Lymphoma?

Well a lot has happened these last few weeks and I left out some things that are important for you to know. 

First of all, last Wednesday they put Tracy on what they call TPN.  TPN to me is Total Protein and Nutrients and they utilize the PICC line, that is a permanent IV.  We were so glad to start it, as Tracy was not eating much. 

The second thing was a procedure called EGD.  This procedure originally found the lymphoma and a second EGD was ordered by Dr. Al-Hamad last Friday.  She wanted to run her own tests and also check for a disease that we had never heard of, and you probably haven’t either, Whipple’s Disease.  Once I looked it up, I wished I hadn’t, as Tracy has been ill the last 16 months, that’s all I have to say about that.

Monday was another day of tests for Tracy and also the day that Sarah and Kay returned home.  We were scheduled for a second spinal tap, and then a follow up MRI of her brain.  Both of these were to be compared to previous tests to help rule out any neurological problems as both tests were previously negative and all of the other doctors felt Tracy’s underlying problem was neurological.  The spinal was scheduled in her room at 7:30AM and 1:30PM for the MRI.  When I arrived at 7:00AM, the tests had flip-flopped.  The MRI was first at 8:15AM.  Tracy was not brought back to her room until a little before noon.  Sarah and Kay left right after she got back to the room.  It was very sad as they left, as Kay was not feeling well and didn’t want to get to close to Tracy.  The spinal tap was performed by Dr. Rossi shortly after noon and went off without a hitch.  Dr. Rossi told me that she had looked at the MRI and that it matched the previous MRI from almost 2 months earlier, Praise God.

Now back to the EGD I started today’s blog with.  Early Monday evening Dr. Al-Hamad came in with the results of the EGD.  Preliminary results of Whipple’s were negative, Praise God!  Then she told us she took 12 biopsies on Friday and that all of them were negative too, that means NO LYMPHOMA, let me type that again, NO LYMPHOMA!!  Praise God! Let me type that again too.  Praise God!  You want to talk about heads spinning, Drew and I were so stunned we were speechless for sometime.  Drew went into the family lounge to study while I stayed and prayed with Tracy as she slept.  Monday was also the day that Dr. Rossi and Dr. Al-Hamad started talking about transferring Tracy to the University of Michigan.  Drew and I went home energized.

Tuesday was a new day.  It started with Dr. Young, Dr. Rossi’s partner, saying that preliminary results from the spinal where negative and that she also thought we should be looking at moving on to U of M.  Then Dr. Folbe came in and said the same and that because there was previously a positive test for lymphoma he was still treating her for lymphoma even though all treatment was on hold until we could find the underlying diagnosis.  Later, Dr. Al-Hamad came in and said that she was confident in her results, but that she had also seen Dr. Dahlstedt’s results and agreed the Tracy had tested positive for lymphoma.  She also recommended looking at a transferring to U of M.  The last doctor we saw on Tuesday was Dr. Gowda, who also recommended transferring; only she was suggesting the Cleveland Clinic.  Needless to say Drew and I went home confused, as previous to Tracy’s current hospital stay, every doctor we saw recommended either the Mayo Clinic or Cleveland Clinic.  Never was there a mention of U of M.  As we talked with the doctors throughout the day all were very confident in U of M as to it doctors and it’s proximity.

Hopefully I can catch up and blog about both Wednesday and Thursday.

God Bless,

Rob  

Sarah and Kay Arrive from Indiana

Well Tuesday was a much better day.  Drew was very happy as Tracy recognized him, which made it good for me too!  We also added several new doctors to the team; Dr. Al-Hamad (GI), Dr. Richardson MD, Dr. Gowda (Infectious Disease), Dr. Potempa (Psychiatry), Dr. Huben (Oncology, Dr. Folbe’s partner) and we were off to kick some butt, real hard!  Drew and I went home energized.

