Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Hello to All - We are trying to get back to "normal". But today is a huge and special day, BO's BIRTHDAY! We have made it another year. What a year to celebrate! Thank you everyone for the help, prayers, love and support!
Love to All
Christi, Addi and Bo - Birthday Bo

Friday, January 23, 2009

Hello - to the point. Friday is our day. We didn't get the news we wanted, but I would have to say it is the next best thing. Dr. Crawford, being the wonderful man that he is, took it upon himself to consult with the best at Duke. Dr. Kirkpatrick agrees with the findings in Radiology that the first spot was a stroke, there is a word for it, funny to, I will have to look it up. The second one he agrees is still "suspicious". That word makes me panic, but my understanding is that anything they cannot rule definitively on is considered suspicious. The spot is millimeters small and there isn't a definitively conclusion. But, not to get our hopes up, after conferring with Dr. Kirkpatrick and Bo's other team of doctors, Dr. Palmer and such it is an agreement they feel it is highly unlikely it is cancer. As told to us before, it is rare for Bo's cancer to go anywhere outside of his lungs. With all the complications Bo had during the transplant they agree it is more probable that it is another stroke, infection or complication from his procedure. With that being said they all agree now is not the time for Bo to undergo brain surgery. We first want Bo at full optimal health and in the meantime we will take the wait and see method. We will have another MRI in 6 weeks and see what is happening. It does appear as I mentioned to be extremely small and superficial, so if surgery is needed it should be an "easier one to do". (Is that possible?)
So we didn't get the complete news we wanted, but I will take wait and see over the other any day. Bo's odds haven't always been good (I always ask him why he couldn't have just won the lottery with things that are happening to him aka cancer, transplant problems and such, but maybe 2009 will be our year to celebrate)
Thank you so much for the prayers. Our next visit with Duke is in 2 weeks to see Dr. Palmer, he takes care of Bo after transplant, and then 4 weeks from that we see Dr. Crawford again with another MRI. Who would have thought a UNC fan and a KU fan would love Duke so much...
Love to All
Christi, Bo, and Addi

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Thank you all so much for helping us through this trying time. We still have not heard anything further from the doctors. We are currently at the mercy of Dr. Kirkpatrick and his opinion, which may not get us any further, but will hopefully shed some light on the situation. I am sorry for not having any answers for you all, I know you anxiousness.
Another night for prayers and maybe Friday will be our day.
Love to All
Christi, Bo and Addi

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Hello - We just got a call from Susan and we are still in the same boat of waiting, but she felt like we were leaning a couple different ways. Here is where we stand - the front larger of the 2 spots appear, per radiology, to be a stroke that occurred sometime during this ordeal. It appears to be minor in the fact that we haven't noticed anything physically different in Bo. They are leaning that way for that one, the second one they could not definitively say. They are hoping that it appears to be another small stroke, but truly gave no opinion on that one. So as of now we are leaning 1 of 2 spots as a stroke.
Right now we are going to wait until we hear from Susan again. They forward our MRI to a Dr. Kirkpatrick who specialists in Radiation Oncology to get his opinion on the "spots." The first as I mentioned they are leaning towards a stroke the second is the one that we might have to take to the next level. If that happens that means they might biopsy it, they might take the wait and see method or maybe he can tell us. He has opened the email, just no response yet.
So in quoting Susan, "Keep praying for good news. Try to get some rest and I will let you know as soon as we know anything."
Thank you everyone and keep the faith
Love
Christi, Bo and Addi
Still no word. I do have faith that Susan will call us as soon as she hears anything. With Monday being a holiday and Tuesday half the appointments cancelled, I can only imagine what today is like. No excuse, but they will call. No news is good news right? Gives us more time to pray.
Love to All
Christi, Bo and Addi
I just wanted to let you know that we have not heard anything yet, Duke time. As soon as we hear anything, we will let you know. Thank you for taking the time to say a prayer and keeping us in your thoughts.
Love to All
Christi, Bo and Addi

