First Post Treatment Scan Coming up!

Hi everyone!
It's been a long time since I have written here but I just wanted to let you all know Shawn is feeling GREAT! His hair is back, his strength is back and he looks very healthy! We are enjoying our summer catching up on things we weren't able to do over the winter and doing alot of relaxing and enjoying our family.

August 12th is his first post-treatment scan to make sure all is still clear. Please keep him in your prayers that day! He is trying not to think about it, but I know it's a bit of a worry in the back of his mind.

Football Season starts soon and he is head coach of C team again this year! I know he is looking forward to seeing "his Boys" again! I bought him a special t-shirt to wear the first night of practice! You will have to see it in person! It's a surprise but will be a great reassurance for the boys to see!

Hope you are all having a wonderful summer!
Take care,
Jess

Milestone

This week was a milestone for Shawn. On Wednesday he would have had treatment had his treatments continued! I asked him if he got nauseous at the thought or anything and he said "no, I am too busy at work to think about that". I guess that's good!
His hair is getting thicker by the day and we are very happy to see him get back to his old self! Wrestling with the kids, goofing around in the garage, working on his project car, etc.

If you every have the chance to help someone who is going through a similar situation, let me offer some advice.....tell them to take it day by day, statistics are only numbers that are based on records, what about the ones that are not recorded? It's just a temporary problem. Call them all the time just because, even if it makes you uncomfortable, call! They need to know that you are there for them! And if it's at all possible to believe, I stand firm by it, you will walk away from the entire thing feeling very Blessed and have a whole new appreciation for life! And last but Certainly NOT least, ALL things are possible through Christ Jesus!!!

Have a wonderful spirit filled weekend!
Jess

And Last but not the least.....

Well, we are finding that the last treatment, certainly isn't the least difficult. Shawn's having a rough time with this round. I keep telling him that he is being entirely too hard on himself and having too high of expectations on his recovery. After all, this could have killed him! I told him he will never have a better excuse to take time for himself to recover and relax so if he doesn't do it, I am gonna Kill him! ha ha

Just praying that he starts to feel more like himself soon!

Have a good evening.
Jess

FINITO!

Today went well, the LP was actually the fastest, smoothest one ever! Shawn wasn't feeling too well after, but I think it was mostly from the meds.

The great news we found out is, of all the people whose scans were clear 1/2 way through treatment (like Shawn's was), 86% will NEVER develope lymphoma again!!!!!
I am not an odds or statistics person, but That sounds pretty great to me!!!!!

Have a Blessed weekend everyone!
Love,
Jess

Today is the LAST of the LAST TREATMENTS!!!!!!

Today is the last of the last treatments for Shawn!!!!!! Hallelujah! It feels soooooo good to think we are FINALLY at the end of this VERY LONG journey!!!!

Thank you to the Trimarchi's for the "Last Chemo" bouquet!!! What a special surprise! You are so thoughtful! We look forward to seeing you all again soon!

We just wanted to thank you all once again, I don't feel like I can say that enough, for all you have done for our family. We are very blessed to know you all!
Each and everyone of you have shown God's love, so pure, so unselfish. It's the most beautiful thing I have ever experienced!

So, this is it!
See you soon!
JEss

"Live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." Eph. 5:2

Tomorrow is Shawn's final chemo!

I can't believe we have made it to the end. It seems a bit surreal right now, sad because I know what to expect over the next few days, Shawn will probably have a rough time after this chemo treatment, sad because we won't be seeing the wonderful staff at Johns Hopkins whom we have grown to love. But very joyful to say those words....LAST CHEMO! And very excited about our life, and our family getting back to normal. Joyful to see Shawn's strength and energy come back, joyful to see the worry gone from our childrens faces. Joyful to have a reason to celebrate! Joyful to have learned through this trial that we have some VERY good friends. Joyful to know more now than ever that God is ALWAYS GOOD!

Thank you all for following us on our journey. We couldn't have made it through with out you!

One final prayer request, Pray Wed. that Shawn's final chemo goes well, that he feels very little side effects. And pray that the Lumbar Puncture on Friday goes well also. That he recovers quickly and doesn't suffer any headaches.

Blessings to all!
Jess

Welcome snow, fresh and new!

Good afternoon everyone.
Today is a better day for Shawn. He managed to go into work and seemed to be feeling a little better.

