Many changes

Hello again! I am terribly sorry that it has been so long since my last post. I'm afraid that I don't have much of an excuse. I probably can't remember everything that's taken place since my last post, but I'll try to hit some of the high points for you.

The experimental drug therapy has been going quite well. I spent quite a bit of time at Karmanos in Detroit during the first 3-4 weeks that I started going there. I have to go back to the doctors there every now and then so they can check up on my bloodwork, etc. They sure don't miss a chance to draw blood! The doctors there are nice, but we miss the U of M system which seemed a little more patient friendly. But we've learned to bring reading material and expect to spend the whole morning there. We're quite happy to be there though - still really glad that I was able to get into a trial there.

The drug I've been taking is simply two pills that I take every evening. I must say that this is more that a little better than sitting in the old infusion chair for hours at a time. Overall the side effects haven't been too bad, although they can be unpredictably bad on occasion. For example, I started developing fairly intense abdominal pains after Thanksgiving. And no, I didn't eat THAT much turkey! These pains weren't getting better so we called the doctor and ended up having to go into Karmanos and have more bloodwork and some x-rays. We ended up scratching a planned trip back up to the U.P. because of the whole ordeal. They decided that it could be a combination of pill side effects and possible shrinkage of tumors in my abdomen that was causing the pain. On top of this, I threw out my back while bending over to pick up a Kleenex off of the floor (yes, a Kleenex). So I was in pretty rough shape for about a week and a half or so. But I'm feeling much better now, although my stomach is still a little off - most likely from the drugs.

It has seemed like the lump on my neck may be shrinking. The doctors were fairly convinced of this and a number of other people commented on it as well. It's hard for me to know whether it is or not. I get frustrated because I can't tell a difference on a day to day basis. And I suppose I get impatient as well - I just want the lump to be gone now- all the tumors for that matter. But some progress is better than none and the doctors do seem to think that something is going on in terms of shrinkage of the tumor(s). We'll find out more about this in a few weeks. I have a CT scan on Christmas Eve so that will show what's going on inside of me. We're sure hoping to hear some good news!

We finally made some major decisions in terms of where we're going to live. We have been living with Jess's parents for about the past four months (except for a few weeks in the U.P.). It has been great being close to our doctors and being with family, but we were really needing our own place, our belongings, and we needed to start a home together. We really haven't had our own place since we got married back in May. We were down here getting transfusions for a month. Then we went to Traverse City to work for the summer but that got cut short with my recurrence. Anyway, it was incredibly hard to make any sort of decision with all of the uncertainty surrounding my condition. We finally made a decision though.

We decided to move to Ohio near where my parents and sister and brother-in-law live. It will be much closer to my doctors (3 hrs vs. 10 hrs) so we can actually be at home most of the time. We have purchased a house in Mechanicsburg, Ohio, and will be able to move in in a week or so. We also put our house in Hancock up for sale and believe it or not have a signed purchase agreement already - pending appraisal and inspection. So we're hoping that will all go through. We didn't even know if we should try to sell it during the winter because of the slow housing market.

We're heading up to the U.P. tomorrow, will be packing up this week, and moving next weekend. Crazy stuff. It all seemed to happen quite quickly once we finally decided what we were going to do. It's hard for me to know how I really feel about all of this. It will be great to be close to my family and have our own place. It really will - I am looking forward to this immensely. On the other hand, this move is going to be hard on me. I love the U.P. and I think Michigan is a great place to be. I'm giving up on going back to work for a really cool organization with great coworkers - at least for the near future. I'm leaving MTU and I still haven't finished up my Ph.D. - I will though! I think maybe I just wish I could be doing this all on my own terms, not doing it because of the difficult situation I've somehow found myself in. I have to admit that it all makes me very sad. I know that this is what we had to do though. I'm just praying that everything will work out, Jess can find a job where we're moving, and that I can get better as we set up our new home together.

I guess that's all for now. I will try to update this much sooner this time! I know you have all been thinking and praying for me even though I haven't been keeping in touch. Thank you so much. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season with family and friends!!!

Much love,
Brian