Brain Update

Hey everyone!

Here's what been going on. A lot of almost normal! Brian feels good, goes to physical therapy twice a week and is recovering well. The incision is healing and we've had another round of immunotherapy.

Today we had a meeting with the brain radiation doctor. Looking at the MRI he had yesterday there are no new lesions or tumors. The place where they took his tumor out looks great! Radiation will happen next week. It'll be a one time thing for about 30-40 minutes. He should feel normal after! 

Now we are waiting for the simulation where they practice lining him up! 

We are happy with all these forward steps and finally an appointment with no surprising news! 

Once again we want to express our gratitude for you all. We love you and are forever thankful for your continued support! 

Our Doctors Don't Mess Around

I can't say how much we love our team of doctors especially Dr. B. Last week I gave him updates throughout everything and told him my concerns for wanting the cancer on the femur taken care of ASAP. Knowing the tumor on the brain was aggressive we didn't want to just wait around. Hearing my concerns, the team immediately made a plan and had to be creative in order to make it happen.

Brian is having a remarkable recovery. Yesterday we had radiation simulation on his leg. We followed that up with a physical therapy eval. After going through all the tests Brian only has a few deficits that can easily be worked back to 100%. We are so blessed and amazed.

Today we had teaching for Brian's new immunotherapy that will begin tomorrow. This will train his immune system to attack the mutated cells and put us on the offense. It's a newer drug that is getting great result! Although they go over the side effects none will prohibit Brian from leading a "normal" life" --that word an Brian shouldn't be in the same sentence.

So what's next?

Tomorrow we get to see Dr. B then Brian will start immunotherapy. It is an infusion that takes an hour and will be given once every two weeks.

Thursday Brian has radiation and PT again.

Next week Monday-Wednesday Brian will finish the radiation in his leg. We will also have our follow up with the brain surgeon! 

Again we are beyond thankful. We have happy hearts and full bellies thanks to the meal train.

Thanks again to everyone! We cannot express it enough!

A Week in Review

I realize this week a lot of my updates were on Facebook and thought it would be therapeutic to review the week.

Friday

• They say Brian's tumor is big
• We meet with a neurosurgeon
• We find out Brian will have surgery in 1-2 weeks
• We learn he may be paralyzed on his left side and wheelchair bound
• The doctor notices Brian's slight limp and tells us it is a result of the tumor and there is a chance of seizure
• We drive to Tampa and Brian goes to a hotel for work

Saturday

• Harper and I have a great day at the zoo with my parents
• Brian comes back and has regressed. 
• Brian is walking more weirdly and he notices slower processing on his left side
• I freak out, worry all night long, and constantly am scared

Sunday

• We drive home
• I text Dr. B. He tells me to call the neurosurgeon
• The neurosurgeon on call tells us to come to the ER and they wills end us home with meds or admit us after scans
• OUR neurosurgeon calls us on our way to the ER and is excited because he was struggling to figure out how to get us into the ER and now surgery will be tomorrow
• We get admitted
• A bunch of friends join us
• Brian has an hour and a half MRI
• We are sent to the neuro ICU to save our room for after surgery
• We meet amazing nurses
• WE ARE CONSTANTLY LOVED AND SUPPORTED BY OUR VILLAGE

Monday

• Brian is taken down for surgery
• Right before he leaves they explain the scary risks again
• We wait all DAY! 7-3:30
• The doctor comes out and explains that he did the best he could
• He explains Brian's brain was already swollen and the tumor had grown since Wednesday 
• He had to go through the motor processing part of his brain (different than expected)
• He wasn't sure if Brian had stroked or not
• He knew he got 80-90% of the tumor but wasn't sure about the rest
• He didn't know the extent of the damage to the left side of Brian's body
• Our group of friends and I waited and waited and waited
• Around 6:00 they came and said Brian woke up and his smile was symmetrical meaning no stroke but he hadn't moved his left side. We were all so relieved. At this point I didn't care if he ever moved his left side again
• At 6:30 they came and said he had moved his left arm and gripped their hands!!!
• At 6:45ish I waited in a hall to see him where his first words were divorce!
• We got to his room and his left side was slow to respond to a command but got better throughout the night
• Throughout the night they woke Brian every hour for neuro checks
• We made it through the first night with no complications
• WE WERE CONSTANTLY LOVED AND SUPPORTED BY OUR VILLAGE 