I am constantly amazed at the fact that we have had so much support and love during this difficult time. And as I know some people would ask "why me?" I have to say "thank you God". This experience has really renewed my faith in mankind. It has also made me realize that everything is in God's timing, not mine. It's God's perfect timing. I mean, think about this for a moment, had Shawn not coached football, we wouldn't know many of you. Had it not happened when it did, we wouldn't have been in the middle of midget football season and we wouldn't have had the support of our football families and friends to get us through! Had we not lived where we live, we would not be so close to a world famous hospital with nationally known doctors! Shawn's emoployer is so amazingly understanding about him missing work, and not having the stress of that has all the more encouraged his healing. The amazing friends at Barley Snyder who have surprised us with these lovely surprise baskets, meals, house cleanings, etc....I just cannot say enough about how great you all are! You have made a very stressful situation a bit more tolerable and relaxed! You are all amazing!

I hope that you all realize that, it's not just the good times that God is good, it's also the bad times too! He is always GOOD!

Have a blessed day!
Jess

"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." (Isaiah 41:10)

Rough at the end of the tunnel

Good morning friends and family,

That actually isn't right, it's a rough morning here. Shawn is very sick today from last weeks treatments. The doctors warned us that the treatments have a cumulative effect and will have more and more of an effect on his body the further he goes, but we had no idea it would be this bad. It's so hard to see him feel this bad.

So, if you have a minute today, just say a quick prayer please for him to feel better, find peace in knowing that we are nearly done, and get rest today.

Thanks!
Blessings!
Jess

"My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken." Psalm 62:1-2

2nd to last LP yesterday!

Yesterday was Shawn's 2nd to LAST LP at Johns Hopkins!!! It is amazing to think we....I mean HE is nearly done with this treatment!

The radiology dept. was running behind schedule so we waited about two hours to get it done, which didn't help with the "anticipation sickness". The longer he waited the more stressed and nervous he got. ESPECIALLY when as we were waiting, the patient that was in the room just before him started SCREAMING at the top of his lungs!YIKES!!

We both looked at each other in worry! The technician came out and I said "I hope that wasn't an LP in there!" laughing nervously praying he would say OH NO! But he replied "it wasn't a NORMAL LP" Well needless to say that really got Shawn's nerves in an uproar! Then Matt, the tech, came out To get Shawn, talked to him to calm him down and took him in the room.

As I was waiting in the waiting area, a few minutes into the proceedure, I hear them laughing and talking, then suddenly a loud booming voice that wasn't Shawn's yells "Oh My God!" I knew immediately that Matt and Shawn had devised a plan to try to fool me and make me worry! Well, I sat there laughing, and two other technicians came RUNNING around the corner nearly hysterical! I looked at them and said 'oh that's my husband playing a joke on me" and they didn't look happy at all and replied "well, we don't joke around here like that!"

Omgosh I was so embarrassed but it was definitely a good laugh!

He is feeling pretty wiped out this week but glad to be one step closer to the end! Looking forward to a long weekend with my family!

Have a great day and stay warm!
Jess

"Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart"

Psalm 37:4

Long Day!!!

Hi everyone.

Today was the second to last chemo treatment for Shawn. I wish I could say it went smoothly, but it was the worst one yet. We found out that "anticipatory nausea" is a very real thing and he felt sick all morning before we got down to Hopkins for treatment. The nausea didn't go away and once treatment started quickly got worse. For the first time since he started treatments, he actually got sick during chemo. Thankfully the doctor quickly ordered a combo-coctail of meds to take care of it and he was feeling better by the time he was done.

It is SO good to think that now he has ONE more chemo, and two Lumbar Punctures left and then he will be done!

This Friday is his Lp, then we go back on 2/17 & 19 for the final two!!!

This has been such a long and Blessed journey for our family. We have grown spiritually and been amazed by many people who have stepped up to support us along the way! Some surprised us more than others!! It definitely makes you appreciate life in a way that is indescribable. I know that I will NEVER take what time I have with my family for granted ever again! Each and every day is precious!

Have a wonderful evening.

Jess

"I thank my God every time I remember you."
Philippians 1:3

Sprouting some hair!!!

Hello everyone!

Nothing really exciting going on here since the last report. Except SHawn is sprouting new BLONDE hair!!! It looks somewhat like Billy Idol! Kinda cool! He is doing well. Ready to get the last few treatments over with. THe not so good news, we recently found out that he has to go have some oral surgery done once chemo is finished. The surgeon said it's pretty bad. Evidently his jaw bone is failing where he had a crown done and it never healed properly. So, the excitement isn't over yet! I guess the good part of this is, we would have never known about the problem had he not had the PET scan done (the radiologist saw he was having trouble in the jaw and told us. They scan you from knee caps to eyeballs!)

