On May 17th, Andy was experiencing scome uncontrollable pain in his back and abdomen. After following the advice of the Oncologist we went to the ER in downtown Ft Worth, TX where Andy was admitted later that night. A nice mixture of Delottid, prednisone and Oxy Codeine and Andy is now pain free. This little trip to the hospital; however has expedited the timeline a bit and he is scheduled to receive Chemo today. Andy will be having a bone marrow biopsy and metaport put in this morning and the chemo will start immediately after. The chemo regimen this time is R-ICE. It is a potent little cocktail that will be given over a 3-4 day period. It is expected to really wipe Andy's cell count out so he will be spending the next 5-7 days in the hospital. I must say Andy's spirits are high as usual. His unparalleled strength and positive attitude are what make him such an enjoyable patient and inspirational partner.
The next few months will be difficult. The plan is to administer 2-3 rounds of this chemo. Each round will go a little something like this: 1 week in the hospital, 2 weeks at home. Then rinse and repeat. After about 6-9 weeks Andy will then be sent to a transplant oncologist. The idea is that the cancer will be in remission. The next step will be a stem cell transplant. We are planning on Andy using his own stem cells but that will also depend on the results of the bone marrow biopsy. The stem cell transplant will be done in Dallas at Medical City Dallas. He will undergo a very high intensity chemo intended to kill his entire immune system and then they will go in and "rescue" him with his own stem cells. While is may sound scary, and believe me we are all a little scared, this treatment has had some of the best CURE rates for patients with relapsed lymphoma.
While the road ahead of Andy is a long bumpy one, I have no doubt he will endure it with a smile on his handsome face. We welcome any and all visitors during this whole process as you can never have too much love and support! Until the next update....Cheers!
Alex
Well Priddy, you just aren't satisifed with a blister or a bruise eh? You just have to get so much attention! LOL We are behind you, standing at your side, praying and cheering you both onward. No better time to do battle then now, you go slay those cancer cells. We are proud of you Andrew. True words
ReplyDeleteAhoy, we were just chatting about you. A brohter from the East Coast teams just said 'get her done'! Passing that along to you.
ReplyDeleteCha Cha Priddy Awesome