Friday, September 7, 2012

Update

It's been awhile .... I know.

Brandon went in for a right thoracotomy today at Memorial Sloan Kettering. Brandon is out of surgery & has to begin the process of recovery. We did not receive the results or news we were hoping to hear. This is just another bump in Brandon's courageous battle. I ask that if you contact Brandon please send only words of love & encouragement, if you have any questions please contact ME personally as I want Brandon to focus solely on moving forward & not the negativity of the past. Thank you for the continued love, support, and prayers. They get us through each day and give us tremendous hope.

Thanks & Much Love
Sam Ream

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

All we need is love

Ummm what else has been going on lately?

First off we finished another week of treatment, another one down in the books. My sister flew in from Chicago for treatment this week so we got to spend some quality time together and she cleaned my house & helped me plant flowers. Bonus! Plus she can always make us laugh.

Unfortunately, this is Brandon's "crappy" week, lots of bloodwork, low levels, no immune system, throw a blood transfusion in there and worst off he gets stir crazy. Probably doesn't help that I keep a pretty close eye on him and most likely I am driving him nuts. But that's never stopped me before so I will continue to nag. :) (only because I love him) We just hope this week's end comes sooner than later. We have a total of 3 weeks off woo hoo! An additional week thrown on there so Brandon's levels can increase and so a energetic Brandon can stand next to his best buddy when he ties the knot in a couple weeks. I'd say our oncologist is pretty awesome.

For all you facebookers out there and maybe some of you that are not, you may have seen a video interview of us floating around. Brandon and I were asked by our friend Tracy to do an interview for the recent Coaches vs. Cancer dinner & golf weekend. (the CVC was the charity we did the 5k) Anyways the video was pretty emotional for us, it brought us back to November/December in this process, which was a time we were very confused.. We feel like we are now on the right path and our strength truly comes directly from our awesome families and caring friends. Thanks for all the love.

A few special encouraging moments kicking off the month of May/June....
Happy Camp! Woodward officially has started for the summer!
Happy 14th Anniversary to my Sister & Bro in law!
Happy 45th Anniversary to Mom & Dad Tort!
Happy 9th Anniversary to my Brother & Sis in law!
Happy 17th Anniversary to my Sister & Bro in law!

Now if that's not inspiration for Brandon & I, I don't know what is!

Monday, June 4, 2012

Bach-ing it up in the Palm Beaches

It makes me smile knowing Brandon has the energy and strength to do things that make him happy. His friends make him happy.

A couple weeks ago Brandon, the best man, took his best bud Noah & 7 other of their closest friends and hopped on a plane to West Palm Beach. Bachelor party time! The guys enjoyed a long weekend of fun in the sun. A getaway was just what the doctor ordered.

Memorial Day Fun!

We had a nice long memorial day, earlier that week we went to Penn expecting to start another treatment BUT Dr. Staddon sent us home. That was a first, Brandon's platelet level was too low to treat him and Brandon was feeling awesome so he suggested we enjoy another week off.

We spent the week going to dinners, spending time with friends, and most importantly feeling good. Memorial day weekend was spent with my sister and brother in law and with the Ream family. We BBQ'd and pool hopped between our pool and our parents pool. Overall we got a good tan, B got some exercise in the pool and he began to train for Rio 2016.

Hope you all had a happy long weekend!

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Bad News, Good News, pushing through it

Well, let's start with the bad, trust me I know it sucks but we have to start somewhere. Back in March we learned that Brandon's first 15 weeks of treatments weren't working the way the doctors had hoped. Let's just say we were devastated. 15 weeks of tough chemotherapy did not work, the tumor was still growing. After a few hours of hugs and tears we realized we needed to push through, our first question to Dr. Staddon & Laetitia, What's next?

New drugs, new schedule, new side effects, it was quite overwhelming at first, it felt like we were starting over. This new chemo required Brandon to be in the chemo chair 6 hours every day, 5 days for one week. Then 2 weeks off, he would do 2 cycles of this treatment, get more scans, MRI and go from there. He had the new scans & MRI about 4 weeks ago, that week was heart wrenching waiting for the phone call from Dr. Staddon. Is it working? What happens if it doesn't? 4 days after his scans that phone call came from Doc, "Brandon, it seems this new drug is working, no new growth & the tumor is showing small signs of calcifying." Then the tears of joy came, finally some good news & HOPE!

We still have a long road ahead & many more cycles to endure plus surgeries BUT Brandon's leg is feeling much better then it previously had and it helps that Brandon is the strongest person I know (and the cutest).

What we've been up to you ask?

