little of this means anything. I have gotten to do 2 Pheochromocytomas, a Bier Block, and countless other exciting things. I really feel like I am starting to settle in to my "routine." Surprisingly I am really enjoying giving kids anesthesia. We talk about the funny smell in the scuba mask that they have to wear while we go see Sponge Bob, then I sing the Sponge Bob song as they breath the gas and drift off to dreaming.
I am very excited about an opportunity that I have been blessed with. For a little over a week in March/April I will be participating in a surgical mission trip to Punta Gorda, Belize. Please pray for this trip and the people we will be working with while we are there. I have been so blessed, there is a scholarship fund available for Samford anesthesia students who want to participate in mission trips. This will reimburse us for my entire expense!! What a mighty God we serve!
Tom is doing well, after a brief period of frustration at work, he is happy and teaching the other members of the staff about this new software that is being tested this year and will be in full swing next year. Now he is sitting in the Atlanta airport waiting on a plane to go to the Fraud conference with his dad. They are going to Boston, which I can somewhat handle better than last year. Last year they went to Disney World (while I was in Pharmacology and Gross Anatomy) and never went to a park, never saw Mickey, the only thing they rode was the bus! What a Waste!!!
Bama is doing well. He lays around making sure the tiles stay on the floor. Despite his busy schedule he is always willing to escort me on my walks and bring back any ball or frisbee that I may throw across the yard.
That's all from our little spot in Moody, Alabama.

Tomorrow...

Tomorrow is "the first day of the rest of my life." Tomorrow I will start my first rotation as an anestheia provider. Tomorrow I will wake up at 4 am and begin my career as a Nurse Anesthetist. Tomorrow, as they tell us, I will turn on anesthetic gas and then "a miracle" (a teacher's words, not mine) will happen. It is hard to imagine that all the studying I have done over the last 7 years is finally going to have a purpose, that first patient, 7 years of studying, tears, preparation, anticipation...

Tomorrow will be 2 days away from when Tom comes home for the weekend.

NEW BABY!!

Today was a very exciting (and long) day! My friend Mindy had a beautiful baby girl, Savannah DeAnne (6 weeks early). Everyone is doing very well and I am just so excited to meet Savannah!

One down...

Well today was the first day of finals for the Spring A term. I have finished my Peds class with an A, with hopes to make that a trend with the next 2 finals I have later this week.

Tom is starting to feel the full force of "Busy Season" it is currently 7pm and he has no hopes of coming home from the office any time soon.

I have a huge prayer request, my friend Mindy is due in mid April. Well, her water broke last night but she isn't having contractions, so she is stuck in the hospital until Miss Savannah decides to come out (which hopefully won't be for 4 more weeks)!
Also I would appreciate prayers for my famly, especially my Mom. They are closing on my grandmother's house in the morning. It's just hard and really emotional.

Back to studying...

Here we go...

Well, being a formerly regular blogger I decided to get back in the habit. For anyone out of the loop (and I'm not sure who is in the loop since this is my first post in approximately 2 years):

Tom and I are living just outside of Birmingham, AL in a little town called Moody. Tom is now officially a CPA. He is also a Senior Auditor for PricewaterhouseCoopers, he has been out of town for the last several months, but is now home to ride out the rest of busy season! I am so glad to have him home!

Not that I am here that much. I am about to begin (next week) my last term of classes for my masters degree in nurse anesthesia, and will get to start clinic in June! I am so excited! This last year while I have been in school has flown by! It is so hard to believe all that we have learned.

We also have a chocolate lab, Bama. He is almost 2 years old and loves to play with his friends, go swimming at the lake, and fetch anything that can be thrown.

Well, it is getting late and I have a final exam in the morning...