The kids are so relieved to have good news about their dad! You could just see the relief in their faces and they were crazy wild the night we told them the scan report! It was great to see!

I have started to do a little side business of my own (like I have alot of free time! ha ha) and I painted my neighbors dining room for her. It's work, but very theraputic for me so it's all good. And it never hurts to have a little extra spending money!

I have to once again thank all the friends and family from WMF C team 2009!!!! You all have lifted my family up in prayers, and supported us with meals. I can't thank you enough for all you have done. It has been a TRUE Blessing and we are VERY grateful! This journey you have decided to help us through is nearly over and we couldn't have done as well as we have without your help! We are very excited that Shawn was elected as C team head coach again for 2010 and look forward to seeing you all out there again this year!

Hope everyone is having a good January so far!
Blessings,

Jess

"Well done, good an faithful servant!"
Matthew 25:21

After today- 2 and 2!

Today Shawn heads down to JH for his lumbar puncture treatment. His dad is taking him for me. THANK YOU DAD! Shawn's having a hard time with getting through the end of this, but I keep reminding him, "After this....2 more!!!! ONLY 2 more!"

I can't wait to say "ONe more, only one more!" and then....."LAST ONE THIS IS THE LAST ONE!"

We are so thankful for ALL the support we have received through out this long journey!
I really don't know how we could have made it through without you all!

I hope you know how special you all are!

PLease just pray that he doesn't get the terrible headaches from this treatment.

On a funny note, last night he was very very tired from a long week of trying to work and the normal cancer exhaustion. As Shawn was lying on the floor talking to one of our children about the new tooth fairy movie, he said "let's see if any of your teeth are loose so we can put it under the pillow and see if the Easter Bunny will come!" YOU KNOW HE IS TIRED WHEN.....!!!!! We were laughing hysterically!

Hope all is well with everyone!
Blessings
Jess

Dr. Swinnen couldn't stop smiling!

Today went well once we got there. A normally 1 1/2 hr drive took 2 1/2 hours, and then there was a delay because of our new insurance. But around 10:30am the treatment finally started.

We enjoyed the day together as much as possible. I brought us lunch at the local deli and it was delicious! Our dr, Dr. Swinnen, came by to talk to us about the scan report and how treatment was going and he couldn't stop smiling! He said that it was going very well! Thank you Jesus!

So, two more chemo and 3 more LP's and then in March Shawn gets his post treatment PET scan. If that is clear, then he will be checked every 4 months for 2 years, then every 6 months until 5 years. If he is still clear at 5 years, he will be considered cured!!!!

Thank you THANK YOU THANK YOU Kristi and Greg!!! You guys are lifesavers!!!! After a long day of treatment and driving, it was wonderful to have your delicious meal there! Cooking is the last thing on my mind after a very long day! I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU~!!!!!

Tomorrow, I get to give him his Neulasta shot and then next Tuesday is his next LP.

Tomorrow is recovery from today's treatment too. Keep prayin'!

Love to all,

Jess

Heading to Hopkins!!!

Good EARLY morning everyone!
Today we head to Hopkins for chemo! After today we are down to two chemo and three lumbar punctures!!!!! YEAY!!!!!!

Praying for safe travels this early snowy cold morning!
Hopefully we will have some more info on Shawn's future today too!

Take care all and stay warm! It 's cold out!!!
Love and Blessings,
Jess

It's TiME TO CELEBRATE!!!!!

Doctor's OFFICIAL report: "EXCELLENT response to chemotherapy. NEGATIVE for active lymphoma!"

PRAISE THE LORD! I cannot tell you how relieved I am. I am in tears right now just so full of joy with this news.

Again, thank you to everyone for the prayers! They were answered!!!!!! It really means so much to us to have the support, love and encouragement of you all! We truly love each and everyone of you!!!

9 more weeks of chemo, and then he should be good to go! Wednesday is his next chemo treatment.

Blessings for a great 2010!!!!!

Jess

"And He will be the stability of your times, A wealth of salvation, wisdom and knowledge; The fear of the Lord is his treasure."

Isaiah 33:6

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Happy 2010 Everyone! I have a feeling 2010 is going to be a GREAT year!!!!!