PRAISE JESUS!!!

Well, today has been a wonderful day! First, the MD Anderson campus is beautiful. Second, we have heard great things about Ben's treatment today!

They still need to confirm his diagnosis with the Pathology department & then confirm his staging with a few more tests. However, we seemed to get a lot of great news today. They are so much fun here!

First, they have told us that staging doesn't matter as much with Hodgkins as it does with other cancers because it is based more on location.
1=one tumor/location
2=bilateral (if you drew a line down the middle of your body, you would have tumors on each side)
3=tumors below the diaphragm
4=cancer in the bone marrow (this is the only one that would really change treatment)

They think that Ben is a Stage 2 or 3 b/c he has nodes that are appearing under each clavicle, in his chest, & one near his abdomen. We'll see later this week if they are all tumors from the results of the PET scan.

Second, the class of his Hodgkins is apparently nodular sclerosing. I still need to look this up to tell you more about what it means other than the obvious coming from the definition of the two words.

Based on the way that Ben is feeling and the presentation of the node on his neck (that has since been removed) they feel that he has not progressed much. However, Hodgkin's is a fast growing cancer. The good news there is that fast growing cancers are easier to treat apparently...things aren't always what they seem! According to the Nurse, Nurse Practitioner, & Oncologist, they treat most Hodgkin's patients the same way & it's quick & easy. The only difference would be if he has it in his bone marrow.

Anyway, from what we learned today, he will probably have six rounds of chemo. Each round or cycle is four weeks in duration with two treatments. He will go in every two weeks for treatment. So, if I've not made this more confusing than it has to be...he will have two treatments each month for six months. We are trying to determine if he should do his treatments at MD Anderson or in Dallas. They will allow either. However, he needs blood work every week and so that would be a lot of driving if we chose MD Anderson. So, we need to hurry and look into a possible oncologist in Dallas that would be willing to follow the MD Anderson protocol in treating him.

Now for the great news!!! Ben didn't want to know anything about the symptoms of cancer or the side efffects of chemo b/c he knows the mind is powerful and he didn't want to plant any seeds. So, the nurse started to tell us the side effects of the chemo and he stopped her. However, she said you might as well know that there really aren't any...This chemo, called ABVD, is less likely to affect platelet counts (praise JESUS!!) and they said he probably won't lose his hair. They said it may thin a tiny bit, but he shouldn't lose it. She said the side effects are so minimal. We are incredibly encouraged by this!!

They also told us that he probably won't have to have any radiation! Praise JESUS!! They said that they only do radiation when the tumors are larger than 2cm & Ben's are all smaller.

God has been so faithful, not that we would think otherwise! It was just so cool to hear all of the awesome news! You walk into this with faith that He will care for you & you're prepared for the worst. However, God allowed us to experience some true excitement today!

Thank you all so much for your prayers! We FEEL them! Today was such an encouragement. Be encouraged that God is hearing and answering your prayers that you are lifting up on our behalf!!

Praise the Lord!!