Mark had a rough night. The viral infection he's got is making him cough so much. It's a hard raspy cough that won't allow him to catch his breath. Kinda sucks. Currently his legs and feet are really swollen from all the fluids and lack of movement. There is a concern for blood clots so they have "boots" on his legs that blow up with air to keep the circulation going. He can't get blood clots. Because his platelets are so low they would not be able to treat the clots as they normally would because it would cause him to bleed out. He cannot get blood clots...please pray for that.
The oncologist has not been in yet, but I thought I'd just fill ya in a bit since I had a few minutes of quiet. Thank you all for keeping tabs on us, for keeping the prayers going, and for all your wonderful messages and comments. I am reading every one of them to Mark and we are enjoying them immensly!!! Nobody is overwhelming us so please, comment and message away!!! We are so blessed to have all of your support and we know it!!
Love you all so much, Becky and Mark
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Monday, March 2, 2009
I did manage to get my email working folks! By the end of this I'll be SO computer savvy!!! (alright...so MAYBE my brother helped me a LITTLE....)
becknbunch@centurytel.net
Love you all!
becknbunch@centurytel.net
Love you all!
Alright, here's the news.
Sorry that took so long...we were getting from one part of the hospital to the next and Mark was saying goodbye to the kids. He will now not see them for at least 30 days....
Here's the scoop.
We were told this morning by BLOOD test results that Mark has CMML which was the 70% prognosis from Friday. This evening however, our oncologist, Dr. Caton came to see us and said "I have great news!". Turns out the Blood MARROW test showed NOT CMML but AML which is Acute Myelomoncytic leukemia. The doctor was VERY happy about this. He said this is MUCH better than the former as it could be completely curable through chemo. Here's what we're looking at:
Mark has AML M4. There are 3 different possibilities of strain....
1. Normal or Neutral - 25-30% chance of blasting it and curing it the first try.
2. Inversion 16 - 50-60% chance of blasting it and curing it on the first try.
3. Advers Chromosone - 5-10% chance of blasting it and curing it on the first try.
Now you know why the urgent prayer request for Inversion 16!!!!
The treatment is the same starting out no matter which of these strands Mark has. It is at follows.
The next two days will be prepping. They are running more tests on him to see which one of these we're facing. They will be inserting a chest cathedar for insertion of the chemo meds. they are doing some heart tests (mugascan) to make sure it's pumping the way it should etc. On day three they are starting AGGRESSIVE chemo. For 7 days he will receive meds. Then for 7 MORE days will be a resting period. On day 14 they will do another bone marrow test to see if that did it. (see above stats!!). If that test comes back normal they will watch him for an additional 14 days here in the hospital and then test his blood with a CBC (complete blood count). If those come back normal....OUR BOY IS IN REMISSION!!!!!! Now you see why the stats from above are crucial and to pray for Inversion 16. That 50-60% looks AWESOME to us!!!
We also learned tonight that what we THOUGHT he had...the CMML....only has an average of 8 months survival!!! WOW if we had known that we woulda been FREAKING OUT, so praise GOD in keeping that info from us until we knew it was different!
Now...IF for some reason the first blast doesn't do it. We will go again. Another round of the above. If THAT doesn't do it, then we are back to square one and looking for the donor for the Blood marrow transplant. BUT...WE ARE NOT GOING TO GET THERE!!! We are gonna knock this puppy out, first go! RIGHT? RIGHT!
So get those prayers out there you guys! We love you SO MUCH!! And by the way. Mark saw the kids briefly tonight for the last time for 30 days. It was super hard for him. They will be with my mom and will have a normal schedule, but if anyone wants to call and chat with them, i'm sure they'd LOVE it!!! :)
THanks all for everything and we love you!!!!!
ALSO...Mark wants to thank you all for the prayers for the 30% chance it wasn't the CMML. Guess what guys? We beat the odds!! You did it and we are SO blessed to have you all in our circle!!! Keep it up!!!
Here's the scoop.
We were told this morning by BLOOD test results that Mark has CMML which was the 70% prognosis from Friday. This evening however, our oncologist, Dr. Caton came to see us and said "I have great news!". Turns out the Blood MARROW test showed NOT CMML but AML which is Acute Myelomoncytic leukemia. The doctor was VERY happy about this. He said this is MUCH better than the former as it could be completely curable through chemo. Here's what we're looking at:
Mark has AML M4. There are 3 different possibilities of strain....
