Eight Months ~ November 08 to July 09

Eight months, it seems so much longer since Adam was first diagnosed with Stage 4a Hodgkins Disease. Especially those first few weeks, they seemed like months in themselves. But immediately upon hearing those words CANCER from the doctor, both Adam's mother and I began calling everyone we knew asking for their prayers. And boy did Adam get the prayers!! From people all over the United States and even in a couple countries through our Missionary friends. And those prayers have been answered.

Tomorrow, July 20, 2009, Adam will undergo surgery to remove the port catheter that was placed for his chemotherapy. Last Monday, July 13, he underwent PET Scan, CT Scan and blood work and the doctors said that the results were great, and that he is disease free!!! The tumors even though they are still present they are not active, and they have shrunk considerably. He has some spots that they feel are from the infection he had, but are of little or no concern. he said that there was some low level activity, again under the circumstances there was little cause for concern.

Of course Hodgkins is not a curable disease, but it is treatable, and there is a 55% to 60% chance that it could become active again, however the doctors have told us that if it reoccurs it will be sooner rather than later, this is why they will watch him closely over the next 18 months. But we are faithful that this will not be a concern either.

Again, it has been a harrowing journey, but Adam has shown us all what the power of prayer can do, and he has also shown his entire family and friends, the strength that he holds within him. Only once did I see Adam even cry through all of this. That was on November 24, 2008 when he was first told that he had cancer. Since that time he has remained strong and determined, and not once did I see him cry. Yes he got down and sometimes depressed, but if you saw him today you'd never know he had just went through what he has.

And to all of you, from our family, our group of close knit friends, and those of you that have only heard of Adam's journey through others and possibly this blog, we say THANK YOU! We will be forever grateful to you for your prayers, concern and support. We ask that you continue to pray for continued health for Adam, and we will update the site on occasion.

Sorry for the lack of Updates

So sorry for the lack of updates, as many of you follow Adam's journey and when we do not update I am sure you get worried, but there is no need for worry as all is well!!

Adam completed his radiation with no adverse side effects Tuesday, May 26th, and as it looks right now he will be chemo and radiation free!  He will have more scans, blood work, and test sometime in the end of June, but at least for the summer he will not have to undergo anymore chemo or radiation.  From all the preliminary signs it loos like all the prayers have worked and his cancer is under control and no longer a threat.  The spots are either gone or calcified and the doctors feel that once the radiation has time to do what it needs to do, he should be completed with treatment and just have his follow ups. He even has a growth of "peach fuzz" on his entire head where his hair is already growing back.  We are all wondering just what color it will come back as...

Adam, his mother and I and our entire family are forever grateful for all of you that have prayed and kept up with Adam and given us words of hope and encouragement.  

I promise to continue to give you updates and his progress, but I am sure they will be not as often.  You can also check out his facebook page, or mine and keep in contact with us through FB.

Thanks again, and thanks to God!

Amazing Day!

Today was another long and tiring day at Children's Medical Center. Scans, X-rays, Blood work, more scans, and clinic. But it ended with news that we have been praying for since November when Adam was first diagnosed with Stage 4 Hodgkins. Let me see if I can get the exact words of his oncologist...

"From the preliminary reports of the scans today we see no live spots, which means there is no active cancer cells currently in the areas that previously were active. So from these initial reports we can report that his cancer is currently in remission. This does not mean that there are not tumors, as the tumors in his neck are still there in the lymph nodes and have not shrunk from the last scans, but they are currently inactive. The tumors in his chest area are calcified. There are only two "live" spots showing any indication of activity and these we think are from the infection he had three weeks ago and is not cancer activity."

Adam showed little emotion, but then he has showed little emotion from the onset, that is just his personality. He will still have to undergo the radiation which our first "simulation" is set for April 23rd, but this is just an added deterrent to the cancer and hopefully it will remain in remission. Once radiation is complete, then the scans and tests will be completed again and then the doctors will then determine the next course of action, if any.

Today was an amazing day, and an amazing relief, and proof of our Amazing God.

Continue to pray for continued good news!!

Thankful in the Face of Adversity

The fight presses onward. The pneumonia has finally been kicked and Adam is looking forward to his last chemo session, which begins on Monday march 30. Hopefully this will be the end of the chemo and then he will move on to the radiation treatments.