Tuesday

• The surgeons came in and were shocked by Brian's improvement
• He moved his legs and feet
• His strength was a 3 out of 5 on his left side
• He couldn't bend his knee
• By 9:30 they had him sitting up in a chair
• At 10:30 I am in a waiting room with my parents and Zak and see Brian walking down the hall with a PT team!!!!
• Throughout the day his body responds more and more
• A bunch of people at work donate hours to Brian and overwhelm us
• WE WERE CONSTANTLY LOVED AND SUPPORTED BY OUR VILLAGE

Wednesday

• The surgeon came in and say they got the WHOLE tumor.
• There is clear excitement but the tumor was aggressive
• We still have to be worried about seizure, bleeding, and such
• Brian gets up and walks again. He even climbs up and down stairs!!!!
• Brian is amusing everyone in the ICU
• WE WERE CONSTANTLY LOVED AND SUPPORTED BY OUR VILLAGE 

Thursday

• The surgeon explains how much he was worried about the surgery and how it is the best possible result possible
• We get moved to a private room (thanks to our excellent nurse)
• We walk more 
• Brian has barely any pain
• Brian requests food other than hospital food. A clear sign he was feeling better
• WE WERE CONSTANTLY LOVED AND SUPPORTED BY OUR VILLAGE 

Friday

• Brian's strength is 5 out of 5 on his left side
• He walks unassisted.
• We come home!!!
• I have a slight breakdown (I think a release of all the stress finally hitting me)
• Our baby is so happy to see us
• WE WERE CONSTANTLY LOVED AND SUPPORTED BY OUR VILLAGE 

Saturday

• We are home!!
• I ran a 10K in just over and hour
• Brian is moving better and better
• We went out to eat as a family
• Brian has no pain
• WE ARE CONSTANTLY LOVED AND SUPPORTED BY OUR VILLAGE 

Sunday

• We go to church!
• We watch football
• Life almost feels normal!
• WE ARE CONSTANTLY LOVED AND SUPPORTED BY OUR VILLAGE 

Overall I cannot explain how much my heart is full of gratitude, thanks, hope, a tiny bit of fear, stress but most of all LOVE. I love you all. I love God. I love my family. I love my husband. I love my life.
We know we are blessed. So many prayers have been answered. We will keep hoping and praying and knowing we are loved.

What's next?
Tomorrow we have a simulation for leg radiation. We call to schedule PT. We find out when we start immunotherapy. We find out when our surgical follow up is to get the staples out. We get to make our next plan (knowing that it will probably change before I can even blog about it). We start to be on the offensive again against cancer.


Love you all!

How to Help

Hey there! Guest blogger Cally here.  Many people have been asking how they can help Karen and Brian right now.  They have told me they are so overwhelmed with the kindness and support of this community around them.  Here are a few things that would help:

1. Meals:  If you can help them out with a meal, that would be great.  The best kind are things that can be saved or partially saved if needed.  Sign up to bring a meal here:

https://mealtrain.com/156236

2. Finances:  So many people at FSDB have kindly donated sick leave to Brian.  Sadly, it is against the weird state rules to donate to a caregiver (Karen).  If you want to help out with some of the missed wages and other medical and care costs, donate here: 

https://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/brian-newton-fan-club-help-brian-beat-cancer-/281003

3. Pray:  Everyone is praying, and its is working.  Keep it up! 

Thanks for taking care of the Newtons, they are kind of awesome, right? 

Peace! 