Wednesday was a day we were looking forward to, as Tracy’s mother, Kay, and sister, Sarah, were to arrive.  However I got a call a little after 5 AM, that they needed me to help calm Tracy down, as she had been agitated since around 3:30 AM, in hopes I would help.  I did, but it was a rollercoaster of a day.  Kay and Sarah arrived around noon only to witness what was probably one of Tracy’s worst days.  Yet it was still nice to have family with us.  Wednesday also was a great day as 4 elders from our church came in the evening and prayed over Tracy. 

Afterwards, Drew, Sarah, and I went down to the lobby and met with Jon Everhart.  Drew went backup to say goodnight to Tracy as I had already prayed and said goodbye to her before I went down.  Shortly after Drew got there Tracy had another episode, so he called to say I needed to get upstairs quick.  When I got there she was very agitated.  I went to her side and held her as best as I could and prayed and comforted her until well after she had calmed down.  I continued to talk and pray with her until 12AM.  I would never trade those hours for anything, except to have back home.  I ended up spending the night with her in her room until 10AM Thanksgiving morning.

I went home to shower and head to the Lions game with Drew, which has become a tradition for us.  Kay and Sarah stayed with Tracy and texted updates to us throughout the game.  Tracy got better as the day progressed and Drew and were excited to see after what was a good game except for the Lion’s turnovers.  When got there she was tiring, but still awake.  I was also advised by the nurse in charge that they felt Tracy needed 24/7 supervision (a sitter) and the hospital would provide it, however one would not be need as long as someone from the family or trusted by the family was there. 

We got home and debriefed as Drew and I usually do, only this time with Kay and Sarah.  It was good to have extra eyes and minds to remember more of what had happened that day.

Friday was much the same, except the Lions game was replaced with an Oakland University basketball game with a better outcome!  Tracy also had and another scope around noon on Friday.  Drew and I left around 5:30 to eat and head up to the game.  We stopped by the hospital on the way home to visited and pray with Tracy around 9:30PM for a few minutes and then home again to debrief with Kay and Sarah.

Saturday was much the same, we had strung 3 good days together! Drew and I went home in the afternoon to watch the Civil War Game between the Oregon Ducks (our favorite college team) and the Oregon State Beavers.  However I fell asleep, luckily we recording it.  When I woke up they were midway thru the 3^rd quarter.  The Ducks were winning handedly, so off to the hospital again.  Everyone left around 8:30PM except for me, as I stayed behind to pray with Tracy.  As I started to leave she had another episode and the sitter and I calmed her down over the next half hour.  I got home around 9:30PM and ate some dinner, debriefed. 

Drew and I wanted to go to church on Sunday, so I got up early to see Tracy before church.  As I arrived the night nurse met me and told me that it had not been a good night as Tracy had episodes at midnight and again at 4AM, but was resting know.  As I approached her room, I could hear her and then saw she was having another episode.  I hollered to the nurse and ran in to help the two nurse’s aides that were trying to calm Tracy.  I wrapped her up in my arms and tried to hold to calm her down, this was so much different from Wednesday night and only lasted an hour before she calmed down.  But I was very scared, as they had medicated her with same drug that they used the previous Monday, the one-day we wanted to forget.

Kay and Sarah stayed with Tracy as Drew and I went to church.  Wow, it was weird being there without her.  I had gone to church without Tracy many times, but this was different.  I kept looking for her to come out from where the coat racks are, or the bathroom, or over sitting in a chair.  Never the less it was good to be in church with good friends and great teaching and singing.  Church got out around 12:30PM and Drew and didn’t leave for another hour.  As friend after friend wanted to hear about Tracy, finely I made to Renee and Adam Simon.  Renee had given her testimony in church sometime ago and it had stuck with Tracy.  We had talked many times about had Renee had persevered.  Tracy talks everyday, over and over, about Renee.  It was good to talk with them, Adam had lived through what I now was living.  He was such an encouragement to me.  Dr./Pastor Steve Colyer came by also and prayed with Adam, Drew and I, only to close and realize that Jon Lepinski had joined in.  Sunday ended strong as Tracy rested and we prepared for another MRI and spinal tap on Monday.

