Hi everyone, thanks for all of the really nice messages and support recently! I got back a few days ago from my fourth round of chemotherapy at the Mayo Clinic and have had some time to recuperate at home and finally some time to put together an update for you all. 

Huge thanks and love to my mother, Kathy, for coming out to visit from Michigan and help me with this round. I hadn't seen my mom since this all started, so this was a very emotional return and I couldn't be happier I got to spend a whole week with her. It was really difficult to share such a vulnerable state of self existence with someone I love so much but I do think it was important to let people in to how hard this can be. I have been holding strong and brute forcing my will through this whole process but it does hurt, a lot, and it is just so physically and mentally taxing. My mother helped share the load for Shelley and I and I am eternally grateful.

On to the updates! Treatment went well, my tumors/lesions are healed and I am not showing signs of any new growth. The doctors at the Mayo are very confident everything is going according to plan and are working on the next steps for me, which include radiation therapy and the bone marrow/stem cell transplant. 

I am currently waiting on a bone marrow donor, doctors are working hard to find the right match for me and my lovely sister has begun the process of matching as well. Once I have a donor there will be a short break before I begin radiation therapy. I will have two weeks of daily all over radiation at the Mayo Clinic radiology department and then four weeks off before we begin the stem cell therapy. The huge caveat here is that if they find a donor quickly I may not have to do a fifth or sixth round of chemo therapy so please cross your fingers for a match! 

I have a fifth round scheduled for mid June, including a PET scan to ensure the cancer is not spreading and if all goes well I could be in radiation mid to late June. 

I'm feeling good, all things considered, and we're heading into a heavy planning phase as we figure out timelines and the how/where/whens of everything for the second half of my treatments.

Thanks to everyone for their support, and massive thanks to Vickie and David Eckerson for again letting us into their home in Rochester and being such gracious hosts. I will update this again once we know what's happening for the next rounds! Stay tuned! Love you all!

Matt