All clear: Stage 1!

Friends,

We received most of the results from our scans. Besides the tumor in my chest, the PET scan came back clear! The doctor said my other lymph nodes look fine and there was no sign of concern anywhere else in my abdomen or pelvis! The solid (core) bone marrow biopsy will take a week to complete, however they have the results from the liquid aspiration biopsy and that also showed no signs of cancer. In addition, there is also something on the bone they look for in the PET scan that can indicate if something is wrong in the bones. That also looked clean. so, while we need to wait for the marrow core biopsy, the doctor thinks it is unlikely there is any cancer in my bones!

The bottomline is that the doctor believes this should be categorized as a stage 1 "bulky" lymphoma! (Again "bulky" just means over 10cm and is pretty normal for this type of lymphoma.)

That is a HUGE answer to prayer, and we are rejoicing and praising God for this! I hope you are too. As I wrote about yesterday, as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 1:11, as you help us by your prayers, "many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many."

Meanwhile... I can't say this is bad news, in light of the VERY good news above, but unfortunately treatment is looking like it will be delayed. They are still waiting on the final pathology to officially determine if this is a PMBCL, as all signs seem to be pointing. Because the treatment differs between PMBCL and DLBCL (It is more intense and inpatient for PMBCL), the doctor does not want to start treatment until we know for sure. There's still a small chance we'll start Friday, but next week is looking more likely.

Finally, I had a port placed in my chest this morning, which will make life much easier during treatment. It's basically an IV line that stays in the chest, under the skin, for the duration of treatment. When they need to, they can just numb up the skin a bit (if at all) and "access" it without having to constantly stick me with needles and finding veins to use. The procedure was pretty straight forward. I was pretty much asleep for most of it and ready to go home 30 minutes after it was done. After fasting (again) all morning, they even fed me a pretty terrible chicken sandwich. :)

Anyways, thanks again for your prayers. The clear PET scan, the clean liquid aspirate, and this being stage 1 are all fantastic answers to prayer. As we move forward, please pray that:

• The core marrow biopsy would confirm that there is no cancer in my bones

• we'd be able to begin treatment ASAP

• that this bulky tumor would respond to treatment and be eradicated quickly

• that we'd be able to work out all the details of support as treatment schedule potentially shifts.