CT results

Jon had his CT scan and we got results from Dr. Einhorn today.   I will tell you everything we know.  There are 3 remaining spots.  One is larger on the right side.  The other 2 are very small on the left side.  The plan is to do surgery to remove the larger one in 4 weeks.  The next steps will depend on the pathology report.  If it shows scar tissue, they will assume the small spots are scar tissue and leave them alone.  If it shows live cancer, they will go back in and remove the small spots.  We do not have a surgery date yet but looks like it will be right before Thanksgiving.  Obviously this is not the news we wanted to hear.  But at the same time, we knew this was a possibility.

The surgery will be done up here at IU Hospital.  We had a couple of people comment that this thoracic surgeon is "the best."  People come from all over to use him and him and Dr. Einhorn have worked together for a while.  Another confirmation that Jon made the right decision when choosing to come to IU Cancer Center and be treated by Dr. Einhorn!

GOOD NEWS:

Jon has been completely discharged from the BMT Unit.  They say he is doing wonderful!  We are GOING HOME!  My sister is flying in Wednesday night.  We are packing up Thursday and leaving out Friday morning.  We will drive half way Friday and the rest on Saturday.  Jon will fly home on Saturday and we will all get home at the same time!  We are SOO super excited.  All of us except Luke can hardly wait.  Luke is conflicted.  He LOVES the adventures we have had in Indianapolis and doesn't want to leave. But at the same time he says he can't wait to get back to play in his playroom!  Ryan just wants to get back to go swimming (when we left it was still HOT).  And Emma Kate wants to get back to ride her ATV.  I just want to get back and prop my feet up on our new couch and enjoy DVR again.  And Jon just wants to go to the beach.  It's the simple things!

Ryan has had croup and he also ran a pretty high fever for a couple of days/nights so that was stressful and I got no sleep!   Luke started wheezing a week and a half ago so we have been doing lots of breathing treatments to keep him from having an asthma attack.  Emma Kate has been the least sick but has had a pretty bad cough.  This was all going on when Jon's counts were literally almost non-existent.    God totally protected him and he literally started getting a cold the day after his counts started coming back up!  And so far he has been able to fight it pretty well and has only a mild cold.


Prayer request:

1.  Pray the surgeon will be able to get the remaining mass with a scope.  It will be much less invasive than actual surgery to open the chest.

2.  Pray that all they will find is scar tissue.

3.  Safe travels home.

4.  Jon's body will continue to recover.  Although BMT Unit (Bone Marrow Transplant) thinks he is doing great, if Jon had blood work done it would be alarming for a "normal" person.  It is a new normal but his numbers compared to that of a healthy person are still not good at all.

5.  Jon is weary, tired, and completely drained.  This is very hard news for him to handle emotionally.  Pray he will get recharged at home before his surgery.

Jon asked me today if we would make it through this, and I said YES!!  Because we are...

GODSTRONG!!