Results are in!!!

We arrived at the oncologists office at 730 a.m. today, he had his blood work taken and we were in the room waiting on the Dr by 8 a.m.  I was thinking.....this is going to be a long morning, I bet the Dr isn't even here yet!  But, to my surprise, he came right in.  He didn't beat around bush or sugar coat it.....he just came right out and said, we have your diagnosis!  He laid the pathology report in front of us and showed it to us, it said  "Hodgkin's Lymphoma".  He told us this was a  treatable cancer (cooties) and if he had to have cancer (cooties) this is what he would want to have.

Dustin goes Friday for Pulmonary Function Tests, as his chemo cocktail can do a number on your lungs, so we need to get a baseline and make sure his lungs are healthy.  If the Echo from today and the PFT's from Friday are normal then Chemo starts Wednesday at 12, it will take 4 hours a session and he will go every 2 weeks for 6-8 months.

For the specifics he has Hodgkin's Lymphoma Stage 4 (above and below the diaphragm with bone involvement).  They were not able to give the subclass.

That is what we know for now, we are relieved to just start his treatment, and like Dustin has been saying, "Lets get this party started"!

:-) Delana

Bx Results

I called the Dr.'s office this morning to clarify where we are to go to have the Echo tomorrow, as I was talking to the nurse I explained to her that Dustin was really fatigued and  he is having a hard time staying awake.  He also complains his body and his skin hurts.  Soooo now we are to see the oncologist in the morning at 8 a.m., we are to have blood work at 730.  They really do love these early morning appointments.  So instead of waiting until next week for his biopsy results we will be get them in the morning.

We know there is cancer some where we are just looking for it, so what we are hoping for is... we go in tomorrow and he tells us, he found it and it is definitely lymphoma and treatable.  If the lymph node biopsy is normal, then we are still looking for the needle in the haystack.  Then the next step would be a pelvic bone and spine biopsy.  Those were the other places on the PET scan that "lit" up. 

So I know it sounds crazy, but please pray they found the cancer so we can start treatment, and Dustin can start feeling better. 

:-) Delana

Echo

The oncologists office called the other day, and they have scheduled Dustin for an Echo (sonogram of his heart) Wednesday at 10:15.  Before chemo starts we have to make sure his heart is in good shape.  Just to clarify, his oncologist says there is cancer (I don't like that word so we call it cooties in our house) somewhere we just have to find it.

Dustin has been doing OK after surgery.  He is still using his ice packs and still on his pain meds, but for the most part I think he is doing really well.  His incisions are healing with no problems.  He doesn't sleep too good, but he naps during the day.  We went to my parents yesterday for dinner and to "air" him out....lol, but I think it was too much for him.  I won't be taking him on any more field trips for a while.

He complains that his neck is stiff, which is to be expected and his port "moves" which bothers him.  I don't know much about the port, we will have to talk to his surgeon about that one.

Until next time.
:-)  Delana 

Pictures

We removed the bandage from the lymph node excision today.  Dustin asked me to post it here, I told him it was gross we didn't have to put it up here.  His exact words were "Most of your friends are in the medical field and my family is just morbid, they will all love it".  So courtesy of Dustin here you go......

Now that I look at the picture here it really doesn't look that bad.  His neck is swollen, but the incision looks really good.  I told him I was going to get him some "bolts" from the Halloween section at Wal-Mart and he could be Frankenstein.

I also thought I would post a picture of Bean doing what he does best!




Delana :-)

Surgery Update

Yesterday started out bright and early at 1:30 am when our alarm clock went off.  We left Heavener at 2:45am and went to my parents house to get my dad, he was our chauffeur (and a life safer!).  We left his house about 3:15 and arrived at the hospital at 5:30.  We were hoping his surgery would start at 9:00 or 9:30, but we later found out it was going to be more like 10:45.  After he got settled in his room and had all the blood work ran,and EKG it was time to sit and wait, and wait and wait.  At 9:30 the nurse informed us that our Dr was running behind and his surgery was going to start at 12 or 12:30, OH JOY!  I forgot to mention that Dustin had his first experience with a nurse missing his vein for the IV.  Now you must know that he has excellent veins, she must have just had a really bad day because she not only missed once but twice!  That really made his day!  So, at 12:28 they took him back for his surgery, and he was finished at 1:54.  I went back to the recovery room at 3, and he looked like crap.  I have a great picture of him, but my mom said she would kill me if showed up here or on facebook...lol.  He really was in a lot of pain after the procedure, but he had a great nurse that was pumping him with morphine, so he did finally get on top of the pain.  He was in recovery for a few hours and then we made the lovely 2 1/2 hour ride home.  I was afraid he would be in too much pain for the trip home, but the nurse made sure to dose him up with Oxycodone, so he was pretty happy and did really good. 

When I talked with his Dr, he said the port placement (or installation as Dustin calls it) went just fine, and he actually removed a cluster of lymph nodes as apposed to one large node.  As of now we go for results November 2, to his oncologist.

Last night was fun!  Ice packs are his friend, he has one on both sides of his chest on at all times.  The lymph node removal was one the left side and the port is on the right, so he has an ice pack on each side.  He was up ever 1 1/2 to 2 hours changing ice packs or asking for pain meds.  Then Logan was up at 3:30 because he has a Marching Band Competion today and he had to be at the school at 4:30!  It has been a very long night!!

Here is a pic of the port, this was taken today.

Busy day!

I am writing this as we drive back to Heavener from Tulsa. We had an appto this morning with the oncologist to review Dustin's PET scan and bone marrow biopsey from last week. His bone marrow biopsy was normal (YEAH!!!) but he lit up like a Christmas tree on PET scan... What that means is there is cancer somewhere we just have to find it. He has numerous lymph nodes and a spot on his pelvis and on his spine. His oncologist wants him to have a port placed and removal of a lymph node from his neck. He sent us to a surgeon... Whom we saw this afternoon... He did a sono of his neck...then scheduled him for surgery tomorrow morning!!! We have to be back at the hospital tomorrow morning at 530am!!! Yep that means leaving the house at 3am!!! Will update tomorrow.

:-) Delana

Waiting game.

Dustin had a PET scan and bone marrow biopsy last week.  He is adding "bone marrow biopsy" to his list of things he never wants to do again.  They gave him 2 Valium to take a few hours prior to the procedure, however they didn't take effect until an hour or so after the procedure.

We have an appointment Monday at 930, to review the results with the Dr.  I don't know what is worse for him, the procedures or waiting for the results.

;-) Delana