Rough two weeks!!!!

The last two weeks have been tough to say the least. Nathan had to wait over 6 hours on last Friday to get his chemotherapy treatment. He got really sick on that round and wasn't really out of bed much except for late Wednesday and Thursday this week. He felt good just to go back and do it again on Friday. He had to go do blood work on Thursday to see if his counts were high enough for the second dose of the chemo. Again a 6 hour wait just to get the results. Then on Friday they only had half of what he needed ready.... a LONG wait again. When the nurse started giving him the second part of the treatment she did not do something right with his IV and the drugs got into his arm and he had a bad reaction. His arm was burning and he had severe swelling. She had to move the IV to the other arm to finish the chemo. After the 3 hours it takes to do the treatment we were then sent to MD Anderson's Emergency Center. We ended up leaving because they said it would be 4 to 6 hours to see a doctor. His arm is hurting him today but last night we did heat compresses and took the swelling down. He is really sick today and for some reason his whole body is in pain. I am sure as the chemo goes on it is just breaking his body down. I thank God we can go through the frustration of the last two weeks and still laugh together and have fun at the hospital together. It takes my mind and his mind off of things. I can not wait to have or normal life back, we have not had that our whole relationship/marriage. I look forward to being able to do things together and watch him play football and play with Aedyn, I look forward to so much. We go back to the doctor on September 6th and I hope we will find out around when he will stop chemo and be ready to do his transplant. Still no news on if he can get it or not from financial department. Please pray insurance approves it, that Nathan's arm gets better, that his pain stops, and that he can eat and get out of bed. Also please pray for his chemo to continue to work! Through it all still smiling..... still laughing...... still loving me and concerned for me! What an amazing person!!!!!

THE GREAT NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!

We found out Tuesday that Nathan's CHEMOTHERAPY IS WORKING!!!!!! Thank God. Finally after starting all this last May, and the last two things they have tried, we are getting results. He has shown incredible improvement since just two months ago when they did his last PET scan. He will still need to undergo chemo until in complete remission. He is close to the donor stem cell transplant. Here is a link with some great information on stem cell transplantation, http://www.everydayhealth.com/lymphoma/stem-cell-transplants-for-lymphoma.aspx also info on how to be a donor, bethematch.org. Nathan will need an allogenic stem cell transplant. Basically they look for the closest possible match. His siblings were not a match and we don't have a baby for cord blood so they are going to a donor list and finding a match. Last time we met with his stem cell Dr. she said they had two COMPLETE matches. Great news the closer the match the less chance of complication like Graph vs Host disease, where his body will reject the transplant.
The doctor said they are working on contacting the match they found for Nathan and getting everything prepared. We are dealing with the insurance right now and if they will not approve the transplant we will have to find a way. Not too sure at this time of our options but we will do it somehow! Please pray he keeps getting better, that his donor works out, that the insurance will pay (the hospital financial person we talked to said it cost around 700,000, WOW!!!!!), and pray that everything with the process of the transplant will go smoothly! Everyone's spirits are so high for Nathan now. It is such an amazing feeling, he knows all too well from the first time:) We have been doing a great deal of natural things at home like milk thistle to restore the liver, aloe vera juice (does a ton of things) and anything else I can get him to try:) I believe that a GOOD attitude, mixed with a good diet and anything natural and healthy, good doctors, prayer, and of corse good caregivers ;) LOL , makes ALL the difference. Cancer is draining and it SUCKS but Nathan is a STRONG person.He always kids that he's fine, and that he is superman and in my eyes he IS:D cheZZZZy I know but true! Don't feel like proof reading lol hope this makes sense!

Cycle Two DONE!

Nathan was able to get chemotherapy on Monday since his counts were up from Friday when they sent us home. He has been in bed since we got home late Monday evening. He is feeling pretty weak, after completing two cycles of this chemotherapy. He has a CT scan, PET scan, labs, and MRI on Monday to see how it is working. This will be the first time they will check him since starting this new type of treatment. We will get the results of the test on Tuesday morning. He has lost a little weight not too bad, and has had no hair loss so far. Pretty much his side effects are loss of appetite, nausea, fatigue, and his arm is pretty sore and swollen from the injection site of the chemotherapy. Prayers for Tuesday it would be really nice and uplifting to finally get some good news from all he has been through. If this is not working he will most likely go into the hospital for the extensive treatment and we are praying he does not have to go through that. I will update after we get the news on Tuesday.

Unable to get Chemo

We went to Houston yesterday for Nathan's chemo. He did his blood work and it came back way too low. His counts are extremely low and he can't receive the chemotherapy until they go back up. We are going back in Monday for them to check him again. Pray that in the next two day they go up so he can get the treatment he needs. This sets him back now a week. He needs two more rounds to be checked to see if it is working. We were supposed to find out on the 31st, now it will be sometime in September. I will update after Monday.

Friday's Chemotherapy

Yesterday we had to see if Nathan's platelet count was back up before the doctor would order the chemo. His count actually jumped way up from what it was at on Monday morning when they did the blood work. He was able to get the treatment yesterday. Good news so we can stay on track. He will have chemotherapy again next Friday and then the week after they will check him and see how it is working. Please pray that is working and that he is finally getting better. If it is not we have to decide to stay on this longer or AGAIN try something else and the options get smaller and smaller. Most likely he will go into the hospital and receive something much much stronger that will keep him in the hospital for close to a week and then he will have to stay close by in case of ANY complications. Yesterday was a very hard day, I think one of the hardest. As each treatment passes Nathan's anxiety gets worse. He has what they call anticipatory nausea. Basically he makes himself sick just knowing that he has to go into the hospital and receive the chemo. A great deal of cancer patients get it. After the chemo yesterday he was really sick. Today he has been in bed all day. He has also had another bad reaction to the injection site where they administered the chemo. His arm is very swollen, red and it is hurting really bad. We will see what tomorrow brings. I am so anxious for this cycle to be over and them to do the PET, CT, and MRI. PATIENCE is the biggest thing you learn from waiting ALL day at the hospital to waiting what seems like forever to get tested to see if it works. It is all a waiting game and now I see why Nathan has always been so patient with Aedyn and I:) Prayers for him to feel better and be healed PLEASE. Thank you!

Update after Monday

Nathan's platelet count is about the same. Everything else still looks good with his blood work. His platelet count was not low enough to need a transfusion, but it is not high enough for him to receive chemotherapy on Friday. His count needs to be much higher before he can get treatment. He will have it checked Friday and hopefully the doctor will order the treatment. Apparently there is still a shortage of the D that he needs so he would still only be getting the G and the N.

Yesterday's check up 7-20-11

We went to Houston yesterday for blood work. Nathan's white blood cell counts are up. The shots he was taking at home must have brought them back up, that is good news! His platelet count has lowered even more since last week. They are concerned about that so we have to do blood work again on Monday if it's too low he will have to do a transfusion. He is still at home not really able to do much, just trying to gets lots of rest. Yesterday was his first day out for our hospital trip he did pretty good, just tired and a little sick to his stomach. All in all he is doing pretty well. It has for sure been harder this second round for him to bounce back. Treatment one of his second cycle will be on Friday. Next thing up see how his platelets are on Monday.