Unexpected

John has his PET scan yesterday and it revealed some findings that the doctors totally did not expect. They found some signs that the disease had spread to two other parts of his body. So he is unable to undergo radiation following the chemo as planned. Instead, he will undergo at least 4 rounds of chemo followed by a bone marrow transplant. Yesterday we were just flooded with information and everything is so overwhelming. They can't even give us statistics on how well they think this will work because John's lymphoma is very rare and unusual, with basically no literature or other studies like his. At the beginning of each chemo cycle, he spends the night in the hospital to receive one of the drugs through a 12 hour drip. He did this last night and I spoke to him this morning. He said he is feeling o.k. now, but woke up with chills followed by a fever early this morning. He'll then have a 96 hr infusion of chemo this weekend, which is the same as he had last time he went through this. At least it's a little comical that he has to carry around the chemo in a fanny pack. He's definitely not the fanny pack type.

Anyway, we thought that he may be able to work during radiation, but with this development, he'll most definitely have to take a leave from work. I'm hoping that we'll be able to maintain his health insurance and other benefits while he undergoes this. In the meantime, I'm job hunting, but I have no idea what I'll do, seeing as I haven't worked in 3 years. I know we are very supported by friends and family, but there is just a feeling of helplessness I can't shake.

So, that's the update. I'm sure John will be updating his page from his perspective once he's home and rested. Thanks to everyone who's been sending e-mails and well wishes our way. W really, really appreciate it.