#RoundTwo

Disclaimer: In my first post, I believe I said there were 3 rounds….well, I feel like there were really 4.  Sooooooo.   Round Two.   We had been living the cancer free life for 9 months, and John even got the all clear CT scan in March of 2014.  A month or two later he started having some abdominal pain.  We went to the ER a few times, convinced that he needed his gall bladder removed.  While he did, in fact, need his gall bladder removed, he also had a mass of lymphnodes in his abdomen.  In June, we spent 3/4 Tuesday’s at the OSF surgical floor.  One to have a needle biopsy of the nodes in his abdomen, a second to have an ACTUAL biopsy of the nodes and have his gall bladder removed, and a third getting a port placed so that he could start chemo again.  By the end of the month he looked like a horrible stabbing victim.   As if I, or someone, had tried to stab him to death, and did a REAL bad job!  A few side stories before we move on here.

A) Don’t EVER let a doc talk you into a needle biopsy!  I believe over the course of the 4 year cancer journey, John had 3 different needle biopsies, and all were inconclusive!  Two of which, he had to go back under the knife  a week later!

B) If someone you love needs chemo…. just bite the bullet and get a port!  It was FAR easier for the chemo to be administered as John was a hard stick.  The port can also be used for blood draws and comes in real handy if there are any hospital stays, as long as the nurse accesses it properly.  For those unfamiliar with a port it is inserted into a “pocket” in the chest, somehow connects into a big vein, and then has a small part that sticks out, which is what a nurse would feel to be able to access the port.  It’s good for the patient, is a tad freaky for the wife/caretaker to touch.   Its like an extra nipple or something.   I touched it once…. and it was weird.

OK, back on track.  During this time, John was in severe pain and couldn’t eat worth a hoot for a good month.  We had to go get hydration and electrolytes for 4 and 5 days in a row to keep him from getting dehydrated as every time he ate, he would get sick.  Back in the day I would totally gag at the sound of someone puking.   By the time he started chemo, I would just keep eating my dinner as if everything was perfectly normal.   I actually grossed myself out just thinking about this right now!   Bleh.   Anyway, it was recommended for us to see a Dr in Chicago to determine if he should have a Stem Cell transplant, a form of bone marrow transplant.  John had originally had Non-hodgkins Lymphoma (There’s like 70 different subtypes) and then relapsed with Hodgkins Lymphoma.   What’s the difference?  I still can’t explain it…..and don’t ask an oncologist to explain it to you!  That’s just a bad idea.  Typical patients would have hodgkins, and then relapse later with non-hodgkins. Clearly, John was FAR from typical!

Dr Smith at the University of Chicago recommend that John have an autogulous transplant.  After undergoing several doses of chemo and a PET scan to ensure that the cancer was gone, he started harvesting his own stem cells.   They put in a central line, and he harvested inpatient for a total of 6 days.  He had a central line for about a month and a half prior to being admitted for transplant.  Here’s a fun fact.  He actually had the central line in place at his 20 year high school reunion!  Don’t worry, even though I was super drunk, we still got it flushed when we got home from Steak N Shake!  =)

He was admitted on October 22, 2014 and on October 29, 2014 after a week of miserable strong chemo, he had his first re-birthday.  That day he got a new immune system. He spent 19 long days in his hospital room, and was not allowed to leave the floor.  They wanted him to walk, so he would feel better, but his comment to the nurse was “Now I know what a lion feels like in the zoo!”  Only he was hooked to an IV pole as he paced the room.  After a total of 22 days, he was discharged.  In shorts and a winter coat, and demanded that I take him to Taco Johns.  Taco Johns is really not what I think of as the most sanitary of places, but all he wanted in life at that moment, was a bean burrito, so I obliged.  He tore into it as we headed home, and was immediately pissed that they gave us a beef burrito!  On December 22, he was declared cancer free, yet again!  What an AMAZING Christmas gift.  Cancer Free, and ready to take on the new year ahead of us…….or so we thought.