Our first stop was the Lymphoma and Myeloma Center. All these doctors see every day all day long is patients with these two types of cancer. As we pulled up to the building and our entrance, entrance #2 this is what we saw:
Yes! The entrance to our clinic is on Bates Street!! While MD Anderson's address is on Holcombe, there are several entrances (as you can imagine because the place is HUGE) but the entrance that Allen goes in to see his doctor is on BATES STREET! I have to take that as a sign we were meant to come here. I just don't believe in coincidences.
We wove through the maze that is the hospital and found where we see supposed to be. After more basic tests for Allen, piles of paperwork, and a little waiting, it was our turn. We came armed with all the information The Cancer Ninja and Nurse Bigelow filled us with, and I really think that helped. I felt like the nurse practitioner who met with us understood that we meant business and we had brought a lot of hard hitting questions. Then we got to meet with Dr. Serious--the latest addition to Team All-En. He was really good, to the point, and he knew his stuff. There was no joking with Dr. Serious. He had reports and numbers and lots of answers. Everything he told us fell right in line with The Cancer Ninja, and ultimately Dr. Serious agreed on the same regimen as him. That was such a relief. Allen said afterwards that he thought Dr. Serious was bored with his case because he kept showing us the latest number and drilling into us how positive Allen's prognosis was. Kind've like, "Ok guys. He is going to be ok. I deal with WAY worse stuff than this. Be happy you have Hodgkins," but in a nice way of course. Probably the MOST important thing Dr. Serious did for us was to make a personal call to the radiologist there and set up an appointment for us that afternoon.
So after Allen had TEN more vials of blood drawn, we headed to lunch, and then to the radiology appointment. All the radiology department we were sent to does all day, every day is deal with Lymphoma cases. They see TONS of the type of Hodgkins Allen has. That is super sad, yet comforting at the same time because they are so well trained to deal with it. And, when it comes to radiating Allen's chest (where there happens to be major organs like his lungs and heart) that are so important, we need someone who is super skilled in this art-form. Enter Dr. Smarty Pants. Wow-talk about owning a room. I could feel the confidence and knowledge ooze from her. We were told about specialized machines and techniques that are only used at MD Anderson and a couple other major institutions in the US. These allow the doctors to pinpoint the area being radiated even MORE precisely. Dr. Smarty Pants also told us that with radiation only 3% of patients have a reoccurrence. That was an impressive number! There are still a lot of risks though, so we will definitely be discussing all of this with our beloved Cancer Ninja in the next couple of weeks.
Before we left for the day, we were also able to coordinate with the doctors back at home and set up Allen's first chemo session. It will be Wednesday October 17th--his birthday. While chemo certainly isn't the birthday present he wanted this year, it will guarentee that he has MANY, MANY more birthdays to come. That makes it his most important birthday ever!
We also had the pleasure of meeting Aunt Barby and Uncle James for dinner! It was great to see them and catch up. Friday we fly back home and meet up with Honey and the kids. We have missed the kids SO much and can't wait to see them and snuggle them! At the same time, we know that means the big talk about Daddy is coming up. We will be talking with them about everything on Saturday. There will be a VERY important blog post coming up on them and how to handle all of this news when you see them. So, please stay tuned for that. It is so important to us to be honest with the kids, but also to manage their feelings in the way that is best for each of them.
Well, that was a novel! We are so thankful that we can keep everyone up to date using the blog. Remember, you can email Allen directly if you want. (His address is on the sidebar on the blog. If you view the blog from a cellular device, you have to click "View Web Version" at the bottom to see the sidebars.) Oh, and Team All-En bracelets arrive this week and t-shirts probably next week. Watch the sidebar on the blog for information. Most importantly, THANK YOU again to everyone!!
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