Well, I haven't posted in a while and most of that is because I kept hoping we would have gotten the final pathology to report out. As of yet, we still don't have the final pathology so we just like all of you just keep waiting. As it has been a while, there are some things that we need to catch up on.
Wednesday November 1, 2017-CHI St. Joseph Cancer Center
For those of you who don't know, I completed my internship for my Master of Health Administration at CHI St. Joseph Health. Shortly after the completion of my internship, I was hired and joined the CHI St. Joseph team. I mention this for two reasons 1) St. Joseph has been working really well with me though all of this. They have been willing to give me time off for all of the appointments and they have all shown a lot of understanding and compassion and that has meant the world to me. I don't think we will ever be able to thank them for everything. 2) The cancer center that Brianna will begin treatment at is with CHI St. Joseph which makes it really nice as I can just walk over from my office for all of the appointments. Anyway, Brianna, my mom and I went to the first appointment with Dr. Scott Goble the Radiation Oncologist. The Cancer Center houses both the chemotherapy and the radiation treatment so we had to find our way to the right desk. Upon completing check in at the registration desk, we waited at a table with a puzzle. We worked on the puzzle for a bit and then we were called back. They took Brianna's blood pressure and weight and then we were taken to a consult room to wait for the doctor. The doctor came in and asked some initial questions like most of the doctors had already and then decided he wanted to perform some physical test. We were taken to another room where Brianna had to change into a gown. He came back in and tested her arm strength and checked the baby and then we headed back to the previous room. The doctor came back in and began discussing treatment. As we didn't have the final pathology, Dr. Goble stated that everything planned was a plan until we knew for sure the report in order to move forward. He stated that Brianna would need the full 6 weeks of treatment. He discussed that the chances that the radiation will harm the baby are very low especially as the tumor is in the brain. However, he decided that in order to be even more precise and give the baby the best chance, they would have Brianna with her chin to her chest for each treatment so that the beams would have minimal opportunity to be directed towards the baby. He informed us that a mask would be created to keep her head in place during each treatment and it would be made at another time. He let us know that Brianna won't lose all of her hair from radiation but she will lose hair where the direct beams are from the path of radiation. We asked what our chances were and he informed us that each case is different and unique and we just need to hope for the best. Brianna was scheduled to come in tomorrow to have her mask designed and set for treatment as well as an MRI and CT scan. He let us know that they would need updated imaging in order to design the best treatment path and create a most probable image of the tumor. After all our questions were answered, Brianna went with my mom to get some food and I went back to work. The next appointment wasn't until 1:30 pm with the medical oncologist so I decided I should go get some more work done.
We met back at the cancer center around 1:30 pm. The radiation oncologist is the doctor that will manage the radiation portion of the treatment. The medical oncologist is the doctor that will manage the chemotherapy portion of the treatment. We met with Dr. Jenkins and he discussed the treatment plan. Brianna would complete 6 weeks of radiation, have four weeks to rest and then start chemotherapy. I say four weeks for rest but she will be having the baby during that time so there won't be much rest involved but she has to have four weeks off of radiation before starting chemotherapy. Dr. Jenkins reminded us that there is only one approved drug for this type of brain cancer and that will be discussed more following completing radiation. He discussed at this time his services wouldn't be needed much until the radiation was completed. We asked the rest of our questions and then we headed out. Brianna headed home and I went back to work.
Thursday November 2, 2017-Cancer Center
Brianna headed to the cancer center to have her mask set. I felt that my services were not needed for the appointment so I stayed at work to begin catching up on my work. Brianna said it didn't take too long to make the mask but it is very tight and very uncomfortable. The good news being that radiation treatment should only last 10-15 minutes each day so she won't have to wear it very long. After the mask setting, she had a CT scan at the office. The MRI however had to be completed at the hospital. She had to come over to the hospital after lunch for the scan. After lunch I went downstairs and met up with Brianna and Debbie who gave her a ride. We talked for a few minutes and then she was called back for her MRI. Following her MRI she went home and rested. As for me, back to work!
Friday November 3, 2017-Sunday November 5, 2017
Brianna had an appointment with the OB-GYN today. This would be the last time that she would be seeing Dr. Rice for a while as she will be taking time off for her delivery! Dr. Rice is due any day now. Brianna also needs to start seeing more specialist regarding her baby and the deliver so she will be switching doctors. Again, I didn't feel that my presence was needed for this appointment as it would be a quick follow up. My mother took Brianna to the appointment. Dr. Rice did some catching up and checked the babies hear beat. In order to transfer care, they obtained all of the paperwork and after all that the appointment was over. Brianna will be going to see a more in depth OB-GYN doctor and a perinatologist. An appointment has been scheduled for the Perinatologist next Wednesday and the OB-GYN for December 1st although that is likely to change and be sooner. I should be leaving to go hunting with my dad but Brianna and I decided it would be better if I was home for the weekend to help with Watson. It was also decided that we have had so much going on it would be nice to just rest and relax. We worked on getting the house somewhat back in order on Saturday as well as doing some much needed shopping. We mostly rest however as we were all very tired. On Sunday we went to church and felt a breath of fresh air. Following church we went home and all took a nap. Following our nap, the Edmondson's came to visit with us. It was wonderful to spend some time with them. We have served in various church callings recently with them and it was nice to just have them with us. Following their visit, we started cooking dinner as we were having Sam and Angela some friends come over for dinner. We made Venison fried steak, mashed potatoes and a fruit salad. It was a lot of fun having them come over. Following dinner we put Watson down for bed and played some games together. We played a game we have never played called coup. It was a game about lying to each other to win which was a lot of fun. I decided to go ahead and buy it so we could play it some more and get better.
