Terry’s Story

Site created on September 16, 2021

What started as a painful and inconvenient during-our-mission-trip leg infection has led to today’s diagnosis;
Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma , aka non-Hodgkin Lymphoma 
Our oncologist (whom multiple people have said is a rockstar—and we agree after this first meeting) said that, on a spectrum from “you’ll live with this forever without much impact” to “very aggressive cancer with limited time,” Terry’s variety is about 7/8 of the way toward the serious end.
We are in the midst of a flurry of appointment-setting so he can begin chemotherapy before the end of the month, with the goal of completely removing the cancer from his body.
Please join us in praying for total healing and that there will be many opportunities to tell of God’s goodness, faithfulness, and provision.

Newest Update

Journal entry by Amy Niemann

Last Friday was my 101 day since my transplant, which means it's time to check and see how things in my body are doing. We made the journey down to Mayo in Rochester, which is a little over an hour and a half drive, on Thursday and stayed over night with Amy's cousin. It is nice to have family in the area.
Friday we get to Mayo and I have 5 appointments scheduled, blood draw, pt, pet scan, immunization consultation and finally a meeting with my Mayo oncologist.  Everything went great!
We finally meet with my oncologist later in the day and as we are waiting I find myself just pondering and wondering what the results are.  Will I be disappointed or will I be excited, earlier when I met with my PT, she was encouraging and was impressed with how I was looking and walking, but would my oncologist say the same thing.  Now I could go down the what if road, but I choose not to.  I go with an open mind knowing God is there guiding everything and that gives me confidence and strength. 
This is the outcome of our visit with the oncologist. My blood counts look great, and there is no sign of lymphoma! 🥳
It looks like there might be a little bit of infection in my lungs, so they're going to give me a couple of different antibiotics to try for a week.
The new routine is that I'll come back every three months for them to check on me. Every six months they'll do a CT scan . That'll last for the first couple years or so. I can get back to more normal life, only needing to avoid big indoor gatherings or masking at them.
So basically I'm free of cancer and I don't have to live in a bubble where I'm constantly masking and being super cautious around people.  I can hug again.  I'm a hugger and I've missed giving hugs!
It's not over though,  I still an struggling with being fatigued and taking longer for my body to heal, but it's nice knowing that the stem cell transplant worked.
Having you walk along with me down this journey has helped me so much.  Knowing I'm not alone and knowing God still does miracles.  All the doctors and nurses are truly a gift from God and God uses them daily to do miraculous things.  I thank you for all the love you have poured over me and my family.  The cards of encouragement and the text or phone calls to check up on us.  Thank you thank you thank you!  You are God's miracles too!
So I probably won't be updating you as much now since it'll be 3 or 6 months when anything new will be happening, but we'll update once we have things to update you on.   You are such a blessing to me and my family.  Thanks! Love you so much!  God bless you and keep smiling!
My hair is growing and soon my beard will be thick and full and I'll get my Santa gig on! Ho ho ho!

Patients and caregivers love hearing from you; add a comment to show your support.
Help Terry Stay Connected to Family and Friends

A $25 donation to CaringBridge powers a site like Terry's for two weeks. Will you make a gift to help ensure that this site stays online for them and for you?

Comments Hide comments

Show Your Support

See the Ways to Help page to get even more involved.

SVG_Icons_Back_To_Top
Top