As we look back to the last 5 months we can be extremely thankful for a lot of things. One, that the doctors found this early enough so that it can be treated aggressively , and secondly that Adam has not really had a lot of sickness while going through chemo. Many patients suffer extreme nausea and vomiting with many other symptoms and chemo effects. Adam, overall has not had a lot of that. Yes, he has lost his hair, and some weight, but those things can and are already coming back.

I know one thing for certain, that this kid has strength that I never realized that he had. He has more strength than his ole dad that's for sure. He has shown great strength, faith and persistence and yes, even patience in this. It is not over, but I know that regardless of how ever long his battle may be, he will make it through this.

Roller Coaster

Adam's journey to becoming cancer free has certainly been a roller coaster ride. Even more so the past week and a half. And what is so bad about all of it, is that he actually says he feels fine. Not sure if his mother and I believe that all the time. We think sometimes he tells us that so we don't worry more than what we already do. The roller coaster the past few days has been his blood counts.

He had to go and get blood last week as his hemoglobin was down. After getting the blood he began to really feel good. He had more energy, had better color and just felt good over all. Then on Tuesday this week his blood counts came back and his platelets were low. It is called Thrombocytopenia, which is the big word for a decrease in the number of platelets (PLT), which may lead to low blood platlet count. So he may need to have platelets. Other than that he seems to be doing really well this week. All his other counts were good and he has even started in home bound studies to allow him to stay on track with school.

Next week it is back onto the roller coaster and more tests. We are looking forward to the results of the tests he has next Monday as this will tell us how the chemo is working. Then three days of chemotherapy.

It does seem like a roller coaster, but just like the roller coasters in the amusement parks, sooner or later you have to get off, and just down the road, he will be cancer free and this ride will be over and he can get on with his life.

Routine

Not that having Hodgkins is routine, but it seems as though we are getting into a routine schedule. Chemo at the hospital, labs, labs, clinic, labs and then Chemo again. This past week due to the massive snow and ice storm, clinic was cancelled, so it broke the routine somewhat.

Normally clinic is the day when they schedule as much into 8 hours at the hospital for outpatient related issues as possible. Blood work, tests, x-rays and then a check up with the oncologists. Labs are a routine visit to the nearby hospital for blood draws, which enables to see how Adam's counts are doing. We can pretty much tell anymore by his actions without even having to draw blood. If he is easily fatigued and just kind of laying around and/or nauseous, we can pretty well figure his counts are going to be down. Labs are usually drawn twice a week.

Of course chemo is an admission to the hospital and they administer the chemo drugs intravenously.

This has now been the routine for the past 3 1/2 months, every 21 days. Does not seem that long. However, this month is a little different. As I already said the winter storm kind of put a bump in the routine, but also on February 10th, Adam will be 16.

Even though it happens to all of us, every 12 months, birthdays are special and not just a routine. This birthday will be even more special. At least as parents it will be. I am sure his mother as well as myself will look back over the past 16 years and see what this young man has accomplished and how he has grown and matured. And then we will see where he is now and how strong he has become.

Yeah we all get into routines in everything we do in our lives. Regardless if it is just the mundane tasks or the schedule brought upon us by sickness or other outside influences. Routines are there to make it a little more bearable, I suppose.

But as I look towards Adam's birthday I realize that his routine has been altered significantly. As a routine, most 16 year old boys are getting their temporary driver's license and looking forward to getting their first car. Adam, even though these things are part of his routine, and he wants more than anything to have that first car and drive, Hodgkins is also now part of that routine. Along with the Chemo, the labs and clinic visits. I know it's not easy for him, and I know having to share your 16th birthday with this hanging over you has got to be difficult. So as the day approaches an Adam becomes one year closer to becoming a man I hope we can step out of this routine and celebrate life and not focus on our current routines.

A Week Makes One Weak

Today has been a week since we have been in the hospital. I say we, when I should say Adam, as both myself and his mother have went home and slept in our own bed. He on the other hand has been here for the entire week, take eight hours of pass time over the Thanksgiving holiday.

In one week his life has changed, forever. In one week our lives have changed forever. Everyone that knows Adam has been affected by this. From his mother and I to the class mates that see him in the hallways everyday. This reality became even more real to us today as the doctor's began to share some of the side effects of the chemotherapy he would soon be undertaking. One of the side effects is that there is a 25% chance of sterility. This is a long lasting side effect that could changed the course of his life even in the future. So steps are being discussed to avoid that.

It seems like the doctors have an answer to everything. Well almost everything. Right now they do not know how they are going to go in to his body and obtain a piece of the lung for biopsy and testing. The surgeons and the pulmonary specialist are weighing the complications and the pros and cons of the different options. In the meantime, Adam has become increasingly agitated and aggravated. Which is to be expected. Also his mother and I are becoming somewhat agitated as well.

But even in this time of transition in Adam's life, our lives must go on. In a few days I will need to return to work. DJ is leaving tomorrow for a two week stint in Lima, Ohio for work. Adam's sister went home Sunday, back with her family and Adam's aunts will soon return to their respective homes as well. Some things have changed, and will be changed forever, yet so much remains the same.

In the meantime, we continue to wait. I am sure in a few days the treatment will be underway and we will finally begin to answer those questions that we have had all week, and the uncertainty will become a little easier to deal with.

6 Days...Answers and More Questions

Today Adam had the PET Scan. This test is done by putting radiated glucose into his system intravenously and then take pictures with the CT-Scan. Apparently the cancer feeds off glucose, so it will glow wherever the cancer is located. The scan showed that at least two nodules in his lung was Hodgkin's. Now the next step is to determine how to treat, and in order to determine this they will either have to do a surgical biopsy of the lung, or a bronchioscope to determine how to treat.

We did receive the results from the bone morrow and they came back negative, so no cancer in the bone!!

So now we wait for an answer as to what is next. Once a determination is made as to how to go into and check out the nodules on the lung, then they will decide when and how to start the chemotherapy.

A Journey Begins

The journey really began on February 10, 1993 in Hamilton, Ohio when Adam was born to his parents. The fourth of four children, Adam was the "baby" and still is the baby even though he is almost 16 and is taller than the other three children.

However, this blog tells the story of his current journey from his parents perspective dealing with his recent diagnosis of Hodgkin's Disease.

On Monday, November 24th, Adam had a doctor appointment with his pediatrician, Dr. James Davis. He was going in to check a swollen gland, that seemed to not go down. He had also just had a fainting episode at a friends house and so his mother was concerned, as was I, so a doctor's visit was needed.

Adam's mother and I separated in 1995 and divorced in 1999, we have remained close and are still friends. We have tried to maintain a relationship that would be beneficial for our kids, and so far this has worked very well for both of us. His mother remarried a few years ago, and I have a life partner, we have been together now 8 years.

Adam's mother called and explained to me that after the doctor's appointment, she arrived home to a call from the doctor, wanting to talk to her. The x-rays showed some abnormalities also in his chest area, and his blood work was somewhat questionable, as his white blood count was up, indicative of some kind of infection in his body. His recommendation was to send him to Children's Medical Center for further testing. His diagnosis? He didn't want to alarm us but said it could be anything for a major infection fighting it's way through the body to Hodgkin's Lymphoma.

To make a long story short, further tests were run; CT-scan; Blood Tests, X-rays, biopsy and the doctor's have confirmed that it is Hodgkin's Lymphoma. As to what stage, they believe it is State IV-A, which means the cancer has moved from the initial sight to other sites on the same side of his body. He has a mass on his neck about 6 centimeters long and 2 centimeters wide, another on the center of his chest, roughly the same size, and six nodules on and around his right lung. The numbers are good though, as this type of cancer has an 80-85% success rate.

For Thanksgiving, the doctor's gave him a four hour pass to be with family, and then another Saturday and Sunday. Friday a Bone Morrow test was completed with the results coming on Monday. This will tell us if the disease has moved into the bone marrow (the doctors feel that it has not, due to his blood counts). This will also give us an indicator as to the stage of the disease for sure and this will enable the doctors to determine how to treat the cancer and fight it.

Overall, Adam seems to be taking the new better than his mother and I, and has a very positive outlook, which is important.

This blog will share his journey with you and others through the eyes of his parents, and from him if and when he wishes to post.