Hopefully I will get you more current tomorrow.

Thanks again for following and please pray for Tracy, as we trust in and look to God for more answers.

God Bless,

Rob

Drew's Update

            Hello everyone, this is Drew, it's my turn to do a blog. My dad wanted me to let you all know that the song of Friday was Strength Will Rise by Chris Tomlin, and on Saturday she woke up after a dream about the Kardashians.  Which is very odd because our family has never been known to "keep up" with them. I don't know how much you already know, because I've been neglecting to keep up with the blog myself, so I'll just start from Friday.

            Friday was the day that my mother was supposed to start treatment with Dr. Folbe.  They started her on a treatment of retuxin (I'm not the best at the spelling of my medical terminology) because they said that she was not being getting enough nutrients to handle the treatment of chemotherapy or something of that sort.  I went to school that day, but I was told that she responded to it very well, with the exception of some chills.  They said that the next time she was given this treatment, they would give her some tylenol to control that. That day at 4:00, I was scheduled to leave to go to Maumee Bay, Ohio with some students from our student ministry at church to put together some plans for the ministry and improve our leadership skills.  I was hoping that when I left, my mom would just be completely knocked out by the treatment so that I could know that nothing would happen while I was gone.  That's exactly what happened and it made it much easier to get some time off.  When I came back the next day at 4, she was still completely exhausted, which was great, but it made it hard to get any nutrition in her.

            Sunday morning, we all woke up pretty late and well rested.  I, waking up last, walked into my parents' bed room at about 11, hearing my mom recite numbers to my dad who was collecting them in his phone.  When I came in, my dad said, "God spoke to Mom last night".  God had presented to Mom a list, with two sides to the list.  On the left side, were things that were not going to be presented by God, and were to be watched out for by those to whom they applied.  For instance, my name was listed once on the left side with four or five numbers.  The numbers were on the left side, because she said they represented a college that I should not go to, because it was not what God wanted for me.  Then there were names of our closest friends on the right side, with thousands of numbers that she did not always name off because there was so much of them.  But the numbers that she did name off, she named off without any hesitation or second thought.  She knew these numbers.  It was something that was deeply planted into her thoughts, not an ordinary dream that you forget about as soon as you emerge into complete consciousness.  Once we were done, Dad called Dr. Folbe and Dr. Dahlstedt to talk about the nutrition, or lack there of, from the previous day.  The Dr. Folbe said that we should bring her to the hospital today, to see about alternative ways to get some nutrients into her, but Dr. Dahlstedt said to wait a day. So dad declined and said that we would be fine for the day, and that we would keep her for call Dr. Dahlstedt tomorrow.  That plan did not work.  Right after Dad got off of the phone, he took her into the bathroom to dress her, and she had a panic attack.  We called an ambulance, figuring that we might as well get her into the hospital now.  She was in the emergency room by 2, and things were getting better to the point that we thought she'd be out of the hospital by 7.  At 6, I had left to go home and finish my weekend's homework and run around to get some signatures for my National Honors Society application.  Right before I left to collect my signatures, Dad called and told me that he took her to the bathroom right before 7 just to get it done before leaving.  While in the bathroom, Mom had another violent panic attack, it looked like she would be spending the night.  I went back to the hospital later that night.  She was put in an oncology unit on the second floor and once I reached the room, Mom was grinning from ear to ear.  She was still shaking, but she was happy about something.  She told us that she was talking to God again, and she was responding as though she could understand him clearly.  Pretty soon, I was asked to leave the room.  I sat outside the room for about an hour and a half, waiting to be invited back in.  At about 10:45, Josh and Ed Roden arrived there and definitely helped me through the remaining half hour before I could reenter.  Once I was back in the room, Mom was completely herself with some extra shaking.  A very encouraging sign as me  and Dad left the hospital. 

