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"Man, I Never Get to Choose What Type of Cancer I Get!" -Eric


Eric, Gav, John, and Pace




Well the good news is we have a lot of news; the bad news is it is Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. It is narrowed down to one of two of the T Cell lymphomas: Anaplastic Large Cell (ALCL), or Peripheral T Cell Lymphoma (PTCL). Both are very rare. The chemo for each of these is the same treatment, called CHOP (the abbreviation for the four medications given). The doctor called this morning with all of this information and asked us to come up today for the first chemo session.


We went and dropped off an assignment for school for me, then headed up to SLC. First stop: Fertility Clinic. Yes, the chemo makes Eric infertile at least for the duration of the treatment. It may come back after the therapy is over, we really really are praying that it will come back, but it sounds like the chances are good that he will be fertile again. And if he isn't, we now have an account at that bank.

We then went to Huntsman to Infusion (which apparently is another word for chemotherapy). They had to stick the needle in three times before they got it right!!!! Poor Eric! But he was not dismayed. As you can see, he is such a stud, even when he is getting chemo.







The treatment is typically well tolerated. The biggest side effect is fatigue and of course, losing his hair. There are a lot of other side effects (nausea, thickening of fingernails, etc.) but they actually feel like he won't have a lot of them considering how young he is. We will do chemo for 3 months, every two weeks, six treatments. Each post-chemo day we will go back to get a shot for his white blood cells... a Neulasta injection that is supposed to help him recuperate.



The PT Scan actually showed some possible spreading, even though the bone marrow biopsy did not. They are not very concerned about it as of yet, so I guess we won't be either. Jeff shaved Eric's head tonight so that the hair doesn't have to fall out in clumps. We are nervous to see how he reacts, but confident that he will blaze through this and maybe be free in the spring!




It was a very long day. We learned so much. Eric just wants to say thanks again for everyone's support and love. We are relieved to be starting the chemo, and yet feeling a bit stressed at the same time. We are sad, stressed, scared, grateful, impatient, humbled, and exhausted. We really love you all and love hearing from you.












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Comments

  1. AnonymousDecember 4, 2009 at 9:46 PM

    We will be praying for you both every night! (because we don't really say morning prayers ever) We love you both and think you two are so brave and have such a good attitude during this stressful time. Please let us know if there is anything we can do. WE will bring up In n Out or dinners by Davy. We'll buy your tickets to the Vegas Bowl. Hang in there Eric!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. NathanDecember 4, 2009 at 10:08 PM

    Just sock'em bop that cancer son!

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousDecember 4, 2009 at 11:06 PM

    Nit, bauble, tweek!

    ReplyDelete
  4. MaeganDecember 4, 2009 at 11:18 PM

    you guys are amazing! thank you for all of the information. you sound so very smart holly! we really do like knowing what you know so thank you for taking the time to post and keep us posted. i'm guessing one of your friends said the quote at the top...i must admit it was pretty funny. i love your humor throughout all of this. you guys are the best!

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  5. UnknownDecember 4, 2009 at 11:52 PM

    Holly....Eric is one lucky guy to have you in his life. As a family, we are lucky to have you in our lives. Thanks for being such a rock through this and for keeping us informed. LOVE you both and will be petitioning the heavens for weeks to come. God bless.

    ReplyDelete
  6. JenniferDecember 5, 2009 at 12:32 AM

    Your humor is amazing! I'm so glad that you are able to be optimistic about everything. Great news to hear that treament has been started. Hopefully by Spring Eric will be feeling well again! We pray for you him every day.

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  7. Hubba's ThoughtsDecember 5, 2009 at 9:15 AM

    I agree with Bryan, Holly, you are great! Eric I'm so amazed with your bravery and confidence! We've been praying for you too.. Gary's Dad had Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and he is doing great! I'm sure you will have to same story too! Thanks for doing this blog, it will be nice to see how things are doing..

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  8. Emily CohoonDecember 5, 2009 at 10:09 AM

    Eric, hang in there, you and Holly are in our prayers. You are so blessed to have such a wonderful wife and family supporting you through this trail. Thank you for sharing the information with all of us. We are thinking of you.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thompson TalesDecember 5, 2009 at 11:26 AM

    Jeff did a great job with the new "do"!!! Hang in there Eric, you will be in our prayers. I am glad that I found this blog on your moms facebook, I will be checking it out to keep up with what is going on. Love ya, the Thompsons

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  10. RosieDecember 5, 2009 at 5:37 PM

    We are in Aruba, so we wont be able to check in very much the next week, but we wanted to say we love you and hope this next stage goes the very best it can. You are in our prayers and thoughts. We love you guys!

    P.S. The BYU snuggie is fantastic. You rock it better than I do!

    Love, The Skinners!

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  11. Brady and BrittanyDecember 6, 2009 at 3:10 PM

    We love you guys!

    ReplyDelete
  12. AnonymousDecember 6, 2009 at 3:55 PM

    thanks for the update! glad to hear you were able to start chemo so quickly.

    ReplyDelete
  13. UnknownDecember 7, 2009 at 10:22 PM

    Hey guys! We just wanted to let you know we are thinking of you and praying for you every day. If there is anything you ever need please let us know.
    There is a guy in IV therapy with me that's going through the same thing. I always think of you when I see him and I offer up some extra prayers for ya. Good for the nurses with the 3 pokes! I much prefer that to the 8 tries last week. Much love!
    Cade and Carrian

    ReplyDelete

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