Yesterday, Tony and I met with the Oncologist that has been treating Tony at UCLA for the past 5 months. It was our "exit interview", and it was a time for questions to be asked and answered. The pic-line was removed, so Tony no longer has anything invading his body. Tony said "I feel free."
A Petscan will be done in 2 weeks, and will be used as a baseline for future scans.
Tony will need to have a Petscan done every 3 months for the next 2 years and he has a 50/50 chance of re-occurance. We are moving forward with the attitude that the cancer will not return.
We finally got an answer to the burning question; "what caused the nerve damage to Tony's foot and arm?" It turns out it is what we thought all along. Cancer. It is rare....but 3% of the people,with high-grade Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, will suffer nerve damage. Apparently the cells change and turn into the same type of cell that causes Muscular Dystrophy. Tony's response was, "only 3%... lucky me!"
Again, we were told, that it depends on the degree of damage to the nerve as to how much normal function, if any, will return. It can take a year to 18 months to see any improvement. After 18 months, it will be as good as it's ever going to be.
Tony is riding a stationary bike for 15 minutes per day, and is working up to 1/2 hour per day, as recommended by his physical therapist. Tony lifts free weights to try and strengthen his arms, is eating well and taking vitamins and supplements. We hope to meet with a nutritionist at UCLA, later this month. Tony weighed in at 177 pounds, yesterday. His goal is to weigh 215. The doctor said Tony should begin to gain weight in 4 weeks, and his hair will start coming back in 3 months.
This is my last post on this blog. I cannot fully express our gratitude for all of the prayers and caring thoughts we received from all of you. There were days that your comments, e-mails, cards and text messages kept me lifted up spiritually. I truly could not have kept myself together without those kind, caring, loving messages. As my sister, Dana, said recently...."Jesus was here just once...it's thru one another that we still have Him and see Him." So true.
In this Advent season, as we celebrate the birth of our Savior, we wish all of you
a joyful Christmas.
Love,
Patrice and Tony
