Bad News

Hello Everyone, This is Bri's Mom.

It has been a long while since I posted. However, I am reaching out in a time of need with a request for prayer. Brianne was really doing well and preparing for her bone marrow transplant set for April 9th. She has been undergoing all the preparation, tests and procedures. Last week we had a very rough day with the radiologist upon hearing the finality of her not ever being able to conceive a child due to the chemo and radiation that is coming. We grieved and have been practicing acceptance in the light of what we are hoping for.... a cure. We hold on to Hope.Yesterday, Bri had a bone marrow biopsy and the doctor expressed some concerns they discovered. He called us today with the results/confirmation....The cancer is back....... We were told she will not be able to proceed with transplant on the 9th, she has to undergo another type of treatment and will be admitted to Emory tomorrow. In asking the doctor what happened he explained with her chromosome abnormality, the prognosis has always been poor, no cure with chemo alone, therefore transplant is the only possible cure. They just could not predict the very fast rate of return while we were preparing for transplant. Obviously, it is a very fast replicating cancer. The new treatment plan is intensive 5 day chemotherapy in-patient with a different type of chemo and very close monitoring, then allowing her body systems to recover and gain strength. As soon as she is cleared (which could be a matter of several weeks) then move to transplant as soon as possible. The requirements for transplant are: Must be in remission and system (organs) ready (recovered from effects of chemo). We are all shocked as things had been going so smoothly and this was the last thing we expected. Fear has gripped me and is wreaking a little havoc in my thoughts. We had been told how serious her diagnosis was, the prognosis and treatment expectations but everything was going so well and I just felt like everything was going to be okay. I do believe that it will be okay but as I said I have been jolted into the reality of the relentless disease of cancer.
All this being said, I am asking for your prayers, I thank you in advance for them. Again, I thank you for all your support and prayers. By the way, even though it is hard at times to hold on to Hope, I know I can rest in the assurance that Hope holds on to us, He always has and He always will. Each of you are a part of that same Hope and I thank you for being there for us. Bless You all. Will share more later.

A Final Date (Hopefully)

I got "good" news yesterday morning. The donor has finally confirmed and they have reset my transplant date. The new date is April 9th (well, five days after that). This pushes everything back, but at least this time it is final. I start back next week going to the doctor every couple of days and I have an entire day of testing coming up. I wish it was a test over the material that has just been taught, but no. There is no way to prepare for these test. A day of EKG's, ECHO's, pulmonary function tests, physical, CT scans, blood tests, bone marrow biopsy's, and lumbar punctures (spinal taps). All of this in one day...aren't I lucky. I hope that things will go smoothly. I'd really be grateful if you could keep me in your thoughts and prayers on that day (March 18). Other than fighting the cancer my life has been pretty much the same as it has been. I have joined a writing group up in Atlanta. I had forgotten how much I loved to write and share my thoughts with others. There is a safety in exposing yourself to strangers. We have fun. All the other writers are older than me and have much more experience than I, but we still learn from each other. :) I love it. I have some fun news. If you haven't seen me in a while I guess this won't be as exciting for you, but I'm sharing none-the-less. My hair is growing back! Not just on my head, but my eyebrows are coming back and I have a tiny little fuzz on my forearms... no leg hair, armpit hair, or eyelashes yet. :( But I'm super excited about my hair growing back. I'm not longer Lex Luther (the Kevin Spacey version). The funny thing is that it seems to be coming back lighter. Hmmm...could we have a blonde Indian on our hands...?

Today in Atlanta

Mom and I got up at 5 this morning to make my 8 am appointment in Atlanta at the clinic. Yuck! The traffic was awful and the weather seemed to match. Needless to say we ended up being 40 minutes late (that's right 3 hours to drive from Macon to Atlanta). So good stuff going on. The doctor said I'm looking really healthy. My counts are great...and I'm doing great for pre-transplant. My tentative date for Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) is March 19th. We are waiting on confirmation from the donor and until we have that everything is tentative. We will all be more secure when it is all set. I think the whole family is anxious (I know I am). They say that the BMT is really anti-climactic. Big build up and follow up but the actual transplant is really simple; just like a blood transfusion (and I've lost count of how many of those I've had not to mention all the units of platelets I've received). The nurses call the transplant date your "other birthday." It's amazing. Someone out there is giving me the chance to keep going. God blesses. I'm feeling really great. I have been walking lots lately. I thing I'm starting to settle into this whole thing. I'm not as anxious. I'm realizing what a huge opportunity this is for God to teach me something and to allow Him to work in my life. I am so thankful. I'm thankful for all of ya'lls support, prayers, and continued thoughts. I pray that I am able to one day pass the blessing you all have been to me on to others. Thank you again and much love.

