December 27, 2009

Merry Christmas Everyone and Happy New Year!

I had a chemotherapy session on Christmas Eve (Thursday). I felt pretty good on Friday and made it all the way through Christmas. On Saturday though, I felt tired and nausiated most of the day. I did though get 12 hours sleep on Saturday night. Today, I feel pretty good.

I have been back to work for a week and will be in the office this week. It's been a great blessing to see my friends and co-workers from General Dynamics and the Air Force. I was pleasantly surprised to see how many were following this blog to check on me.

Only two chemotherapy treatments to go! Then we'll see what the next set of scans say for any further treatments beyond January.

Love, peace, and blessings

Bill

December 14 Update

Last Friday, I had another chemotherapy treatment. That was my fifth one - I may have as few as three more to go.

My recent CT and PET scans from two weeks ago showed that the tumor has shrunk in size by about 40%. I will get another series of scans after I've undergone my next three treatments.

My chemotherapy patterns are now consistent. I feel nausiated and fatigued for 2-3 days after each session. I then start to gain strength. Last week before my session, I felt really great!

I'm planning to go back to work this week. I'll ease into it, of course.

Thanks again for your well wishews and prayers.

Bill

Update, November 27

I got my fourth chemotherapy session this morning. I'm feeling pretty good.
I will get my white blood cell booster shot tomorrow.

I have felt really the good this week, the best I've felt in months.

The only 'negative' this week is that I'm starting to lose hair. But let's face it, there wasn't much on top to start with and who couldn't stand to lose some of the hair on their back and the tops of their feet?

Thanks again for all your prayers and support. I have a series of CT and PET scans that I'll get on Monday morning. I will have much more information next week on my condition.

Bill

Saturday, November 14

Yesterday, I got my third chemotherapy treatment. That went fine. I will be getting another white blood cell booster shot from Joy later today. Although these make my drousy for a couple of days, the doctor told me that this side effect will decrease through my treatments.

I also had to visit the hospital this week because my temperature rose to 100.5. It turned out to be a mild case of the flu, however, the doctors are always cautious and bring me in to make sure I don't have any type of bacterial infection. It turns out to have been a 48 hour viral bug and I feel fine now.

However, while I was at the hospital, I picked up good news from my blood tests and my x-rays. My white blood cell count is back to normal and my immunity system is strong. This means I'll need to get the white blood cell booster shot after every chemotherapy session. They also learned from the x-ray that my tumor had shrunk another 2-3 cm. So, I continue to make very good progress. But, there's still a long way to go.

Thank you again for all your kind wishes, thoughts, and prayers.

Bill

November 7 - Trachea Stent Removed

I got the trachea stent removed yesterday at the Cleveland Clinic. Everything went well. It only took the doctor 10 minutes to remove the stent. Of course, I was knocked out and don't remember a thing.

I feel much better today. With the stent gone, I no longer cough in the morning or after meals.
I also have more energy and none of the body aches I had earlier this week after I had the white blood cell shot.

Once again, I appreciate all your prayers and best wishes.

My next chemotherapy session is next Friday at the Wright Patterson hosptial. I will no longer need to return to the Cleveland Clinic.

Peace and love,
Bill

Oct 31 - Afternoon

I went through two procedures this week. First on Thursday, I had outpatient surgery to put a chemotherapy port in my chest. That procecure went very well. So well, that they used the new port to administer my chemotherapy session on Friday. That also went very well. With the new port, my chemotherapy sessions only last one hour.

So far, I have no adverse side effects from yesterday's chemotherapy session. I feel pretty good today and just returned from a walk.

The only concern right now is my white blood cell count. A healthy person has a white blood cell count of 3-4 thousand in a sample. Because chemotherapy for Hodgkins Lymphoma reduces white blood cells, my current count is only 500. Today, I took medication that will boost my count to 1000. Because the cancer clinc was closed, Joy was glad to administer the boosster shot to me. Joy did a very good job and can give me shots anytime.

So, until my white blood cell count increases, I am more vulnerable to infections and will keep a low profile and take all the necessary precautions. I will be pretty much housebound.

I also had CT scans done yesterday, so I should no more next week on how well I am progressing. I also got a call from the Cleveland Clinic today saying that they may want to take out my trachea stint as early next week.

Once again, I thank you all for your wishes, prayers, and cards. I greatly appreciate it and have thanked God for your support.

Bill

Saturday, October 24, Evening

I got some very good news yesterday that my tumor has shrunk by 3 cm with only one chemotherapy treatment! We're now on the way.

I will now be getting chemotherapy treatments every other Friday somewhere between 12 and 16 times depending on progress.

I really appreciate all your thoughts, prayers, and well wishes. They have made a great contribution!!

I've made good progress this week. I am up and walking every day. I've also gotten lots of rest.
I have some on-going pain and discomfort, but I'm so thankful that I'm on the road to recovery.

Thanks again!!

Bill

Monday Oct 19, Evening

I rested for the most part today. I feel pretty good.

Tomorrow, I'm going to take a walk outside.

I am eating well also.

Saturday Morning Update

Well, my first round of chemotherapy went well yesterday. It took about two hours. I have somewhere between 11 and 15 treatments to go depending on progress.

I got great news this morning. First, my bone marrow biopsy proved negative meaning that the cancer is localized to my chest area. Secondly, I will be able to receive the remainder of my chemotherapy treatments in Dayton. I won't need to return to Cleveland until my trachea stint is removed in November or December. Lastly, the best news is that I will be leaving the hosptial today. I will be staying at my brother Robert's home tonight and Joy will pick me up here tomorrow to go home.

I plan to take it easy next week at home to see how I feel and get readjusted to my new life. I'm not going to rush into anything too quickly.

