Just call me a Houstonian

The test results given by Dr. Anderson
o My blood tests, bone marrow biopsy and heart tests came out well, no cause for worry
o My PET CT scan showed cancerous cells on my left kidney, left clavicle bone, 7th vertebrae, right side of the pelvic bone, and of course my neck. It is normal for the cancer to be spread out since I did have high-grade (fast-growing) lymphoma.

He concurred that I have Burkitt-type Lymphoma, but told us that the cancer cells are very similar to the cancer cells of leukemia. Since the type of Lymphoma I have and Leukemia are treated the same way (with the same type of chemo), Dr. Anderson transferred me to Dr. Deborah Thomas, who is a leukemia doctor. She told us the same exact thing as Dr. Anderson. She also told us what my chemo regimen will be like:
8 cycles (5 to 6 months)
Each cycle is as follows:
o 5 days of hospitalized chemotherapy with two spinal taps during this period
o 14 days of rest
o During days of rest—3 times each week I will have blood tests in the hospital to make sure my blood counts are not too low.

My parents and I asked the doctor in her opinion if we should have the blood tests done at home in Waco. She told us that in all honesty it would be better to stay in Houston to have it done; her reasons being the quality of care, the high likelihood of a need for blood transfusions (which they are easily equipped and capable of doing at MD Anderson), and in case of emergency. Needless to say, my parents have already found my mom and me a permanent apartment less than 10 miles from the hospital to stay. I will be able to come back to Waco for 3 to 7 day intervals, depending on my blood count. I am also, thankfully, allowed visitors whenever I want, provided that they are not sick. The chemotherapy will be knocking my white blood cells down and I won’t have a lot of resistance to illness, so I will have to become more of a “germ freak” than I already am—let’s hope I don’t become too OCD.

As of right now, I start my chemo treatments this Thursday, October 23rd and will finish on Monday, October 27th. Sadly, I will miss Baylor homecoming, pigskin, etc, but I am definitely there in spirit :)

Thanks again to all of you who care enough for me to read this blog and pray for me and my family. I will try to keep everyone updated. Please continue to pray—God really does answer prayers.