A Very Happy Birthday!

It's Bryan's birthday!  And he's at home!  He says it's the best birthday gift he's ever gotten in his life.

 

You'll notice Bryan's wearing a cap.  His hair was coming out in clumps, so I shaved it off for him yesterday.  The kids aren't quite ready for the dramatic transformation, and they're insisting that he wear the cap all the time.  I've been trying to remind them of all the great people we know who are bald, but they just say that those people "have always been bald."

And the HUGE card is from our wonderful church family.  Bryan greatly enjoyed reading the many messages inside.  Our older children were at VBS this week, and it really encouraged them to see so many people praying for their daddy.

(Oh, and Austin was taking a nap.)

Bryan's white blood cell counts came back up quickly, so the doctor released him yesterday morning.  Then, we spent all day waiting around for the rest of the doctors to sign off as well.  Despite the fact that I've been praying and praying for him to be released, I was a little nervous about actually bringing him home.  In the hospital, every cell (it seems) is monitored, and at home, well, it's just us!  Not a professional in sight.  I have to say, though, just being home has caused him to improve greatly.  There's something healing about being in your own environment.  His pain and nausea has decreased today, and he thinks that's just because he's more relaxed.  Hospitals are stressful places.

On Thursday, Dr. Lyons had given Bryan two treatment options for us to discuss.  Yesterday, I went to the hospital early so that we would be able to talk to the doctor about the choice we had made.  When he came in, he said he had a third option.  After much thought and consultation and poring over the labs, Bryan's cancer looks more like leukemia (high grade aggressive lymphomas often do) and Dr. Lyons thinks there would be benefits from treating it as such.  The protocol is regimented and complicated, stretching over two and a half years.  Not all of that time involves intensive treatment.  It should be mostly outpatient, which was one of our major priorities, and it has a slightly increased success rate.  Bryan's form (T-cell) is still very rare, but this seems like a good option.  We'll get all the details when we go into the office.

For now, we're just enjoying having him home, and we're taking a break (with the exception of this one little post) from thinking about anything other than the moment at hand.

Happy Birthday, Bryan!

Proverbs 9:10-11
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. 

 For by me your days will be multiplied,
And years of life will be added to you."