I realize now more than ever that I have lived a blessed life and have a greater appreciation for my friends, loved ones, and family. I've been very fortunate in having several small miracles occur that allowed an incredible medical team to diagnose this in time and provide the care I needed.

I thank all of you for your words and prayers. It made a big difference. Please let me know if I can ever be of any support to you in any capacity. I won't be updating this blog anymore unless there's an urgent update of major significance. Instead, I look forward to seeing, speaking, and writing with you in person.

Many thanks again

Love and peace,
Bill

Thursday Afternoon

I have been diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma.

I will start treatment early tomorrow morning.

I greatly appreciate your thoughts and prayers as I start this healing process.

Love and peace,

Bill

Wed, Oct 14 - Morning

I'm still waiting for the biopsy results which will determine my treatment. I had an EKG done this morning - the heart looks good!

So many of you have asked about the events leading to this. I want to provide you a timeline. It's been a miraculous ride. I'm so fortunate to have supportive friends, family, and a wonderful wife.

Enjoy

- Ran (some would call a fast walk) 10 miles in July in preparation for a half marathon. Declared that I was in the best shape of my life.
- In July, I felt more fatigued and had a tougher time completing my runs. I also starting getting congestionand felt fatigued
- August - I went to the doctor thinking I had a sinus headache. He gave me a antibiotic. We also thought allergies may be part of the problem since they are so bad here. I figured I needed to train harder if I was going to make that marathon.
- September - I continued feeling fatigued and more winded. Congrestion still bad. My eyes were puffy in the morning and I noticed my neck swelled in the morning as well. Doctor gave me another anti-biotic and a steriod to alleviate my breathing difficulty. Both had near term positive effects.
- Last Tuesday - I started feeling worse so I went back to the doctor. He sent me in for a chest x-ray and a CT scan. Since last Tuesday, I've not left a hosptial. I found out that I have a very large tumor over my heart and lungs. The tumorwas so large that it was compressing one of my main aorta valves. I was in a very dangerous situration so they immediately gave me two radiation treatments last Wed and Thursday. I also had 1.1 litre of fluid drained from my right chest cavity.
- A CT scan on Friday showed that while the radiation treatment had some positive effects, the treatment caused my lung tissuesto swell. Combined with the tissue swelling and the pressure from the tumor, my trachea was less than half it's normal size and that I was in grave danger of it collapsing and me dying. The odd thing was that I felt great, better than I had in two months. My hospital in Dayton didn't feel comfortable opening my trachea, so they arranged for me to get a mediflight to the Cleveland Clinic. We discussed this for a couple of hours while waiting for the plane whether they should put me on a respirator and fly me or just let me continue breating on my own. Either way, if there were complications on the flight, I'd be a goner. Because I felt good and was breathing normal, I chose to breathe on my own for the flight. Despite the situation, the flight was awesome. I was on a business jet that got me there in 45 minutes (normally a 3 hour drive). I was literally taken from the plane to an ambulance to surgery here in Cleveland. At the Clinic, they inserted a plastic stint in my trachea that will protect it from the tumor pressure for two weeks. In that time, we hope that the tumor shrings enough to alleviate the trachea pressure, allowing them to remove the stint.

That was Friday night. Saturday and Sunday were spent here in the hospital recovering from surgery and getting more CT scans, PET scans, and XRAYs.

Tuesday October 13th

Bill is doing well after the biopsy he had today. He is probably still groggy from the surgery so just a quick update before he can update the blog himself. Thank you all for your prayers and the positive healing thoughts and energy you are sending Bill's way!

Holly

Tuesday Morning Update

The good news this morning is that the tumor appears to be limited to my chest only.

There's been no spreading to my brain or torso.

Biopsy at 5:00 PM today.

More later

Bill

Monday, Oct 12 Update, 5:14 PM

I completed all my scans today. It looks like the tumor is confided to
my chest. It hasn't spread any where else.

Tomorrow, I have another surgery to get another sample from one of my lymph nodes.

I should have a treatment plan by Thursday or so. I'm going to be in Cleveland for a while.

My new hospital roomate is getting his chemotherapy session right now while he's running a meeting on Webex. He says that the sessions make him exhausted, but otherwise he's fine.

Peace and wellness - more blog updates as I get more information.

Bill

Update, Oct 11

Not much news today.
.
I'm breathing well with the temporary stint that's preventing my trachea from collaping.

Tomorrow, the staff will determine exactly what the tumor is and will prepare my treatment. I will get those done here at the Cleveland Clinic. Once the tumor gets smaller and relieves pressue from my lungs, they will remove the stint.

I have a lot of tests tomorrow, possibly another biopsy, and then the final diagnosis. I appreciate all your thoughts and prayers. I feel the energy from them.

The coolest part of the day was that I had a scope shoved down my nose that looked at my vocal cords and other parts to make sure they were ok.

Sunday Oct 11, Bill

Sunday 10/10/09 12:19pm

Thank you so much for your prayers and concern. Bill is well! Right now we are waiting for information as to what type of chemotherapy recipe is going to be best for him and should know more once results from the biopsy they did on Wednesday are in.

It began a few months ago. Bill had been feeling run down and lost some weight. When he went in for some tests on Wednesday, which included an MRI, he was not allowed to leave the hospital due to the fact that they found a large mass across his lungs and over his heart that is aproximately 20x10 cm in size.

The doctors are confident that this is very treatable and that we are hopefull that Bill will respond well to the treament because Bill is healthy, strong and in very good shape physically.

This blog with be updated with new information as it comes in. Thanks to all for understanding that this is the best way for us to communicate to everyone the latest information on Bill's healing and care plan at this time.