February – Started having some tightness in chest but everyone seemed to have a cold at time so not concerned.
May – Couldn’t take the heat and eyes were very puffy.
June – Father’s day – Family started noticing more – He seemed a lot more tired than normal and breathing was getting more difficult. We noticed the swelling around the eyes.
June 23rd – Went to Dr. Mike Pfeffer, Chiropractor, and he informed him he needed to go the medical doctor immediately for there was something behind his chest plate.
June 30th – X-ray at Alex clinic - they showed that he had pneumonia. 2 hours later the doctore called and stated they seen something else on the x-ray.
July 2nd – CT scan in Alexandria showed mass in chest.
July 8th – CT scan with imaging.
July 10th – Doctor called – Very large mass and he needs a biopsy done. Mass that was from top of sternum to bottom and about 4 inches wide. It was wrapped around his Vena cava, aorta, pulmonary arteries, ect. (The mass was like they shoved playdough in every crevice of his chest cavity).
July 13th – Last day of work
July 14th - Biopsy in Alexandria. They were hoping to get the results back in 2-3 days (we shouldn't have gotten our hopes up for that) The weekend passed and dad's breathing was getting worse every day.
July 15th – Dad informed his family what was all going on.
July 21st – Spent 4 hours in Alexandria ER. He started coughing up blood. They took another CT scan and x-ray and thought he maybe had pneumonia again. At that moment, he knew he had to go elsewhere or he wasn't going to make it much longer at this rate.
July 22nd - We rounded up his medical records and mom & dad headed down to the Mayo. His biopsy was sent to the labs down there and were still coming back inconclusive.
July 23rd – Back home.
July 24th – Coughing up more blood – back to mayo. Scope of lungs was done.
July 27th - The PET scan -looked like lymphoma and didn’t appear to be in any organs! He continued to have lots of chest pain, difficult to breathe and swelling in the face.
August 6th – Appointment with Hematology: More scans, blood work, and another biopsy. This time they took 12 samples from the mass in hopes of figuring out where they were dealing with. Dad’s breathing was getting worse and they admitted him into the hospital. He was given 2 bags of steroids IVs which helped to temporarily shrink the mass.
August 7th – Back home!
August 14th – Back at Mayo. Bone Marrow Biopsy. Admitted to Hospital and will start aggressive Chemo tomorrow. Doctor said he would not make it to the end of the month if something was done NOW.
We had thought it was Non-Hodgkin's Large B-cell Lymphoma but unfortunately it wasn’t. He was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). (ALL) is less common in adults and even more rare that it’s not in his bone marrow. He is set to have 8 of the strongest chemo regiments. They will also inject the chemo directly into his spinal fluid 2 times every other regiment.
August 15th – Started Chemo at 5pm. Only one person is allowed to see him in the hospital the whole duration of treatments because of Covid.
August 17th – PIC line put in. We were told if all went well he would finish chemo January 29, 2021. At this time, dad will stay in Rochester the entire time.
August 18th – It was a difficult day - we weren’t going to be around for the birth of our newest grandbaby Asher James born on Tiana birthday. It is really tough not being home to see all the grandkids.
Over the next 2 weeks we had lots of complications. Went into A-fib and got transferred to ICU. Found that the mass had damaged the sac of the heart and the electrical pulses.
August 29th – Released to hotel. August 30th – Extreme pain -admitted back into hospital. Back in ICU. Uncontrollable back pain. (I was heading down to help move them into an apartment - I missed seeing him by about 45 mins which was tough. Haven’t been able to see him since he started treatments.)
August 31st – Moved dad and mom into an apartment which they will stay at for the next 6 months.
September 1st – Dad out of hospital and hair starting to fall out. Mom shaved it – we all think he is pulling off the bald head!! Its been a rough few days still feeling light headed, dizzy and tired.
Sept 6th and 7th – Feeling good finally!! Lots of upcoming appointments this week and returning to hospital for inpatient to start next round of chemo on September 10th.
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