Mid-Week Schtuff

Things are getting really, really close to going public over at my guitar effects site, RAILhead Effects. I have the vast majority of product detail pages finished up (they're offline to the public), and all that remains after that is final product shots and finishing the demo goodies. The adage "good things come to those who wait" should be the banner for any business, and we've been meticulously planning our grand opening for over a year — and I'm pretty dadgum confident that things will go well.

••••••••

I'm still getting some email from you guys (and gals), asking about the medical stuff I was talking about a few weeks ago. I was being intentionally vague until we knew what was happening, and now that we *do* pretty much know what's happening, I can fully let the cat out of the bag.

My Dad has cancer.

Man, it sucks to type that.

I'll post more about this in the coming days, but the nutshell version is that Dad has Large Cell Type B Lymphoma. We were afraid he had lung cancer or mesothelioma from his asbestosis, but a biopsy of a fast-appearing tumor that was removed from his side gave us the good news it was neither of those two cancers.

For weeks, hundreds of people have been praying for him and our family, and God has been compassionate and merciful — and we're crazy thankful for that. The pieces of this puzzle have been falling into place in such a manner that there's no doubt that God has been at work — from tipping us off with the sudden "cyst" so many weeks ago, all the way to providing care for Dad at M.D. Anderson with the top minds in the cancer field. Everything in relation to this situation has been touched by God, and it's been awesome to see Him work — and I'll post about all that later.

As far as the cancer is concerned, we had a visit with the oncologist (Dr. Nathan Fowler), and his preliminary diagnosis is that Herman Hospital did, in fact, identify the cancer correctly. Of course, MDACC will perform their own tests and confirmations — but Dad's presenting the classic symptoms of this cancer. The good news is that, while Type B large Cell Lymphoma is highly aggressive, it's eagerness to replicate makes it weak and highly susceptible to therapy. This means that Dad has a near 60% of going into full remission, and an 85% to 90% plus chance of being able to manage the cancer with sporadic treatments as needed. Those, my friends, are tremendously positive percentages! To quote Dr. Fowler, "the odds are stacked highly in [Dad's] favor."

We meet with Dr. Fowler again next week, and he will then give us his official diagnosis and plan for therapy. He said the typical regimen is R-CHOP every 3 weeks, with a total of 6 treatments. We'll know more details next week, though.

So there you have it: my Dad has cancer, and we're thankful it's a cancer with a butt that's readily kicked. We're blessed to have the best of the best working on this, and we're looking forward to being yet another case of cancer being made history at M.D. Anderson. That said, please continue praying for healing and strength and continued good news from the doctors. Stay tuned for more...

Posted by on 07/02 at 03:56 PM

Comments:

On 07/03 (09:14 AM), Jim said...

On 07/03 (09:15 AM), Jim said...

Add a Comment: