Friday, July 31, 2009

Thursday, Chemo treatment day

Yesterday John had chemo and spoke with his doctor, Dr. Castillo. I am so relieved John got to speak with the doctor face to face. The discussion was full of information on John's progress to date and what the days ahead hold for him. John asked all the right questions. The main question for that day was why wasn't John told about the bone marrow transplant earlier.
I had told John after our visit to Dana Farber, he has to give Dr. Castillo a fair chance. Keep in mind Dr. Castillo pretty much resurrected John from the brinks of death! Don't fly off the handle at Dr. Castillo for not telling you about the transplant, I am sure he has a good reason for doing that. Sure enough, Dr. Castillo is just what I suspected, a step by step personality. He told John, he would never lie to him, he would be very up front with John on his condition and what steps would be taken after each treatment. Which he has. He didn't want to get John all stressed out in the beginning (more than he already is) by tossing in "you may need a bone marrow transplant" John would be worried and stressed throughout the entire treatment process. It is bad enough what he has to deal with now. Dr. Castillo told John he is not receiving the same CHOP (chemo) treatment as everyone else who is being treated for Cancer. He has one more drug which is included in his CHOP. It appears by the test results John is improving with each treatment. All of John's platelets are just where they should be including all his all levels,and all of his organs are working just as they should be...whew! I almost forgot...John's blood level was an 11!!!! Are you kidding?!?!? EXCELLENT!
Dr. Castillo did explain the pros and cons of the transplant procedure. His plans for John are as follows; he will be getting a PET scan done next week. He needs to be sure the chemo treatment today is going to be doing it's job for an entire week and then the scan will be done. This scan will provide an abnormalities in his body. He will continue his chemo treatment until all 6 cycles are complete. Once the entire 6 cycles have been completed, John will have another PET Scan and a bone marrow test. IF, If all these test come back super, I am saying C-L-E-A-N, John has to make a very big decision to make. Do the bone marrow transplant or not do to the transplant?The doctor was leaning more towards if the test was CLEAN. John may not need to have the bone marrow transplant done. He would continue to see Dr. Castillo and be tested every 1-2 months. To be sure the cancer does NOT come back. This is a very serious and difficult decision to make. I am 100% by John's side, no matter what decision he makes. I love him and always will, no matter what is ahead of us, good or bad, I will be there to hold his hand and fight the good fight.

I send God my prayers today and everyday...I can only hope he has been listening....

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