Hi everyone I know I have been MIA but I plan to get you all updated in the next couple weeks. The most important thing right now is that at this particular moment Brandon is feeling good. We have learned that we must take each day one at a time and always hope for the best! Below are some pictures of some of the great things we've been blessed with lately. Thanks to everyone for the continual support, it gets us through each day!

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

What are you thankful for? YUM

Thanks to our favorite decorator & good friend, Kate Kissell for the awesome meal tonight, she is an amazing cook & it is one of Brandon's favorite meals.

Even better we got to enjoy it as a family, FAMILY DINNER TIME:)

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Another addition of ... Things we love lately

Our own bed
Tazo Wild Sweet Orange Tea
Sportcenter Not so "Top 10"
Black Bean Burgers
Dice with Friends
Modern Family
Pictures of our new twin nieces
Water with Lemon
Pandora Radio
Turkey dinner
Phase 10
Oatmeal
Funny texts
Fresh Picked Pear Antibacterial
Anderton Dentistry hand lotion
Chapstick
Walking cane
Marathon Restaurant Philly
Skip Bo
PB&J
Our families
Sleep
Visitors at the most opportune times
Waffle Shop
Sam cleaned her car
Internet hotspot
Our nurse, Jennifer
HGTV
Mancala
Tazo Passion Tea
Starbucks
Laughing
Hugs after bathroom breaks
Blood transfusions
I Love Lucy at 5am
DVR
Love

Most of you have been wondering, where have the blogs been? I was sick and as most of you know being sick & trying to care for someone isn't good for either party. Overall, we had a rough couple weeks a little while back but we now feel like were back on track mentally and emotionally and as you can see we have lots to love lately!

Friday, April 13, 2012

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Here comes Peter Cottontail

We hope everyone had a wonderful Easter! We spent ours with family just eating tons of food, enjoying the weather, and watching the Masters. We are now in transit to Philly for another treatment. Here's a picture of the Tortorello side sporting their TEAM REAM tshirts on Easter Sunday in Chicago.

Happy Birthday Laura!

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Ok I have to brag

When I continually say that we have the most AMAZING friends and family, I MEAN IT! Last week Brandon and I received a very special gift. My best friend, Keri, reached out to friends and family and put together a scrapbook of letters, cards, pictures, and inspirational quotes sent to her from those we love all around the country even internationally (my close friend in Quebec contributed). It was just what we needed at that time, a book full of love written by those we love. To top it off the book was put together perfectly, Brandon kept saying "how did she do this?" "how'd she know?". This scrapbook along with all the cards, messages we have received throughout his whole battle get us through everyday. Keri, thank you again for making that book, I am so thankful we found each other at St. Paul's those 14 years ago.

A little look at the book....



 

Friday, March 23, 2012

Hope

"Hope has two beautiful daughters- their names are anger and courage; anger at the way things are, and courage to see that they do not remain the way they are" -St. Augustine

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Book of Love

Most of you who follow this blog know both Brandon and I or maybe just one of us, so I thought I'd change things up at bit and share "our" story. Probably boring to most but meeting this kid, Brandon, turned out to be the best thing in my life.

I guess it all started freshman year, I use to meet my friend from high school, JR, every Tuesday after BBH class for lunch at Pollock Commons. His teammate, Brandon Ream, had class with JR and also joined us. There you have it, our first introductions. Neither Brandon or I really remember much from those lunches nor speaking much so let's fast forward 2 years.

Of course we use to see each other throughout those years, we ran in pretty similar crowds, sharing mutual friends, don't all athletes? Well, it all started one night at the Shandygaff, May 2005. For those of you who don't know much about the PSU bar scene the Gaff is pretty much a hole in the wall bar that featured $5 Captain and Coke pitchers and during our era, all athletes frequented. By the way Brandon and I have only been back to the Gaff once since the day we graduated and vowed to each other we'd probably never step foot in there again. (except the night of my bachelorette party) Two of my vball managers and friends both went to high school with Brandon and mentioned to me that I may like "Ream" they were also talking me up to Brandon. Viola! That night Brandon Ream asked for my digits and we've been together ever since. Of course "The Daily Collegian" officially defined our relationship that fall when they printed that football punter, Brandon Ream was my boyfriend in a volleyball article. Let me tell you that was fun. Not!

In 7 years, Brandon and I have lived up our senior year in college together, survived almost 2 years long distance (I lived in Colorado and Illinois), worked through me moving jobless to Pennsylvania over 4 years ago, got engaged, planned a wedding, bought a house, got married and now are battling cancer.

Best 7 years of my life and I look forward to the next 100 with him.

