Update on Briana

03/08/10 7:00 p.m. (AZ time)

Bri just called. She’s very tired this evening, but doing well. She apologizes for not taking phone calls, but today was a physically and emotionally taxing day.

We didn’t know until this morning that last Fri., Mar. 5, the dr.s conducted the PET scan to check for any cancer anywhere in her body. She received some preliminary results today. Her oncologist still needs more time to compare the scan results with her previous scan (Dec. 22, 2009).

Preliminarily, the oncologist told her there is a small spot on her sternum and a spot in the pelvic area. It appears the liver is showing some signs of inflammation, not cancer.

As the chemo specialist administered today’s chemotherapy he consulted with her and said that her body’s previous response to chemo was so good that he felt highly confident that any new discoveries would be eliminated very efficiently.

Again, the oncologist won’t have a final determination based on last week’s PET scan until later this week.

The plan is to conduct chemotherapy sessions every other week for the next 10 weeks (5 treatments) . . . today was #1. After the 5th treatment the dr.s will conduct another PET scan of the entire body.

The remaining 5 tumors on the brain are so small the dr.s don’t want to administer new pinpoint radiation treatments at this time. Because the efficacy of chemotherapy is questionable for control of tumors on the brain, the dr.s need to leave the few small tumors for the time being to provide a standard against which they can compare the results of chemotherapy treatments over the next 10 weeks.

The steroids Bri has been taking to control fluid and swelling of the brain have made it nearly impossible for her to sleep more than a couple of hours every night over the past month. Her oncologist told her today that for every hour of sleep she loses, it take her body up to 10 hours of rest to recover. At the rate she’s going, she’ll never catch up. Yes, she’s suffering tremendous sleep deprivation!

The oncologist told her to take over-the-counter Benadryl to aid in sleeping. If the Benadryl doesn’t allow her to sleep, the dr. will prescribe a stronger sedative. Bri resists taking medications because she doesn’t want to become dependent on them, yet she knows that restful sleep is a priority that will help her body heal.

Even having taken the Benadryl, which worked well for her last year, Bri is finding it difficult to relax this evening. Steroids are part of the chemotherapy cocktail and she’s also wearing a pack that pumps steroids into her for the next 48 hrs. She’ll return on Wed. to have the pack removed. If her body reacts as it did last year, Wed. evening and Thurs. will be the days she’s susceptible to a physical crash (fatigue and possible nausea) as she comes off the steroids. If she crashes, hopefully she’ll be back to her normal self on Fri.

In many ways this has been a challenging day, yet Bri is grateful that she’s back on a treatment regimen that worked so well for her in the past. We pray for the Lord’s richest blessings to attend her, to cleanse and support her. We invite everyone to refrain from calling her tomorrow as she needs to get as much rest as possible.

Teri is prepared to travel to CA on a moment’s notice. Bri said she’d like to see how well she can cope with the help of family and friends in her area, but she assured us that she’d call and allow Teri to come if there was a need.

Admittedly, patience isn’t my strongest character trait at this time when my little girl is waging a mighty battle. Dads are supposed to fix things, you know.

Faith in every footstep! We all move forward. We know the Lord will acknowledge the many fastings and prayers that have been offered on Bri’s behalf.

Rick

Faith is not believing that God can . . .
it's knowing that He will.