Cally 

Always Changing

Brian has had a little weakness in his left side. Brian's motor symptoms seemed to be getting worse this weekend which was concerning! Nothing too scary just left side not responding as quickly and a little more weak. We knew this was a side effect because of the placement of the mass in brain but Because of this we called the doctor who told us to head to the ER. The nice thing is that we get to bump up surgery. It'll be first thing tomorrow morning. It could be tonight if there's any bleeding at all on the brain which is doubtful. 

We are happy there's no waiting! Please pray for our doctors and our team and all the people involved in our care. 

Love you all!!! 

Today was Tough

Hi everyone!

Let's recap. After our last trip to NYC, we met with our Dr. B to make a plan for our new diagnosis of melanoma.  We decided to start immunotherapy but needed a PET scan of the body and a CT of the brain to check to see if there was any spreading. We found cancer in his femur and a spot on his brain.  We met with a radiologist with Cancer Specialists of North Florida. She told us what she felt the best plan of action would be but wanted to refer us to the best place for the type of radiation Brian needed on his brain which was UF.

Two days ago we had an MRI of the brain to get a true picture of what was going on.  Before we had only had a CT and they aren't the best for imaging the brain.  Today we met with a radiologist at the UF facility in Jacksonville. We were prepared for the possibility of other small lesions on the brain but were not expecting a referral to a neurosurgeon.

The mass on the brain is larger than expected (a little less than 4 cm).  It is near/on/involving the motor cortex.  Because of the size, radiation would not give us optimal results. It wouldn't totally kill it and would allow it to grow again.  Surgery is the best way to make sure we kill this spot. The surgery will be within the next two weeks. Radiation will still happen about 4-6 weeks after surgery to make sure it is all dead or to kill any tumor that is left after surgery.  Because of the location of the mass, it may not be totally removed after surgery. We will do whatever is the safest. With all brain surgeries there are risks. Risks are scary. Recovery will be a 6 week process and Brian won't be allowed to drive. 

Overall, this is not fun. It is tough. It is scary. But we are happy for life and hope. We are happy for experts that we can trust and who want to help our family.

What can you do?
1. Pray. Pray. and Pray.
2. Give us a ride when you can.
3. Donate hours if you work at FSDB and have extra (No pressure. It's anonymous so we will never know if you did or didn't. If you did earlier in the year they gave them back to you and you'll need to do it again.)
4. Pray!


We will let you know when we know the exact date! Much love to you all.

New Plan!

Hey everybody! Today we met with another member of our care team to discuss what's next with the new findings. They found a tiny mass on Brian's right frontal lobe of his brain and some in the bone of his femur close to his hip. Both are tiny and caught very early. They've decided radiation is the best way to take care of both areas! 

Let's talk about the brain first. Brian will have a type of radiation called SRS. It has rifle like precision. It's a one time treatment done through UF here in downtown Jacksonville. It should have minimal side effects. We have to get a fancy MRI before they start but hopefully have that done within the next two weeks.

Now for the leg...Brian will have regular radiation at our Cancer Specialists of North Florida office in Fleming Island for 5 days. He will only need to be in the machine for 5-10 minutes each day! 

All radiation should be done before Thanksgiving. Brian will still have immunotherapy too! 

There's talk of other options with the adrenal glands too!

Overall, we are happy for a plan that involves minimal side effects allowing for tons of family fun and minimal work missed. As the doctor today said we are in no worse of a place now than we were a year ago when we first came in.

We again are insanely thankful for our village of support and for our team of doctors. 

Love to you all!  Hopefully we will see you at the golf tournament Saturday!

The Cancer Coaster Continues...

Hey everyone!

We arrived in NYC last night. We got our hotel from Hotwire to save some money. That means no elevator, a room on the 4th floor, and a bed that feels like you're sleeping on the boxsprings. Brian is super happy with my choice. Oops! Anyways, we had scans last night and ate a yummy dinner. The nice, older couple next to us were super friendly and kind.  While we are eating, we look over and the man is choking. We were ready to help and they asked for it. Brian patted the man's back while I instructed the man to cough and make sounds, and we made sure he was fine. Our server was so happy with our help that we got FREE dessert! Very eventful.

