This week started off with some good news for Renee's boyfriend, Patrick, the chemotherapy for his non-Hodgkins Lymphoma is working!! His doc at the Alfond Cancer Center, Abby Thrower, was very happy to share the news with us.(and we were very happy to hear it) Where the first scan before treatment showed his lymph nodes all red and orange (reacting with the contrast stuff) this time, they were faint shades of a reddish color, if anything at all. Win!

He is not out of the woods. There is still more chemotherapy. There will be ongoing monitoring of the cancer. His treatment is just that... a treatment that keeps this in remission. The only cure is a bone marrow transplant. But treatment buys time for other treatments to be developed.

In all of this it does not escape either Patrick or me how darn lucky he is in this journey. Cancer is scary stuff! Then there is all the other worries. Worried about money issues, being sick from treatment, what if it is not working and all the next steps after that. He has had little in the way of side effects. No hair loss and no weight loss. (In fact, he was teasing his doc how disappointed his was in not having any of the predicted side effects, especially some weight loss. Remember, Patrick has warped scene of humor!)  In a different place in time he might have to worry about traveling for treatment. So far everything has been done at the Alfond Center For Cancer Care and MaineGeneral. With with the exception of the one appointment to Dana-Farber, treatment and appointments have been in his back yard!

 

 

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