Fantastic Oncologist Report

Written Wed., right after lunch:

This is Bev. Ken is off having a cat scan. They are checking him out to see how wide spread his lymphoma is. We are hopeful that it is just around his lungs.

But Ken wanted me to tell you all the good news we got from the oncologist. She said that she has had very good luck with a new chemotherapy drug (out about 8 years) that will treat his type of lymphoma. He is being moved this afternoon to the 3rd floor oncology area. They will start giving him the chemo tomorrow in a 5 - 8 hour IV drip. As long as he doesn't have any allergic reactions, he shouldn't have any side affects outside of the time they do the IV. He won't loose his hair or be sick to his stomach. We are so excited. He will have the chemo 3 times a week for 4 weeks. So this week will be Thurs and Sat, then Mon, Wed, Fri in the following weeks. Since next week is spring break, he will stay home to rest on Tues and Thurs, but he should be able to be back to work the following Tues after spring break. GREAT NEWS. He misses you all and is so happy to finally have a plan. Then, if all goes well, he will get booster treatments every 6 months which will be one day a week drip for 4 weeks. This will go on for about 2 years. If it doesn't work like they expect, they will insert the port and go for stronger chemo. We still have that option.

By starting the chemo tomorrow, they are hoping that after a few treatments they will be able to remove the second tube and send him home. Yeah! He may be home in time for my birthday. We are so excited that he won't need the stronger chemo and the radiation. They say he has Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma, B Cell, Follicular type. And to our kids that are googling for info, the doc said to only go to these two reputable sites. www.cancer.net and mayoclinic.com. She said there is alot of invalid info on the net, so these two sites will give us reputable info. His chemo is called Rituxan which will target only the bad lymphoma cells.

Ken couldn't be happier. We immediately had to walk down to the cafeteria and celebrate with a coke. Celebrate with us by hugging all your families tonight.

Talk to you all soon. Bev