Now we know...

Things are happening now. We know know what is wrong with Darell. The official diagnosis is lymphoid predominant hodgkins lymphoma w/predominant nodular T cell rich pattern & focal diffuse areas. This is a very rare kind of cancer.

So here is where we are going. Monday Darell has a test on his heart. Chemo can apparently be very bad for your heart. Wednesday he has a port for the chemo put in and he sees his oncologist in the afternoon. We will find out then if he has his first chemo treatment Thursday or Friday.

This week he as been really run down and tired. He has also had quite a few headaches. We have been very busy lately so I can't tell if it's the cancer or just recovering from surgery, stomach flu and going back to work. Overall it could just be stress.

On a positive note. Darell got to go back on his testosterone shots last night. He hadn't been able to take a shot since November. Now that issue is resolved he got the go ahead on that so hopefully he will feel better.

Here is how it all started...

What a long story but I will try and summarize it.

The summer of 2005 Darell went to Texas for 6 weeks for the WA Air Guard. He didn't deal well with the heat there. He was tired and wiped out all the time. He also lost a lot of weight while he was there. When Darell returned we had a new preemie baby that was in the Neonatal Intermediate Care Unit at Tacoma General. So he was very busy taking care of me, going to work and then taking me to see the baby in the evenings. He wasn't getting a lot of rest. When the baby came home he was still run down and not getting caught up.

Darell started going to the doctor and saying he was run down. The doctor did blood tests and sent him for a sleep study. Nothing was being found but Darell is getting worse.

We went to visit Darell's parents in November of 05 and Darell noticed the hair on his legs was falling out but thought nothing of it. When we went again in March most of the hair on his legs and chest was going and he mentioned it to his dad. His dad being concerned googled Darell symptoms which lead him to a site at the Mayo Clinic. The site talked about a man's testosterone level being low can lead to the multiple symptoms Darell was having. We printed the article and Darell went back to his doctor and asked to have his testosterone levels checked. The results came back very, very low. His doctor then sent us to an endocrinologist. This doctor tested a lot of blood and had Darell have a head CAT scan. After all the tests were done the results told us Darell had a pituitary tumor which caused thyroid failure, adrenal gland failure and his body unable to make testosterone. This doctor started him on 3 medicines to replace the missing elements from his system. Within hours he was a new man. I honestly thought he was going to die. The adrenal issue was a major one. He was falling asleep at red lights in the car. He was not doing well.

Darell was then sent to a neurosurgeon. This doctor thought no problem. He was just go into Darell's brain and remove the tumor. This was done with the hope that some of the pituitary's functions would be restored. So a week before Christmas in 2006 Darell had brain surgery. Unfortunately Darell had a lot of bleeding and the doctor had to stop the operation without getting to the tumor. A month later Darell was back to work and leading a normal life. Both his doctors decided just to monitor him and wait and see.

Since then Darell's tumor is the same which is good. The summer of 07 his endocrinologist noticed that Darell's kidney functions didn't seem right. After rechecking his blood the doctor decided to send him to a kidney doctor.

This doctor was very good. He ordered a lot of blood work but also a kidney ultrasound. When the tech was doing the scan he noticed some enlarged lymph nodes in Darell's abdominal area. The kidney doctor was concerned about the lymph nodes but told us it didn't have anything with Darell's kidneys.

So off to Darell's family doctor again we went. Darell had an elevated PSA at this time so we got sent to a urologist. We asked Darell's family doctor to send Darell for a CAT scan so that we could get started on finding out was was wrong with him. The urologist thought maybe Darell had either testicular or prostate cancer by what he was seeing on the CAT scan. Darell was sent over to the hospital to have a CAT scan guided needle biopsy done. When the urologist got the results he told us that Darell most likely had a prostate infection and started Darell on antibiotics. At the same time he informed us that Darell needed to see an oncologist that the pathology report suspected lymphoma.

So off we went to the oncologist. On our first visit with the oncologist the doctor said the pathology results were inconclusive and Darell need to have a bone marrow biopsy done. Christmas Eve Day Darell went into the hospital and had this test done. This test didn't really bother him so we were relived and had a nice Christmas. The next week we went back to the oncologist. This time there was some good news that nothing was detectable in his bone marrow. However they still couldn't give us a diagnosis. The next needed test was going to a general surgeon and have a laparoscopic biopsy done.

Darell's general surgeon was great. We saw him on a Tuesday afternoon and the next day he was having the procedure done. The doctor told us it should take him about 30 - 60 minutes. As I waited and 3+ hours went by I began to get concerned. Finally the doctor called me on the phone via the operating room. He informed me he was having issues getting the sample because Darell was bleeding to much. He asked me if he could open Darell up and use his hands to reach the area. I said yes. This allowed him to remove a tumor that was the size of his thumb. On the downside Darell had to send the night in the hospital and heal from a 5 inch incision plus 2 other 1 inch incisions.

A week later Darell went back to work on light duty. His appointment with the oncologist last Thursday concluded that he does have a form of lymphoma. We were informed they were still running pathology tests to determine what kind he has. He was then sent to have another CAT scan of his neck and chest. This is needed to help determine what stage the lymphoma is in. We were told that lymphoma was hard to diagnose.

So that is where we are for now. We go tomorrow and hopefully they we have conclusions and answeres for us.

Not sure if all this made sense. Like I said it's a lot. All this in such a short time period. Many are asking us if his tumor or other medical issued caused this cancer. We are told NO. Just the luck or unluck of the draw.

I thought by creating this blog it would help those who get bits and pieces of the story track what is going on with us.

For now we try and run life as we normally do. We spent a nice weekend together. We took David to the Veggie Tales movie this weekend. David is really into Pirates right now so he liked it. Friday David got to see the Oscar Myer Wiener Car. Sunday we went to church. Just business as usual at our house for now.

Please keep us in your prayers. Darell is going to need a lot of support in this fight but he is ready to fight.

Blessing, Donelle

Now we wait...

After 2 months we are finally getting some answers. It is hard knowing something is probably wrong and just keep waiting. We were told that Darell has Lymphoma but that tests were still being done to tell us what type and he did a CAT on Friday to help them determine what stage. Darell is feeling better from his latest surgery. He is still on light duty at work for 2 more weeks. The doctor wants to make sure his insides heel. Darell thinks he is ready but I would rather have him completely strong so he can get ready for the next steps.



Tuesday is Darell's next appointment. The results from his latest CAT and the pathology should be in so that we will know what type of lymphoma he has. We are hoping they give us a treatment schedule on Tuesday as well. It's hard to believe all this is happening. He feels fine and has no symptoms. Just this time last year he was recovering from his brain surgery and now this. Oh boy. For now I think I will stay in a denial stage that just lets me focus on Darell getting better. We been through so much in the last 5 years. God doesn't give us more then we can handle but wow are things getting heavy.



David hasn't noticed anything different with Dad so that is good. We want to try and keep things as normal as possible. Normal what is that exactly?