Health Update

Hello Friends & Family:

For some of you, this might be brand new information; for others, you are intimately aware of my journey in the last 6 months.  And then there are others who are somewhere in the middle.

At the risk of being impersonal, I thought this would be the best way of getting out my most recent update regarding my lymphoma.

Last week I had a biopsy of a mass in my back that showed up on a CT scan.  Contrary to what I was told, the mass turned out to be the same kind of lymphoma that I was already diagnosed with – low grade, follicular.  Since it had only grown by a few millimeters, I was given the option of keeping an eye on things and doing another CT scan in 3 months with the hope that things wouldn’t change. The doctor, however, was concerned that this mass is too close to my spine.  Option 2 was chemo.  

I asked what she would recommend if I were her uncle.  She asked if I had anything against chemo. When I said no, she said she’d recommend chemo.

So the plan is 2 treatments of chemo once a month for 6 months and a cancer drug, Rituxan, for 2 years. The side effect possibilities are nowhere near as bad as the horror stories you hear.  She, in fact, said that in all likelihood we could vacation this summer in between treatments.  There’s also an 80% chance that I would go into remission.  Also, most people are able to work through the chemo with the odd day off here and there. Having said all that, I am prepared for less happy possibilities. One day at a time; it's a cliché but also very true.

My first treatment is Monday, June 23.

Long story short: Doris and I are feeling strangely relieved.  We knew that Chemo would happen eventually.  The fact that it’s happening sooner means that we’re not so much in this limbo that we found ourselves in over the last half-year.

Most importantly, I think there is a joy in life that many of us don’t experience until that thin veil between our world and heaven becomes translucent.  I believe that’s the place God finds us if we let Him.

Thank you to everyone who has been praying for me and supporting me in so many ways.  I’m undeservedly privileged to be so well loved.