Hello all. I am sorry that it has been such a long time since I've posted. I really have slacked off here lately. I just returned from a two day trip to NC. I loved every second of my visit. Joshua drove me up to Sylva (aka James's and Judy's) on Monday and then on Wednesday night after youth group (8:30 pm) we left and drove back here to Macon. I got to see some very wonderful and special people while I was up there and it reminded me how much I missed living up in NC. I can't wait till this is all behind me and I can go back home. :) This trip was very different from my previous NC trip b/c I simply got to visit. No fussing with IHS (Indian Health Services). :) Hooray! The doctor's have said that March 19th is the big day for my transplant. Everyday that passes I seem to get more and more anxious. I really don't know how to react to everything that has happened over the past several months. It seems as though it has all gone by so quickly that I haven't had time to figure anything out. Thank you again for all your continued prayers and thoughts.

Update

Joshua reporting:

So it's been about 2 weeks since our last update. Sorry about the lack of updates and information.

They've scheduled Brianne for a bone marrow transplant on March 10th and the donor is a 10 out of 10 match which is really good. They're working on finalizing all the details with the donor and will be running a bunch of tests on Brianne in preparation for the transplant. The doctors have stopped giving Brianne chemo. so she can gain some strength and stamina in preparation for the transplant as it should be pretty grueling. She's also taken the last of the steroids she had been given which will give her a better mood as the steroids tend to make her irritable (I don't know if she wanted me to say that, but it's true). Getting off both chemo and steroids is really good b/c of her mood and strength.

In other good news, Brianne was approved by Emory's charity care program which will help to cover most of the expenses of the hospitalization and treatments.

So we have two big praises: date for transplant and money so that's great, but keep her in your prayers as anticipation, fear, and apprehension build before the transplant day. Also pray that she'll be gaining physical strength and continuing to remain strong emotionally and spiritually. We're excited about having a transplant date and on the 14th of February we'll be meeting with the transplant team to discuss the transplant and "aftermath."

Joshua checking out

Is it actually happening?

As some of you may know, I am back up at Emory right now. I have spent the last 5 days here receiving even more chemo. (For those keeping track: Part 3A of the Hyper-CVAD) I was sitting here today thinking about how different life is for me now. I just could bring myself to believe that all of this is actually happening. Early this week I received a phone call from the transplant coordinator, Cheryl. She wanted to tell me that everything had been approved and after she found out what my doctors had planed for the rest of my treatment that she could set up all the appointments and dates for the bone marrow transplant, but until we have specifics all she could give me was an estimation. The tentative date for transplant will be March 10th. It is later than we were told originally, but we trust that God has a purpose for having us wait. I have to be honest. I don't think I've ever been so afraid in my life. When the doctors first told me that transplant will be my only option for a cure I was confused and unsure of what that really meant. Now that I've had time to mull that over in my head it seems to be all I can think about. This is it. This is my last chance. I am so scared right now. I want to say that I trust God through this all, but sometimes I just can't see Him. I just feel so alone. In my heart I know that truth, but isn't it okay to want the feelings too? Please continue praying. I need it now so very much.

It's been awhile...

I haven't posted in awhile and I'm sorry. :( This week has been really hard. This last round of chemo made 5 rounds and the medications build up in my system. My body is having trouble recovering. I've had to have whole blood and platelets about every third day since I got out of the hospital. These kind of things really discourage me. My white blood cell count still isn't rising. Hopefully the bone marrow transplant will be soon. We asked about it the last time I was in Atlanta with the doctor, he said we should be getting some answers soon. I hope that your new year has been wonderful. Thank you so much for your prayers and support.