New NEWS

This morning we had an appointment with our surgeon. He informed us that they had the pathology results after testing the mass they took out in July.  It turns out Brian does not have a sarcoma. He has melanoma.  He was NOT misdiagnosed.  Looking back at my notes from our first meeting in November, the oncologist in NYC actually said, "I want proof that it's a sarcoma and not melanoma". When you only sample a small part of the mass, you only get a small sample of the bigger picture. After seeing the whole picture, everyone is "still scratching their heads." Brian's mass has some qualities that match a sarcoma and some that match melanoma. There is one special mutation called BRAF.  This mutation causes the pathologist to know that is is 100% a melanoma. Having BRAF is a good thing (I will explain later). We were confused by this information but were reassured to still be hopeful. 

Next on the agenda we had an appointment with the MSKCC oncologist. In the meantime, I called our best friend, our oncologist in Jacksonville, Dr. B.  He reassured me and told me that he will still be able to work with us. I don't know honestly what we would do without him. He calmed some of my fears which was necessary while we waited for our next appointment.

We then met with the oncologist here in NYC. She gave us some great information.  Melanoma is not always caused by the sun and can be caused be your own genetics (your own cellular make up). Melanoma and sarcoma are treated very differently. The chemotherapy drugs Brian received are never used to treat melanoma. However, Brian has had a fantastic response. After testing the mass, they found that Brian had 90% response, meaning 90% of the mass was killed by treatment. This is amazing. Also, Brian's adrenal masses are still shrinking as well.  This is awesome news.  So although we were treating what we thought was sarcoma, thank goodness we did because the results were great. Can't help but know that's a God thing.

Even though chemotherapy was working so well, there are newer and better drugs that have recently been developed to treat melanoma.  Brian will begin immune therapy IN JACKSONVILLE. Research shows people with the BRAF mutation have excellent response to immune therapy to the point that the masses can totally go away. It sounds like there will be limited side effects and Brian will not have to miss more than a few hours of work every three weeks. The financial strain of missed wages and trips to NYC will be a thing of the past (we hope!).  Again this is another blessing.  We thought we might still want adrenal surgery, but without masses to treat, the meds would not be approved by insurance. So we will do what our doctors think is best for optimal results. They've been right so far!

So what now?

We fly home tomorrow morning. We will meet with Dr. B. We will do what is best and return to life as normal.  We will keep MSKCC updated on Brian's progress and check back in with NYC in 6 months.  Brian has given permission for them to test and study his mass. Hopefully his case will help so many others on the cancer coaster too.

We love you all and are daily grateful for our village that has supported us for almost a year. We truly cannot express our gratitude in an adequate way. Just know you are appreciated!

Hey Now!

Hey everyone! It's been a long time since we have posted. Coming back from NYC we got right back to chemo and work. Brian has been feeling relatively well and started physical therapy in order to get full motion back in his arm. He's also done two rounds of chemo and turned 40!!!!  

That being said Brian finished his most recent round of chemo on the 10th then this Wednesday night after just returning to work and feeling totally normal all day, he ran a fever which sends us to the ER. It's always not during our doctor's business hours when these fevers strike! So Brian has been in the hospital since Wednesday night. 

He is doing well and being totally inappropriate with the nurses. We are just waiting for his neutrophil counts in his blood to go back to a safe place so he can come home and we can return to normal.

Love you all! 

P.S. Enjoy the answers Brian gave to the nurse when he was finally admitted at 3AM. (By the way nurses are our favorite people).

Heading Home!

We are so happy. This experience has been great but long.  Brian and I had some great together time with fun experiences before surgery. It is amazing that surgery went so well. Brian is healing nicely with no surprises.  His pain is minimal. We got to stay the amazing American Cancer Society's Hope Lodge for absolutely FREE. We had Brian's mom and Roger here for a week too.  We got to see family in NJ.   The requirements of me as Nurse Karen were easy and doable.

That being said we CANNOT wait to be home! 18 days away from our baby is 18 days too many.  We are thankful that my mom and dad were able to stay with her and keep her in her happy environment. Once again Wings of Hope has provided us with free flights!

Things I will miss about NYC:
-mass transit, I love the subway and not having to drive!!
-walking!
-awesome runs with a lot to see...even if it is the same route ever night
-being able to run late at night because everything is so lit and there are always so many people around
-all the food choices
-$10 manicures

Things that I will not miss about NYC:
-having only 1 pillow
-no ice in my water
-no free refills for Brian
-everything costing at least $30 no matter what it is

Overall WE ARE BLESSED. We continue to be reminded of this. From our friends and family to the nurses and doctors, we are loved and well cared for.

The Plan Now
Brian will begin chemo again on Tuesday (this makes us happy, we don't want to give it a chance to grow). He will do two rounds, about 2 months worth.  Then we will come back to NYC for a check up and scans. At this time they'll determine if it is time for surgery on the adrenal masses or if they are still responding so well that more chemo is a better option. Surgery will happen again and we are at peace knowing that this surgeon knows the best timing for it.
In about 4 weeks Brian will start physical and occupational therapy to get full range of motion back to his arm that they operated on (they took some muscle and a nerve).
In the meantime I will head back to work but most importantly we will be HOME!!

We cannot wait to see everyone. We love you all and are always amazed at the amount of support we receive.  We will get home after bedtime tonight so stay tuned for the video of us reuniting with our baby in the morning. Tonight we will snuggle puppies and be in our own bed with a million pillows and one less tumor!

Surgery is a Go!

Hey everyone. We got the news we have all been praying for.  Brian will have surgery on the mass under his arm on Monday, June 27th.  We are beyond excited to finally get this out.   They will remove the main mass and the tiny masses surrounding it and clean out the whole area. The procedure should take about 3 hours.  We hear over and over again that our surgeon is the best of the best and we believe it!

After surgery Brian will be in the hospital for a few days then when we are released we will be staying in American Cancer Society's Hope Lodge. It is a completely free service which we have been so blessed to get a reservation! We will be up here for at least 7-10 days post-op (until his drains can be removed).  Pray for us as I practice my nursing skills and Brian recovers.

After this will be more chemo and eventually a second surgery on his adrenals.


We love you all and continue to be overwhelmed with the love and support! Pray for little pain, quick healing, and patience. Also pray for this mommy and daddy who miss their sweet girl who is at home having a blast! Pray too for all the medical staff. Since having Harper and dealing with cancer, I have the utmost respect for nurses! If you are a nurse. THANK YOU!

Love you all!

More News

Hi!

We officially heard from Sloan today. The surgeon himself called us at 7:30pm! Here's the deal. Surgery is a maybe. They discussed Brian at their big meeting. They want a better MRI. Depending on what they see in that MRI they will determine if surgery is a good idea at this point. They want it to be as safe as possible without affecting mobility or function of his arm/hand.  So we will fly up Tuesday, do MRI and CT scans Wednessday, and meet with the surgeon and hear his determination on Thursday. If they say no it means a reevaluation and surgery at a later point. Last time we weren't prepared when they said no. This time we know that is isn't certain. Please pray for us as we wait some more. Also pray that the surgery is a go! 

Love to you all! 

Update time!

Hi everyone! It's been a while. We've had a nice six week break full of vacations, work, and facial hair!! It was super nice having Brian at full strength!  During that time Brian had and MRI and CT scan. They are currently in NYC being reread by their radiologists. Because we don't want to go too long without doing anything Brian will have chemo again starting the 7th. We are still waiting to hear what Sloan decides after reading the scans. 

Love to you all!! 