1. Normal or Neutral - 25-30% chance of blasting it and curing it the first try.
2. Inversion 16 - 50-60% chance of blasting it and curing it on the first try.
3. Advers Chromosone - 5-10% chance of blasting it and curing it on the first try.
Now you know why the urgent prayer request for Inversion 16!!!!
The treatment is the same starting out no matter which of these strands Mark has. It is at follows.
The next two days will be prepping. They are running more tests on him to see which one of these we're facing. They will be inserting a chest cathedar for insertion of the chemo meds. they are doing some heart tests (mugascan) to make sure it's pumping the way it should etc. On day three they are starting AGGRESSIVE chemo. For 7 days he will receive meds. Then for 7 MORE days will be a resting period. On day 14 they will do another bone marrow test to see if that did it. (see above stats!!). If that test comes back normal they will watch him for an additional 14 days here in the hospital and then test his blood with a CBC (complete blood count). If those come back normal....OUR BOY IS IN REMISSION!!!!!! Now you see why the stats from above are crucial and to pray for Inversion 16. That 50-60% looks AWESOME to us!!!
We also learned tonight that what we THOUGHT he had...the CMML....only has an average of 8 months survival!!! WOW if we had known that we woulda been FREAKING OUT, so praise GOD in keeping that info from us until we knew it was different!
Now...IF for some reason the first blast doesn't do it. We will go again. Another round of the above. If THAT doesn't do it, then we are back to square one and looking for the donor for the Blood marrow transplant. BUT...WE ARE NOT GOING TO GET THERE!!! We are gonna knock this puppy out, first go! RIGHT? RIGHT!
So get those prayers out there you guys! We love you SO MUCH!! And by the way. Mark saw the kids briefly tonight for the last time for 30 days. It was super hard for him. They will be with my mom and will have a normal schedule, but if anyone wants to call and chat with them, i'm sure they'd LOVE it!!! :)
THanks all for everything and we love you!!!!!
ALSO...Mark wants to thank you all for the prayers for the 30% chance it wasn't the CMML. Guess what guys? We beat the odds!! You did it and we are SO blessed to have you all in our circle!!! Keep it up!!!
NEED URGENT PRAYER
Great news. mark does not have CMML...he has ACUTE leukemia which is WAY WAY better.
i will tell more in a while, but for now we need URGENT PRAYER....
Pray for the strain to be Inversion 16. This strain has a 50-60% survival rate on the FIRST blast of treatment. There are other positive things to tell you too, but we need to get those prayers going NOW!!!
INVERSION 16!!! GO!!! PRAY!!!!
i will tell more in a while, but for now we need URGENT PRAYER....
Pray for the strain to be Inversion 16. This strain has a 50-60% survival rate on the FIRST blast of treatment. There are other positive things to tell you too, but we need to get those prayers going NOW!!!
INVERSION 16!!! GO!!! PRAY!!!!
Windows Live Messenger.
By the way. In addition to the cell phones, I was able to download msn live messenger onto the laptop to communication in instant messaging with whoever has the program.
My address is becknbunch@centurytel.net for messenger, so just type me in and befriend me and we can chat all hours! I tried to do twitter, but the wifi connection here won't let me get it.
Also, I can't get into my myspace, facebook or my email. Just fyi. We can get mark's email however at bbnbears@centurytel.net so feel free to send us messages there.
See ya on MSN! :)
http://download.live.com/?sku=messenger
My address is becknbunch@centurytel.net for messenger, so just type me in and befriend me and we can chat all hours! I tried to do twitter, but the wifi connection here won't let me get it.
Also, I can't get into my myspace, facebook or my email. Just fyi. We can get mark's email however at bbnbears@centurytel.net so feel free to send us messages there.
See ya on MSN! :)
http://download.live.com/?sku=messenger
March 2 Update on Mark
Hi All!
First off let me say how grateful we are for all of your thoughts and prayers. We can feel them working so please keep it up!!!
I am writing this from Mark's laptop as we sit in ICU. We do not know at this point how long Mark will be in the hospital, however, we do have transport plans to be out of ICU sometime today. We will be going to Oncology.
Yes, Mark has officially been diagnosed with CMML. This type of Leukemia, as I think I said before is treatable by a bone marrow transplant. As soon as he can beat this infection in his body, he will be able to start chemo therapy and get on the donor list to receive his transplant.
