We had our first appointment at Northwestern today. I knew we were feeling frustrated about this appointment so I was praying that God would surprise us, make this appointment beneficial. And that prayer was answered. We were impressed and pleased with our experience today. The PA and doctor were both friendly, helpful and spent a lot of time with us. The doctor explained the transplant process and the pros and cons of an auto (self) vs allo (donor) stem cell transplant. The doctor was very thorough and answered our questions. And he was hopeful and positive during the whole conversation. He was still honest in that we are essentially dealing in "risk management." Hopefully this treatment will get Nate many years cancer free, but chemotherapy can have long term side effects. As he reminded us though, the hope is to reach that place where maybe we will have to deal with long term side effects, but Nate will not have cancer.
Next week Nate will have a PET scan and a bone marrow biopsy. We will meet with Northwestern on February 9 to discuss the test results and decide on an auto or allo transplant. The decision hinges on whether the scan and biopsy show no evidence of disease or not. We are now experiencing "scan-xiety."
We do appreciate that no matter what the test results show, the doctor seems confident that there will be options. For the next couple of weeks, please pray for no evidence of disease!
-Stacy
Praying! Thanks for the timely update. We're always thinking of you and Nate and family.
ReplyDeleteThanks for keeping we prayer warriors up to date. So thankful for the healing hand of Christ, both for our physical and emotional well being.
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