Here We Go Again

Great news. Brian is starting a new round of chemo tomorrow but needed one new med cause another one he was on has a lifetime limit. We were concerned about insurance approval but found out today that it was approved. Therefore another round begins tomorrow.

It's tough when plans change but we are happy for little victories!

We are Heading Home

Brian is special. We all know that!
That being said here is what happened today. First we had scans. Then we ate a fast lunch and headed to our appointment with the surgeon. There is always lots of waiting.  After waiting forever,  he said the scan showed small, mildly suspicious somethings in the lungs but both the underarm mass and the adrenal masses have shrunk. We believe these lung things are from Brian's cough and nothing cancer related.  After meeting with him we were sent to see the oncologist.  She does not want to rush surgery until we know the bigger plan.  The adrenals are the most complicated part in all of this.  No need to remove the arm mass until we know what to do with the adrenals. Brian's case is super rare and they need to present it with all the other doctors, surgeons, and pathologists up here at MSKCC. So the plan now is to come home, do another round of chemo (she says normally you keep treating until you get no response), wait three weeks and get an MRI and more scans. We will then send those to MSKCC and they will regroup. We will then go from there.

Cons:
-I like plans and don't like when plans are changed.
-This process will be longer.

Pros:
-The oncologist said only 1 out of 10 people with Brian's type of cancer respond to treatment, so it is a miracle that he has not only responded but that they have all shrunk so much.
-WE GET TO SEE OUR BABY TOMORROW!

We love you all!
K & B

Off to NYC

It was hard but we gave lots of sugars to this baby and left for NYC today. She happily waved goodbye and is looking forward to her own adventures.

Brian and I are sitting in Chicago waiting for our connection. We have scans, an appointment with the surgeon and pre-surgical testing starting at noon tomorrow. We are happy to get this ball rolling.  Thanks for the continuous prayers, support and love! 

It's been a while

Hi everyone! I figured I would update you since Brian had his blog but some people only check this one.

New York went well overall. We have a definite date for surgery on May 18th.  We fly up on the 13th for some pre-op appointments.  We also found out that we are approved to stay at American Cancer Society's Hope Lodge which is a huge blessing. This means we will only need to find housing for a week and half until Brian is discharged from the hospital.  We are beyond blessed. Wings of Hope also bought our airline tickets again.

One More Round
Before we leave Brian has one more round of chemo starting Tuesday (4/14)-Friday (4/17).  If you would like to visit or drive him home or there just let me know!


Some people have asked where to donate. Here is the site again:
https://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/brian-newton-fan-club-help-brian-beat-cancer-/281003

We love you all and cannot thank you for the continued support over these past 6 months!!!! We are so grateful!!

Hospital Again

Hey everyone!

Brian unfortunately took a trip back to the hospital last night. We knew on Tuesday that all his counts were low and they told us to just be cautious about not being around sick people. Brian laid low. Thursday night he was  feeling run down and had a 100.5 fever. The magic number that send us to the ER to be admitted. So he was last night.  He is feeling fine other than some sore mouth side effects from the chemo.

Although Dr. B. is not highly concerned. The infectious disease doctor wants him there for 48 hours with no fever. So if you're perfectly healthy and feel like dropping by to say hey just text to make sure it is a good time.  Hopefully he will get out Saturday or Sunday.

NYC Update
Our first two appointments are confirmed.  We were fortunate to get free one way flights through a foundation called Wings of Hope.  They will fly us home post surgery as well. Truly a blessing. We will be heading up just the two of us on the 17th. We have scans on the 18th and appointments on the 19th.  The 19th will let us know whether or not surgery is a go.  If yes, surgery will be the 23rd and we will be in NYC for up to four weeks.
It has been a planning nightmare because it is hard to look into lodging without having confirmed dates. So we are praying everything works out and have many contingency plans in place.  That being said, if you know a great place to stay in the city that won't cost a gagillion dollars, LET US KNOW!

Love to you all!