The infection he's fighting right now is the Herpes virus. It has attacked his vocal cords so he can't talk (a blessing in disguise????) and his lungs. He has horrible coughing spells, but the steroids and anti are helping and he's breathing much better than he was yesterday. We were VERY scared yesterday. He had a lung test where they put a tube down his throat, and then flushed out his lungs and drew out samples. Usually a patient is put under for this procedure, but Mark could not be PUT under. The doc said he put enough meds in him to put out TWO people, and yet Mark was still awake! It was very traumatic as it feels like drowning, but he made it through ok and we are still waiting on those results. His white blood cells are still through the roof and his platelets continue to drop every day. he's now at 33 (normal is 150) which means if he falls, gets hit, bumps into something...whatever, he will bruise which could potentially cause a bleed. This could be VERY bad and he could bleed to death before they would be able to find it, so pray he uses his grace while moving around!!! :D
He has his good attitude and sense of humor back, making the nurses roll their eyes, and that is SO good to see!! He's a bit like my Mark again.
Please know that as much as we would love for everyone to see him and be able to give him hugs, his health depends on people staying away. Any virus someone might be carrying on them without actually being sick, could be fatal for Mark. His body has no resistance. He will not be able to fight ANYTHING anyone brings in. The doctors do not want any visitors at the hospital, and when we get home the visits will have to be few and far between. He's already been told he'll have to get over his phone phobia and call all of you! We know it sucks that you can't see him, and we will miss you all SO much. But right now, Mark staying healthy so he can fight this cancer is what matters most.
Please just keep praying and call ANYTIME!! I will post all our numbers for you at the end here, so feel free to call, text or whatever! Those are germ free!!
We love you all so much!!!
Mark cell 513-6506
Becky cell 513-6422
Home phone 895-3245
Debbie cell (Becky's Mom) 513-6514
Kathy cell (Mark's Mom) 521-9260
First off let me say how grateful we are for all of your thoughts and prayers. We can feel them working so please keep it up!!!
I am writing this from Mark's laptop as we sit in ICU. We do not know at this point how long Mark will be in the hospital, however, we do have transport plans to be out of ICU sometime today. We will be going to Oncology.
Yes, Mark has officially been diagnosed with CMML. This type of Leukemia, as I think I said before is treatable by a bone marrow transplant. As soon as he can beat this infection in his body, he will be able to start chemo therapy and get on the donor list to receive his transplant.
The infection he's fighting right now is the Herpes virus. It has attacked his vocal cords so he can't talk (a blessing in disguise????) and his lungs. He has horrible coughing spells, but the steroids and anti are helping and he's breathing much better than he was yesterday. We were VERY scared yesterday. He had a lung test where they put a tube down his throat, and then flushed out his lungs and drew out samples. Usually a patient is put under for this procedure, but Mark could not be PUT under. The doc said he put enough meds in him to put out TWO people, and yet Mark was still awake! It was very traumatic as it feels like drowning, but he made it through ok and we are still waiting on those results. His white blood cells are still through the roof and his platelets continue to drop every day. he's now at 33 (normal is 150) which means if he falls, gets hit, bumps into something...whatever, he will bruise which could potentially cause a bleed. This could be VERY bad and he could bleed to death before they would be able to find it, so pray he uses his grace while moving around!!! :D
He has his good attitude and sense of humor back, making the nurses roll their eyes, and that is SO good to see!! He's a bit like my Mark again.
Please know that as much as we would love for everyone to see him and be able to give him hugs, his health depends on people staying away. Any virus someone might be carrying on them without actually being sick, could be fatal for Mark. His body has no resistance. He will not be able to fight ANYTHING anyone brings in. The doctors do not want any visitors at the hospital, and when we get home the visits will have to be few and far between. He's already been told he'll have to get over his phone phobia and call all of you! We know it sucks that you can't see him, and we will miss you all SO much. But right now, Mark staying healthy so he can fight this cancer is what matters most.
Please just keep praying and call ANYTIME!! I will post all our numbers for you at the end here, so feel free to call, text or whatever! Those are germ free!!
We love you all so much!!!
Mark cell 513-6506
Becky cell 513-6422
Home phone 895-3245
Debbie cell (Becky's Mom) 513-6514
Kathy cell (Mark's Mom) 521-9260
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Urgent prayer request
My name is Debbie. I am Beckys mom. At just before 5am this morning, she called wanting me to come stay with the kids so she could take Mark to the hospital. He is having trouble breathing, and the doctor said previously if this should happen to get him there right away. He was standing, walking, shivering and pale. He could talk and got himself into the car with no problem, but he sounds like he does after he mows the lawn before he gets his allergy shot. Becky flew out the door and asked if I would post this request.....PLEASE PRAY. I am sure she will post an update when they get home. Thank you all.
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