Okay, so even though this cancer thing has been pretty difficult to grasp. We have found another silver lining on this cloud! Brennan had his doctor's appointment on Friday to find out if his cancer had spread. There was a concern that it had spread because his lymphnode glands were all swollen. So, they repeated the test that confirmed that, and also did another test that checks in your body where any cancer is located. The test confirmed the cancer in his throat, but didn't find ANY swollen lymphnode glands! (Which means the cancer has not spread!) Our doctor said he has no idea how the lymphnode glands could have been swollen like that one week and not the other...but I do know! I know it is because of all of your prayers and the mercies of our Heavenly Father! Thank you for your prayers and thoughts.
Brennan starts his radiation therapy on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. I am happy to report that there shouldn't be too many side effects from these treatments. Luckily, it will not be anywhere near as bad as a treatment like Chemo. There will be some discomfort, etc., but I am very glad that it will be more managable and I know Brennan can do it! Again, thanks for all of your prayers! I know there is a reason for us to go through these trials, and I am just so thankful we have the friends we have to go through it with us!
Sariah and Brent--Thanks for yesterday! We had a lot of fun! I am glad that Brennan got to go out and blow off some frustrations/stress hunting. Too bad he got sick! I had fun at your house too Sariah! Sydney sure loves your girls! We are gonna miss you!
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
The Waiting Game
So, our waiting game has begun! I believe the most frustrating part of this whole ordeal has been the waiting. When we initially found out about the cancer, we were rushed from one office to the other. We were asked to make appointments and bring papers, etc. Then, in waiting for the "official" diagnosis to come through--the waiting began! Because Brennan has such a rare cancer for anyone even close to his age, our Doctors felt it was necessary to get 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and maybe even 5th opinions. I am grateful that they took this measure to insure that they were correct, but it has delayed our progress to an extent.
We need to make sure that Brennan's cancer has not spread. Apparently, we were under the impression that the type of cancer he had was localized to a certain area and unable to spread...not true. What they had said was that they believed it had NOT spread any further. (Definitely what we are hoping) So, with the CT Scan that Brennan had, it showed his lymph node glands were swollen...a possible sign of spreading. So, as a precaution, Brennan needs to get a PET Scan and another CT Scan. We have been having to wait to get these tests done unfortunately, due to the fact that the official diagnosis had not been declared.
Soooo...yesterday, I took it upon myself to go check on these items. I am not the most patient of souls on the earth. :) I went to our ENT Doctor's office and luckily, the official diagnosis had come in that day. I was given a copy and another copy was sent to our Oncologist. (Cancer doctor-I must say I am getting pretty good at learning all of these new labels/names!) I drove to the Cancer Center where I learned the "new" hold-up was the approval for the actual tests from our insurance. Since these tests are so expensive, especially the PET Scan, insurance companies will only authorize them once all of the official diagnosis' are in. So, today I called around and found out that by me going in yesterday, our nurse was able to expedite the request! Yeah! Anyway, Brennan is scheduled for a CT Scan this week, his PET Scan next week, and we will learn of the results on December 1st! So, although we are still waiting, I am happy to report that we have a destination and some dates! I think that is better than completely being in the dark!
We appreciate all of your prayers, and a special 'thank-you' for special fasts by family members that have been done! We love you all very much and we are in good spirits! We are extremely blessed and are very grateful for all that has been done in our behalf!
We need to make sure that Brennan's cancer has not spread. Apparently, we were under the impression that the type of cancer he had was localized to a certain area and unable to spread...not true. What they had said was that they believed it had NOT spread any further. (Definitely what we are hoping) So, with the CT Scan that Brennan had, it showed his lymph node glands were swollen...a possible sign of spreading. So, as a precaution, Brennan needs to get a PET Scan and another CT Scan. We have been having to wait to get these tests done unfortunately, due to the fact that the official diagnosis had not been declared.
Soooo...yesterday, I took it upon myself to go check on these items. I am not the most patient of souls on the earth. :) I went to our ENT Doctor's office and luckily, the official diagnosis had come in that day. I was given a copy and another copy was sent to our Oncologist. (Cancer doctor-I must say I am getting pretty good at learning all of these new labels/names!) I drove to the Cancer Center where I learned the "new" hold-up was the approval for the actual tests from our insurance. Since these tests are so expensive, especially the PET Scan, insurance companies will only authorize them once all of the official diagnosis' are in. So, today I called around and found out that by me going in yesterday, our nurse was able to expedite the request! Yeah! Anyway, Brennan is scheduled for a CT Scan this week, his PET Scan next week, and we will learn of the results on December 1st! So, although we are still waiting, I am happy to report that we have a destination and some dates! I think that is better than completely being in the dark!
We appreciate all of your prayers, and a special 'thank-you' for special fasts by family members that have been done! We love you all very much and we are in good spirits! We are extremely blessed and are very grateful for all that has been done in our behalf!
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Serious News-Update
No, this post isn't all about Sydney! Unlike all of my others!