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Hello to All - We finally made it back home after a long doctor day. We started off at 7:00 am fighting the snow flurries and making it to the hospital to have blood work done. We then proceeded to Radiology for a CT scan (whole body) and Bone scan (whole body) that took about 3 hours for the injection and then the scan. We watched the inauguration and the off the to the doctor. We got good news and then some well, not good news...maybe the better word is some concerning news. First the good - Bo's lungs looked great and his blood work came back fine. We were so excited about his lungs that the second piece of news caught us a little off guard. (The bad news) The doctors found 2 spots on Bo's brain. At this time we are unsure what they are and they could be numerous things. We immediately went to get a brain MRI and we are still awaiting the results, probably tomorrow morning. Dr. Crawford didn't want to speculate what these could be, but he did say possibly they could be "bruises (my term not his) after dealing with Bo's fluctuating blood pressure from his transplant, they could be some sort of infection, numerous other things we didn't go into detail for, or the dreaded "C" word. I feel like I have already asked so much from everyone, but as we are waiting word will you please pray for some good news, pray that we have the strength to wait for this news and strength to handle whatever news that comes forth. We will always fight the good fight and remember to stay strong. So for one more night, ignorance is bliss.
Love to All
Christi, Bo and Addi
PS on a side note, we are sorry for not being able to tell everyone personally about the appointment today. Right now we are cautiously going throughout of evening praying for good news. I will post as soon as we hear anything.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Hello to All - What a cold weekend. Just perfect for not coming out of our pj's. I know I need to stop writing that we are doing that...but you have to love winter. It reminds me of Kansas, except no snow and no negative 10 wind chill. Tons of playing inside and just hanging out.
Things here are good, we did receive a call that we are going up to Duke next Tuesday to visit with Dr. Crawford and Susan about how Bo is doing and to run a ton of scans. I guess it is time to get back to fighting cancer. Crazy to think that we have had a nice 8 month hiatus from worrying about cancer. I probably would have picked something else other than surviving a double lung transplant twice, but whatever it takes. It will be another long day of testing, blood tests, bone injection, CT scan, bone scan and then a visit with Dr. Crawford. We are expecting them to find nothing, praying also, but hopefully they can help shed the light on why Bo is so tired. His tiredness most likely is normal, but I would like to rule out other complications. Easy to say now, when they first called, I immediately panic and think they know something we don't, (not true) then I think I don't know if we can handle cancer right now. Now that time has passed, I know we can handle cancer, which I do not think there is any, but it probably doesn't help to hide your head in the "snow" and ignore it. We realize now that doesn't make it go away. So off we go to see what we are fighting, but more likely preventing from coming back. So long story short, Tuesday is a BIG day for us.
Until Tuesday, ignorance is Bliss.
Love to All
Christi, Bo and Addi

Friday, January 09, 2009

First Hello, Second Sorry. There is no excuse not to write and thank everyone everyday for what you all do for us. Helping, praying, thinking and supporting so always thank you. What have we been doing? Hmmmm
First my family came to visit for a bit, Addi always loves seeing her PapaCow and Grandma. She is very taken with Cousin Ami and Aunt Cyndi also. Anyone that will let her paint your toes is a keeper in her book. Then have been trying to get back on schedule since the holidays, Bo, Addi and myself. Getting up in time for preschool, Bo has been working on getting a schedule down and then extending his time working out and being at work. Right now his biggest obstacle is overcoming his tiredness. Everything is still exhausting, not as exhausting, but hard work. God is truly teaching him patience, he can move no faster than allowed and for all you that know Bo personally, patience is something he has little of and even less of moving slower.
This week we also met with our dear friend Sue. It was amazing to see her and her strength. She is an inspiration to see her carry through. For those of your following, Dear Bob seems to be occupying his time, I miss his hugs and jokes, but I hope soon to see with my own eyes that he is doing well. Marilyn is home and learning to adjust to life there. She is forever the fighter and is regaining control of how she would like her life to run, with strength and grace of course.
This week should hopefully be another of "normal". Bo is feeling better from his cold, my heart still skips a beat every time he coughs, but I try to calm myself that Bo will get sick and he will get better. Addi is all about the Panthers right now, dear God, if she ever met Steve Smith in person, with his jersey on, I think my 3 year old might faint. Tonight her make believe friend was Steve, he comes to the door, calls us on the phone, scores touchdowns and talks with his best friend Jake. She is a riot and should be fun tomorrow night during the Panthers game (at least half of the game)
Love to All
Christi, Bo and Addi