            I'm not entirely sure of what happened on Monday, but it couldn't have been good.  Mom was completely not herself. All of Monday, she would not allow me to come close to her, she said I was mean, and half the time she didn't believe I was Drew. On top of a horribly stressful day in general, I couldn't handle it.  All me and Dad could do was cry, pray, and know that it was the medicine, not Mom. I can't really finish right now, but I'll make another update on Tuesday-Friday later tonight. I promise the good news is coming. We made them stop giving her the drug that made her how she was on Monday. Thanks for all the prayers, it definitely, definitely, definitely helps. And I'm serious too, because I used to have a nasty habit of saying I'd pray for people then forgetting about half the time, until this situation. Now I pray for everything I see. So we're serious. We need those prayers.

Drew

Friday's Update

Well it’s been a long couple of days since I last wrote, but it is Friday and I am currently writing to you from the treatment room in Dr. Folbe's office. Tracy is just about thru with her first treatment and everything has gone as well as possible. Praise God.

Since I last wrote you Tracy had another scope on Wednesday to look at here internal organs to make sure that they were all ok. And they were another answer to prayer. However the evening was not as good, as she had three panic attacks between 5:00 PM and 1:00 AM. We had to call 911 for the first one, but Janice Crago and Drew did a great job of helping her. After I got home from work, we were able to get Tracy lying down on the floor and that seemed to calm her down. I had been talking to a very good friend Linda Longo, who is a surgical nurse, and called her to see if she could come over. Needless to say she beat the EMS here because she was on her way back from church. Linda is one our Angels from God. Once the EMS arrived we cancelled the ambulance, but still had EMS check her out to make to sure she was ok. He agreed and we got her up and seated in a chair. We had two more episodes that night, finally Janice and I convinced Tracy to sleep on the sofa for the night. We didn’t want to leave Tracy alone. So Janice got the other side of the sectional sofa and being the gentleman that I am, got the floor. I don’t think anybody got a good night’s sleep, except for Tracy who slept until 10:00. I forgot about dinner, no panic attacks but some unbelievable Pot Roast, courtesy of the Browns. I think Drew ate all of the leftovers yesterday.

On Thursday morning Drew informed me that he didn’t like school anymore as he left home at 6:50 AM for his first period AP Economics test. Bragging time please, four AP Courses (college credit), an Honors Calculus and PE and he got all A’s except for a B+(88.5%). If I had those classes, I wouldn’t like it either (my grammar proves it). He is also applying for the National Honor Society. Tracy and I are so proud of him.

Ok, back to my bride. Thursday’s medical adventure, which 12 hours earlier we were not even sure we would be able to make, was to have a PICC line put in arm for her treatment on Friday. A PICC is short for something, I can’t remember but I know what it does. It is sort of a permanent I.V., like a port, so when she has her treatments they just connect it to the I.V.. We left, Janice (this weeks Angel from God), went with us to a 12:30 PM appointment, which when we got there we ran into Lauren Kay from church, what a blessing that was, another familiar face. Once the paperwork was done we got right in, so we thought the half hour procedure was right on time. Nope, Tracy’s veins decided to play peek-a-boo. Two hours later and the two arms, we were ready to head back home.

Janice packed up and headed back to Cincinnati about 5:00 PM. It was sad to see her leave, she was so good to Tracy, and even Drew and I too! She has a gift of loving care that I cannot even describe, not to mention good shoulders to cry on. Thank you Janice! As Tracy said and I agree “I don’t know how we can ever repay her”. Janice, may God continue to Bless you and your family.

Chicken Pot Pie 5-6” high for dinner Thursday night, thank you Zarrilli’s and a panic free night in our own bed! Ahhhh.