I just wanted to let everyone know about something that was going on in our lives so I don't have to tell that many people over and over, or if you just want details but are afraid to ask...here ya go. Brennan had a major oral surgery scheduled for Thursday, November 20th. Well, I don't know if some of you have ever noticed, but Brennan always sounds like he has a cold or something wrong with his voice. Well, I really feel like I was prompted to make him an appointment with our Ear, Nose, and Throat Dr. We went in and they put a camera down his nose to look at his throat. With this special camera they could tell something was wrong. There was a white mass/growth that looked like pollups growing on one side of his vocal cords. I say pollups because that is the best way I can think to explain them. Anyway, the Ear, Nose, & Throat Dr. seemed concerned about them and mentioned that if Brennan were an old man or a smoker, he, (Dr. Gillihan) would be convinced it was cancer. Yet, since Brennan is neither of those things, he wanted to do a biopsy right away. Two days later, Brennan had the surgery to check it out.
Anyway, last Friday, Nov. 7th, Brennan had the biopsy done on his vocal cords. He also had a surgery on his nose. (During the process of looking at his throat, they realized that Brennan has never been able to breath out of his nose due to a deviated septum, or in otherwords the cartilage in the nose. This could be fixed in a quick surgery so we opted to complete these two tasks at the same time. So it was a long day.)
Anyway, Wednesday, (yesterday) was the follow-up appointment to find out about the biopsy and get the splints removed from his nose. On a positive note, Brennan can breathe WONDERFULLY through his nose. Unfortunately, we found out that Brennan has cancer on his vocal cords. The name of it is laryngeal cancer. We are doing pretty good with the news now, but Brennan has 8 weeks of Radiation Therapy coming up. They will have to do it five days a week for 8 weeks straight. We were able to be "squeezed" into a 2-3 hour appointment today with his new Radiation doctor, so we will be finding out more specific details as to how this is going to work. Also, he is getting a catscan as I write this, so everything is moving forward. Cancer. It is a weird and difficult label to have to try and put in our heads. My husband has cancer. Wow, that sounds so odd to put in a sentence together.
Anyway, I will post more as we learn more. We would appreciate any prayers!
I just wanted to let everyone know about something that was going on in our lives so I don't have to tell that many people over and over, or if you just want details but are afraid to ask...here ya go. Brennan had a major oral surgery scheduled for Thursday, November 20th. Well, I don't know if some of you have ever noticed, but Brennan always sounds like he has a cold or something wrong with his voice. Well, I really feel like I was prompted to make him an appointment with our Ear, Nose, and Throat Dr. We went in and they put a camera down his nose to look at his throat. With this special camera they could tell something was wrong. There was a white mass/growth that looked like pollups growing on one side of his vocal cords. I say pollups because that is the best way I can think to explain them. Anyway, the Ear, Nose, & Throat Dr. seemed concerned about them and mentioned that if Brennan were an old man or a smoker, he, (Dr. Gillihan) would be convinced it was cancer. Yet, since Brennan is neither of those things, he wanted to do a biopsy right away. Two days later, Brennan had the surgery to check it out.
Anyway, last Friday, Nov. 7th, Brennan had the biopsy done on his vocal cords. He also had a surgery on his nose. (During the process of looking at his throat, they realized that Brennan has never been able to breath out of his nose due to a deviated septum, or in otherwords the cartilage in the nose. This could be fixed in a quick surgery so we opted to complete these two tasks at the same time. So it was a long day.)
Anyway, Wednesday, (yesterday) was the follow-up appointment to find out about the biopsy and get the splints removed from his nose. On a positive note, Brennan can breathe WONDERFULLY through his nose. Unfortunately, we found out that Brennan has cancer on his vocal cords. The name of it is laryngeal cancer. We are doing pretty good with the news now, but Brennan has 8 weeks of Radiation Therapy coming up. They will have to do it five days a week for 8 weeks straight. We were able to be "squeezed" into a 2-3 hour appointment today with his new Radiation doctor, so we will be finding out more specific details as to how this is going to work. Also, he is getting a catscan as I write this, so everything is moving forward. Cancer. It is a weird and difficult label to have to try and put in our heads. My husband has cancer. Wow, that sounds so odd to put in a sentence together.
Anyway, I will post more as we learn more. We would appreciate any prayers!
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Halloween Fun!
Brennan's cool Steelers pumpkin. Mine didn't quite make it through Halloween. It molded really bad and some kid kicked it in. I hope he/she got nasty moldy/mushy pumpkin all over their shoe.
Brennan and Sydney at the Trunk or Treat party. Sydney was having a blast playing and dancing. Candy was a hit too, yet I had a hard time teaching her to be a little more greedy. She only wanted one candy in each hand and she was good. But that wasn't going to fly cause I wanted more so I was trying to teach her to grab MORE!
Sydney was ready to go! She looked like such a sweetie! Her hair took awhile to do with her moving around! I had to get Brennan to come distract her!
The getting ready process...not as miserable as it could have been I guess! :) She was really good and didn't mess with it too much after it was done. I did have to fix it once though after she ripped a pony tail out!
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