In August 2011, Duben was diagnosed with a unique type of cancer called Hodgkin's Lymphoma. He fought hard and was winning. He did it all while providing for his family, and being the most amazing husband and father. After finishing chemotherapy he got pneumonia, which took over his weakened body and caused severe damage to his lungs. On April 8 we said goodbye to the most amazing man I know. I've kept this blog to let everyone know we are doing well. Our children our amazing, and we are grateful for every day we have together.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

the results are in

I apologize for not getting this up sooner. As you can imagine, its been a very busy week for us.

We met with Duben's doctor on Monday to go over all of his test results. The final diagnosis is Stage 2 Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Stage 2 is good, which basically means it isn't below his diaphragm or in his bone marrow. They are concerned about the size of some of the masses.
There are two very large masses around his lungs and heart that together add up to over 10 cm. Because of that size they are considering him to have 'unfavorable risks.'

So the plan of action is to start chemotherapy right away. He'll be doing his first treatment tomorrow here in Bentonville. He'll do chemo every two weeks for six months, then will do a month of radiation. We'll be going back to MD Anderson every two months so they can monitor his progress and make sure the treatment is going as planned.

This afternoon we met with his local Oncologist here in Bentonville to go over the treatment plan and give us a basic overview of the whole process. We are once again so blessed to have such a great doctor and team of nurses. We are especially grateful to have an amazing friend who works at the Oncology Clinic to answer all of our questions.

Again, we want to say thank you to the amazing support group we have. We are so grateful for all the prayers and support we've received. Thank you for all your thoughts and well wishes. We apologize if it takes us a while to respond to your emails, but know we appreciate them.


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2 comments:

  1. Corrina BakerAugust 26, 2011 at 4:27 AM

    Great news that it's stage 2. Great news that you can seek treatment at home. I was wondering how you guys are managing? Is Duben getting sick leave through work? I know some American Employers can be stingey I assume he has medical, obviously. Have you thought of setting something up to help your family financially?

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  2. AlmiraAugust 27, 2011 at 9:52 AM

    Our thoughts and prayers go out to you! It ws fun hanging out with you guys before your 'vacation' to Dallas. We'll have to come back soon for those delectable lemon curry cupcakes...my mouth is watering just thinking about it my little sister had Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia when she was 8 and is now 23 and it's like she never had it! She got to pickj from the treasure chest for a prize after every spinal tap - I hope they have prize boxes for adults!!!

    It wouldn't be a complete post without a hippy link or two from me:

    The Gerson Therapy: http://www.gerson.org/GersonTherapy/gersontherapy.htm

    There's a documentary on it called 'beautiful truth' on Netflix Instant too.

    And of course there's a fun documentary called 'crazy sexy cancer'...disclaimer: there is an 'F' bomb in there at one point though so be forewarned.

    We love you guys!

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