New York Plans (well kind of)

Hi everyone!

First of all, once again we owe a big thanks! The donations and kindness continue to bless us and overwhelm us. We appreciate you all including you anonymous-ers. We have loved the meals, kindness of strangers, and security we receive from all of the support.

Second, Brian just finished his fourth round of chemo today!! Wahoo!!!!! Just fluids and a shot tomorrow and we get a little bit of a break. The third round was rough, so we are hoping that laying low this weekend will help make this fourth round seem like a piece of cake. Prayers and fingers crossed!

Third, we heard from MSKCC and our doctor's office in New York today.  Tentatively, we will have scans and an appointment with our surgeon on Thursday, March 19th.  After that there will be two options:
Option A: two more rounds of chemo at home
Option B: surgery on his arm/chest area on Monday, March 23rd.

Obviously we are hoping for Option B but are going to do what is best according to the doctors.  Again, this isn't set in stone until we hear back from them.

Our Needs
The only thing we need right now is lots of prayers. Prayers for Brian to feel great this round with no crazy side effects. Prayers for a planner like me to be okay when plans aren't easy to make.  Prayers that surgery is the next step.

We love you all!

Counts are up!

Neutrophil count is at 900! They told us yesterday that no matter what we couldn't leave til it was 500. We are so happy. Now it's just a waiting game hopefully Brian will get released today or tomorrow! Yay! He's feeling a lot better. 

A Small Hiccup

Hello everyone. Just a quick update on our crazy week.  Brian has been feeling pretty run down since the last round of chemo. He has a slight cold and just didn't feel like he was rebounding the same as past rounds.  Yesterday he had some blood work and his white blood cell counts were low.  Then last night he had a fever. The rule is 100.5 or higher and we have to go to the ER.  So we went last night. They ran every test imaginable. They haven't found any infection which is good!  Brian is getting antibiotics and fluids to be proactive since he has such a low immunity right now.  He has to wait until his nuetrophil white blood counts reach 500 in order to be discharged. This whole process is so that we are better safe than sorry. It could take several days to get those counts back up. Pray that it is quick so that our little family can all be sleeping under the same roof!

Love to you all!

P.S. Is it a good sign when people say, "I remember you," when they see Brian?!?!

GOOD NEWS!

Hallelujah! The chemo is working!!!! The masses on the adrenal glands have shrunk and are not viable anymore  (will still remove them just in case there are tiny active cells).  The mass under the arm seems to be about the same size but has probably scarred over which is the reason Brian has not been in as much pain.  A PET scan will show how much the arm tumor has scarred.

What's next?

Dr. B will call Memorial Sloan Kettering and our doctors there.  They will discuss what the next step is.  Dr. B predicts that we will head to New York after the next round of chemo. So approximately 6 weeks or so.  That would be a check in with them for the MSKCC doctors to make a further plan of action that should include surgery.

We start chemo again today.  Brian will be here Tues.-Fri.  If you want to stop by, text me!

THANK YOU!
Again we just want to say thank you. The love continues to pour in. The prayers are so appreciated. We love you all! Thank you for loving our family so much. 

Chemo: Cycle 2

Hey everybody! Just wanted to type a quick update on this second cycle of chemo. Overall this round went very smoothly. Brian hasn't has some of the side effects he had during the first round of chemo (like feeling flu like or achy teeth) which is nice. The only real side effect is fatigue.  He has been his normal joking self and had fun going to work Monday before treatment started.
We really appreciate the support that continues to flow in. From visitors, to chauffeurs, to prayer warriors, to huggers, to lunch bringers, etc., we love you all!
What's next?
Brian has weekly lab appointments to check his blood counts, a physical therapy to hopefully get a sling that relieve some of the pain on his arm, and another echocardiogram (standard procedure after every cycle).  Most importantly he will have another CT scan to see how things are going.  His next round of chemo will be January 27th, 28th, 29th.  If you feel like visiting just let me know!

-Karen