And that is where I will close for today except I want to tell you one more thing that I will do my best to inform you of everyday. Tracy wakes up every morning with a song or something Biblical in her head. So I will try to at least let you know the song, so you can listen to it or give you a scripture reference so you can look it up

I can’t remember Wednesday’s. But Thursdays was a song by friend of ours, Joe Crabb (who by the way is So Bro), called A Tootie Tot. If you don’t know the song and run into Joe, ask him to sing it for you. Tell him Father Bro said he would. I am sure he will after this little plug.

It is late so off to bed. Things are good and Our God Reigns!

The next blog will have two songs or one song and a scripture. Maybe even only that!

God Bless and Keep all of you.
Rob

Helping Out with Meals

Jerry Hines has set up a site if you are interested in blessing the Bowden's with a meal:

Hey brothers – our friend and comrade Rob Bowden has been taking care of his sick wife for several weeks now as her situation has intensified.  She is back from the hospital but is still very weak.  I think it would be good for us to be at the forefront of love for the man that has brought a smile to us many times in the last few years.  Here is a website to sign up for a night to bring them a meal. I have lined it up until Thankgiving – we can assess the situation after that and see if they are sick of others bringing dinner by then! 

Feel free to pass this along to others that you think would want to serve the Bowdens in this way

Here is a link to your new meal schedule:
http://www.TakeThemAMeal.com/meals.php?t=SJLN2556

The Journey so far

If you are reading this, thank you.  You are the love of Christ. 

Tracy, Drew and I started this journey over a year ago, right after we returned from a mission trip to Jamaica. 

God did mighty things through us while we were there. However Tracy started losing a lot of weight when we got back. She started seeing doctors in September of last year about it.  The weight loss continued and over the last year, we have seen, I think 12 doctors and God only knows the number of tests and needles, with no conclusive reasons for her extreme weight loss, which is now at 65 pounds.

Three and a half weeks ago she woke up with vertigo and spent a day and a half in the hospital.  The vertigo hasn’t subsided.  It has led to blurred and double vision (of which has caused Janice (Tracy’s sorority sister) to have Foreigner’s “Double Vision” on her mind, she says luckily not her lips).  But the worst part is Tracy’s hearing has become so sensitive it sent us back to the ER, this time for three days and nights.

Prior to this last ER visit she had a scope of her small intestine, which looked good to the doctor, Dr. Dahlstedt, but he thought he should take some samples as long as he was there (remember this).  We had been praying for wisdom for everyone involved with her care and answers that we could do something with.   He then ordered a CT scan of the abdomen that showed something he thought looked suspicious.  So he ordered an MRI of the organs in the abdomen.  This also was negative and she was released from the hospital Friday evening 11-11-11.

Late Monday night, 11-14-11, we received a call from Dr. Dahlstedt.  He said the biopsy he took revealed answers. Tracy has b-cell follicular lymphoma (Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma) and that it is very treatable.  We got what we prayed for -- an answer.  It isn’t the one we wanted but it is the one God gave us.

Yesterday we visited Dr. Folbe, the hematologist who will be directing this fight for us.  Because of Tracy’s lack of strength and weight, he is going to be treating her with Rituxan, an immunotherapy. She will have treatment once a week for four weeks and then be reevaluated.  Hopefully during this time she can gain some strength and weight.  We start this Friday, 11-18-11. 

God only knows the number of prayers that have been said for Tracy and Drew and me and I know he hears them all.  Thank you again for all the prayers keep them coming.

•  Please continue to pray for the doctors and everyone working with her.
• Pray for strength, courage, peace and confidence to kick this thing in the butt real hard for Tracy.
• Pray the same for Drew.  He has been my ROCK.  He has so much on his plate at school this year and is keeping it all together, including me.
• For me, I am not the most patient person, so pray for patience, comfort and peaceful rest when I can get it.
• Also pray for our employees as they continue to keep our business running strong.

God is good and He hears and remembers His people.

May God Bless and Keep you,

Rob