Change is Inevitable

When I last posted, it was Monday evening.  It is now Wednesday evening - just 48 hours later.
Here is how those 48 hours have gone!

When I arrived at the hospital Tuesday morning, fully expecting to bring Lothaire home with me, the team of doctors came in to the room and said that unfortunately, Lothaire did not qualify for the study since he had already taken doses of prednisone that were different from what the study required.
Back to Plan A - and Lothaire would not be coming home just yet!

The chemo plan for him is DA EPOCH - here is my simplified version:  4-5 hours administration of a bio therapy drug called Rituxan, followed by 96 hours of the chemo regimen, concluded by the administration of cyclophosphamide (spell THAT without looking!) which is the drug that apparently often brings on severe nausea.  And that is when he gets to come home.  This occurs every 21 days - the number of treatments depending on the response of the cancer.  Usually somewhere between 3 and 8.

Fortunately, they had not removed the PICC line, so after signing some paperwork and explaining that the first drug administered, Rituxan, could have some crazy side effects, they hooked him up and began the treatment.  This was about 5:45 PM.

Crazy side effects - rigors.  I can talk about this now because it is over and he is okay.  But within 10 minutes of the onset of the therapy, Lothaire began shaking uncontrollably.  Anticipating that possibility, the nurse had doses of demerol on hand.  It took two doses, after pausing the therapy, and lots of blankets, but he finally became calm again.  They started up once more and bumped it up slowly, and he tolerated it well after that.


Son in law, Shane, came to visit just before the treatment began.  Lothaire was
ready to get going!!!





Ready, Set, Go!  Smiling - not knowing what was just around the corner (the rigors)



As soon as the bag was empty, they connected the chemo formula.  No side effects.  I went home about midnight, assured that he was going to be fine.  And he was.
When I returned the next morning, here is what I found:):




He was up and showered and ready to do laps around the floor!  Our daughter, Chelsea, had slit tshirts on the right side - where the picc line is - and attached velcro.  No more hospital gowns for our stylin' man!  He felt great and we took our 5 laps, then settled in to our computers.

I must tell you how much your emails and messages and Facebook posts and responses to the blog mean to him and to me.  Your love and your concern and your prayers help to sustain us in a very real way!  We don't have time to respond to all of them, but we read and treasure each and every one!

The journey ahead is promising.  Yes, he will probably lose his hair and a little weight.  But he is a fighter and a man of faith - knowing that he is in the Lord's hands and that all will be well, regardless of the outcome.

WE CAN DO HARD THINGS!  And we know that each one of you have hard things to deal with in your lives!  As we seek help from the Lord, He strengthens us and helps us to understand.

We are so grateful for the feelings that arise during this Easter week - contemplating the hard things that our Savior did for us.  We love him, and want to be more like him, and marvel at the comfort, the mercy, the peace, and the hope that his wondrous atoning sacrifice offers to each of us.



Our kids worked together to create this precious poster to have in Lothaire's hospital room.
Each picture filled with love and joy!  How we love our posterity, and how grateful we are to know that families can be eternal, through the Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ!