FINALLY

10/4/2018

I found out last Friday that everything had finally gone through with my insurance, the oncologist, and the hospital...it only took how many months?! I am scheduled to be in Dallas next week:
Monday- meeting with my oncologist the last time before starting and getting a vein check
Tuesday- Line placement day...not so fun! Monday they will be looking for basically a substantial part of my body they can go thru with the IV to get a strong vein that can withstand the procedure. Honestly, most people I have talked to or read about have had this done in their neck...definitely not looking forward to that...but at least its only in for a day regardless.
Wednesday- I have to be at the hospital at 7am to do my t-cell retrieval...goodbye millions of cells

These will then be frozen, shipped to California, and taught karate and kung foo fighting. Apparently around 17 business days they hit black belt status and are then sent back to my hospital. I'm assuming this will be around Oct. 29th-ish. When they come back I will start my 3 days of intensive chemo to completely wipe out my body so when the newly trained cells are put back in me they have free reign with a blank slate to hopefully work their magic. Yes, this means I will more than likely lose my hair for a 3rd time (or at least the little thats grown back since March).

After the 3 days of chemo and the cells being put back in me is when the real "fun" starts which I will wait and blog about later. Let's just say it won't be all unicorns and rainbows and this whole procedure brings the opportunity for a long list of side effects. Because the side effects can be so bad, specifically neurologically, I have to stay in Dallas for a month to be close when something happens and I have to go back in. Just the risks you have to take to stay alive these days apparently! So far, this CAR-T procedure has had a 50% success rate...so fingers crossed I will for once in my life get some good luck vs my life long string of bad.

^^^^^^^The true definition to cancer ^^^^^^^

So, it looks like I will thankfully not be in the hospital and/or Dallas for my birthday as I originally thought (one benefit to the long approval wait) but I will probably be there for Thanksgiving. I have a mountain of stockings I'll be sewing to hopefully keep me from going even more crazy...if that's even possible at this point.

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When Cancer Comes a Knockin'

Timeline

On August 2, 2017, Brianna was diagnosed with Mediastinal Large B-Cell Lymphoma. Beginning Monday, August 14, 2017, Brianna will begin chemotherapy treatments. She will be commuting to Austin for 18 weeks to receive treatments. This site is set up as a donation page to help Brianna and her family cover medical costs and living expenses, as well as a one stop shop to get updates on how chemo is going and even buy a shirt or two in support!

UPDATE:
After getting her final PET scan to confirm the aggressive chemo did it's job, we got the news that it hadn't and that the tumor was still active when it shouldn't of been. Brianna is now undergoing radiation for 5 weeks, everyday in Austin.

UPDATE March 2018:
Brianna begin having the same cancer symptoms as she did this past summer during spring break, except more painful this time. She was sent to get a CT scan which showed her cancer had returned. She then met with her oncologist who planned the next steps which include to do more chemo (a differnt regimen this time) followed by a stem cell transplant.
She thought she was done....she was done.....and now she is having to start the cancer journey all over again...including losing her hair that had just start growing back.

UPDATE
END OF MARCH - JUNE 25th
(at the moment....things have yet to even begin apparently.)
If I didn't feel like I was really dying or truly out of options to live....I do now. Remember I was basically on our plan F and everything was just getting worse instead of better. I really thought I was done these last couple weeks and being in the hospital for another little week vacay. I finally updated by blog since so many people were asking, so you can read the detailed updates.

October 2018 Update:
Insurance has finally approved all of the CAR-T procedure and I will be getting my T-Cells retrieved from my body next week. (Oct 10th if all goes as planned)

MARCH 2019
The first post CAR-T pet scan showed the main mass has shrunk in size, even though still active. Hopefully, the CAR-T will continue to work its magic over the next few months before the next scan.

To donate to Brianna's GoFundMe page, please make sure the donation is made on the GoFundMe Page found here:
https://www.gofundme.com/teambonnet

CANCER CHRONICLES

FINALLY

^^^^^^^The true definition to cancer ^^^^^^^

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"You either get bitter or you get better. It's that simple. You either take what's been dealt to you and allow it to make you a better person, or you allow it to tear you down. The choice does not belong to fate, it belongs to you."
~Josh Shipp

Archives

When Cancer Comes a Knockin'

​CANCER CHRONICLES

FINALLY

^^^^^^^The true definition to cancer ^^^^^^^

Leave a Reply.

"You either get bitter or you get better. It's that simple. You either take what's been dealt to you and allow it to make you a better person, or you allow it to tear you down. The choice does not belong to fate, it belongs to you."​~Josh Shipp

Archives

When Cancer Comes a Knockin'

CANCER CHRONICLES

"You either get bitter or you get better. It's that simple. You either take what's been dealt to you and allow it to make you a better person, or you allow it to tear you down. The choice does not belong to fate, it belongs to you."
~Josh Shipp