Round 4 Begins and Some New Information

Well I've got another catheter in my arm and the Campath is pumping. Its another round of chemotherapy after a day of some interesting news. Everything is going well in the hospital so far, except for my heart rate registering at about 225. WHAT! I guess something was wrong with the machine, because a minute later it showed a healthy 98 beats per minute.
I had a PET scan at NIH this morning before my clinic appointment with my research doctors. I was heading into this appointment with faith that the PET would reveal I am in remission. No problem with some confidence. Unfortunately that is not yet the case, although the doctors were positive about the results they saw. The cancer activity continued to decrease, although there is still some residual tumor cells surrounding the lung and in the mediastinum. The lead doctor used his fingers to demonstrate how large the three areas with cell activity are, and it appears that there is very little. However, I've already learned with this disease that any cancer is too much.
So the treatment plan that I'm on will be undergoing a bit of a change. The first thing is that the doctors want me to undergo six rounds of chemotherapy rather than just four. Since I am already starting my fourth round of chemo this time around, adding two more isn't that big of a deal. It will delay the bone marrow transplant for a short period of time, but it is more important that I head into the transplant completely cancer free than not. The other change is that the doctors will add Rituximab to my list of chemo drugs. My treatment the first time around was EPOCH-R, the R being for rituximab, so this isn't anything new they will be giving me. The idea is that although there were not any CD-20 cells in my biopsy back in July, there may be some residual CD-20 stained cancer cells somewhere in my body. Using Rituximab, a CD-20 anitbody, should help ensure I get complete remission of this crazy tumor in my body. I'm continuing to get Campath, so my treatment abbreviation is changing from EPOCH-C to EPOCH-CR.
So this sounds like more stuff that I have to go through, but Kate, my parents, and I aren't viewing this as negative at all. I think we were all pleased to hear that the cancer is still responsive to the chemotherapy. It is easy to fear that the drugs aren't working, but this isn't something that crosses my mind. I have complete faith that this treatment is working, and that I will be ready and healthy for the bone marrow transplant. The new timetable to begin the transplant looks to be in early to mid December. Thats about a month later than what I was thinking before, but thats fine with me. It means I should get a little more time working before taking my extended, medical induced vacation! Unfortunately I'll probably end up in the hospital over Christmas for the second year in a row, which is disappointing. However, I should be able to have a Thanksgiving at home...I reckon I'll just have to eat and drink enough on Turkey day to make up for missing Christmas at home.
Speaking of the transplant, we got some good news about that today as well. We don't have a single match, but out of the 10 people who received further testing, three of them were 10 out of 10 matches. So it looks like I'll have my donor in place to start the transplant on time. I don't know if they do any further testing to narrow down which potential donor would be asked first, but my Dad shared that the youngest, male donor will usually be selected.
So today has been one where my family and I received plenty of new, good information about my treatment. I wish I didn't have this disease and that I could be doing everything I love without hassle. However, thats not what I've been dealt, and I just need to continue living each day as best I can. Thanks to everybody around the country and the world who has been supporting my family and I through your thoughts and prayers. I know I speak for my family when I say that we are extremely grateful and consider ourselves blessed.