Monday November 6, 2017
We both made dentist appointments as it has been a couple of months and we figured it would be easier now before all of the appointments and radiation. The dentist was wonderful and worked with us well. He goes to our church and just was magnificent. He informed us that he would only be billing insurance and whatever they didn't pay we would not be responsible for. That truly was a blessing and that is why I share this story. We pray for help, we pray for blessings and that was a huge financial blessing for us. We will never be able to thank all of those who help us during this time from financial help, time driving Brianna, the letters, the prayers and all the other amazing acts of service. God is with us because each of you are with us. We continue to be blessed from each and every single one of you. We love you and will never be able to repay the love and service you share with us. We hope that you will know how much we love and appreciate you for all you do for us and we thank our Heavenly Father every day for the angels that He sends us through you. Thank you.
Wednesday November 8, 2017
I feel like I haven't been as useful to Brianna upon our return from the Mayo Clinic. My work is very understanding and would be more than willing to let me go but I feel the tI am not needed at every appointment and thus I make myself available for the most important appointments. I also am a person who wants to work and to do so diligently. That is how I was raised and that is how I continue to live. That being said, Brianna had an appointment with the Perinatologist today. The appointment was in the Woodlands which is about an hour and a half from College Station. As the appointment would last 30 minutes or less with the doctor and it would take all afternoon, it was best that I stay at work. Brianna and my mom took the trip down to the Woodlands without me. It is difficult to make those decisions at times because I want to be with her all the time to help her but I know that one of the ways I help is by having a job. Anyway, my mom and Brianna had a great time at the appointment. She met with the doctor and had an ultra sound and saw our baby boy again. He is already another pound bigger so he is growing perfectly! They performed another 3D ultrasound and both of them loved that! The doctor said baby is doing great and we will continue to monitor as radiation begins and as treatment follows. It was decided that a C-section would be the delivery route for certain and that steroids would be started immediately to mature the lungs for the baby just incase anything happens during treatment. The reason for this is to allow the baby the best chance in case the deliver has been done sooner than expected for any reason. That was very reassuring for us as we want to be prepared for anything that comes our way. Today was a pretty long day and we were all exhausted by the time we got home. I had to pick up Brianna and Watson from my mom and dads and then we needed to go shopping for some food. Following shopping we had to eat dinner and get Watson to bed and the whole routine was later than we like which just makes us even more tired. Overall we are doing okay, just a tiring day today.
Treatment-Day 1 (Thursday November 9, 2017)
We were told that today would just be a simulation where they align all of the lasers for treatment. That is precisely what happened as well as a treatment. Brianna has begun her radiation. We arrived a the cancer center at 11:30 and it was very quick! They took her back, made sure the laser was aligned the way that they liked it and they ran the first treatment. It was very quick. We then went and talked with the doctor. Dr. Goble informed us that everything seemed to be lined up just the way we expected it. She had to put her mask on and lie down for this big massive machine. The door to the room was the thickest door I have ever seen. No one is in the room during the treatment except for Brianna of course. She told me she didn't feel a thing although she did smell a burning smell and I told her that it was her brains being fried! (That isn't totally true). We asked Dr. Goble if everything seemed good and he told us that it did for treatment. He let us know that we just have to wait and see but they were giving Brianna the strongest dose they could and the science and math seemed to show that nothing would really affect our son which was good to hear. He showed us the updated MRI which did show some growth even from two weeks ago. After we had all of our questions answered Brianna headed home and I went back to work. Brianna took a well deserved nap and woke up with a terrible headache. I called the doctors office and they informed us that this would be normal for the first several days of treatment. We were told to have Brianna take some tylenol which she did and she started feeling better. We then received a phone call that Brianna needed to head to the OB-GYN to receive her first shot. My parents picked her and Watson up and I met them at the office. We walked in, got a shot and walked out. It was very fast. She will receive two shots, one today and one tomorrow. She began her daily treatment of radiation today and will be receiving radiation every Monday-Friday at 11:30 am.
Brianna has been informed that she has a Grade III Astrocytoma with a non mutated IDH1 which from what we have been told and informed makes the brain tumor tougher and less likely to respond to treatment. We continue to pray and hope that all will go well. We are amazed at all of the help that people have given us and for the love that is being shared. We have seen a handful of miracles and blessings because of each of you. We have also set it up with friends and family to have someone hr each day with Brianna from 11-1 to help with Watson for lunch and putting him down for a nap. What a wonderful blessing this truly is for Brianna. Again, we are amazed at the love and support we have received.
Brianna's best friend Sadie created a Fund Me page to help us pay all of the medical bills. We thought that was pretty amazing and we hope again that no one feels obligated to donate. We continue to share because we know there are those who keep asking what can they do to donate and that is why we share it. It is likely that we will need $14,000 to pay off all of the bills. We have already reached half of our goal for the funding page in just a week and that has been truly amazing. (Link has been listed below) We know that this is going to be a challenge for us and we continue to remind ourselves that this is not a race but a marathon. Brianna and I continue to put our trust in God. We know that the loves us and although this can seem like a difficult time, "With God, all things are possible". We know that our Family is Forever and we know that no matter what comes our way, we will face this head on as a family. We will never be able to thank each of you and we hope that we will help you learn with us as we continue to keep the faith through this trail.
https://www.youcaring.com/briannaunbornbabyboy-994138