Monday, March 19, 2012

Team Ream Believes

Brandon and I are fortunate to have amazing family and friends. This weekend was a true testament to the great people in our lives.

We have quite a few friends who are very involved in the organization, Coaches vs. Cancer that raises money for the fight against cancer. Friends of ours Mike and Malissa Martin brought to our attention that there was a 5K Run/Walk for the CVC and thought creating a Team Ream to participate would be a great idea.

This past St. Patrick's Day, About 70 people ran/walked a 5K route through Penn State's campus donning a TEAM REAM T-shirt (over 350 runners total) and did it for not only a great cause but in support of Brandon. Brandon enjoyed the race cruising campus via golf cart with Basketball staff members & Coach Chambers. I can say from deep down in my heart we are so appreciative of all the love and support we have received, it truly helps us push through each day.

Enjoy the pictures below and if you'd like to donate to a great cause visit www.cvcpennstate.org or you can email mikemartin1079@yahoo.com and he can direct all proceeds from TEAM REAM to the CVC. Already over $1,000 raised!

Again, thanks for a great day!

Thursday, March 15, 2012

March Madness

Brandon and I are often told that we're a pretty competitive couple. Not sure where people get that from, maybe it's that we believe losing in a board game is not an option or possibly we can turn anything we do into a competition OR winning is in both our top 5 favorite things to do. Our games of UNO and Phase 10 in the hotel have become pretty heated. Well today during our 2 hour wait for Brandon's MRI he convinced me to fill out a bracket. Bad idea. Our bed time tv tonight turned into him yelling VCU! VCU! and myself making up random Wichita State cheers. I know your thinking, "VCU vs. Wichita State, really Brandon and Sam?". Guess this time of year brings out the best in all of us.

Happy March Madness, Go Big Ten!

$20 on Black

I'll explain later

Friday, March 9, 2012

Pocketful of Sunshine

Back from the 80 degrees and sunshine of South Florida. State College was a whopping 35 degrees with flurries upon our return. Thanks Pennsylvania. We are looking forward to a weekend of rest, regrouping, and preparing for this upcoming treatment. Brandon battled through a not so forgiving cycle 3a and is ready to get after what lies ahead.
Below is a short conversation I had in Florida with our 3 year old nephew, Brener. Brener and I were playing with diggers and trucks on the beach while Brandon and Alistair fished from the beach into the ocean.

Me: Brandon, how are feeling?
Brandon: Fine.
Brener: Sammy does Uncle B leg feel better?
Me: Yes, it's getting better.
Brener: Good, I bet those fishing rods will help it feel better.

Love that kid.

Saturday, March 3, 2012

That is a lot of Christmas gifts to buy

Throughout this whole process Brandon and I have tried to focus on all the things we have to be happy about and all the exciting events in our future. One of those events happened yesterday. We are now the proud aunt & uncle of 6 nieces & 5 nephews. My brother and his wife had their first children, TWIN girls. Congrats to them and Uncle Brandon and I can't wait to hold our sweet little nieces. Thanks for bringing so many smiles to us already!

Friday, March 2, 2012

Reunited and it feels so good

I have to say that over the past years I have grown pretty accustomed to Brandon being gone for weeks at a time. Jet setting around the world with his Dad to China, Germany, Switzerland or even just California. Of course I missed him during these trips but I usually used this time to catch up on housework, bills, and spend time with my girlfriends. So I thought this time would be no different, well I was wrong. I did the normal "me" time activities but it was much more difficult to be away from Brandon. Especially because he has had such a tough go this time around. Yes, he was in sunny Florida but he was confined to the couch and felt just plain lousy. Extreme fatigue, no energy, sore throat, mouth sores, it was something new every day. Our face time conversations proved to be very hard for me to handle, I hated seeing him like that and I was unable to hug him. I just wanted to scream "Get me outta here!". (State College that is)

Brandon had his normal appointment with Dr. Green. Perfect timing because there were a lot of questions to be asked, what about this sore throat, energy issues etc. Diagnosis: Thrush, grrrrrreeeeeaaaat. Can he please catch a break? Luckily, we have a great doctor who prescribed him some good drugs and insisted that he come back to get check ups. He went back to Dr. Green yesterday and his throat looked much better but his platelet level was extremely low.

I'm writing this entry on our way back to Dr. Green, Brandon and I were reunited yesterday and I will be at this appointment this morning. Hoping his levels are on the upswing and we can avoid a transfusion. He is feeling better than a week ago and I like to think that HUGE hug I gave him at the airport helped a little too.

Stay tuned.

Monday, February 27, 2012

Things we love lately....

In no particular order.

Sorbet
The Hunger Games series
Jello
Sparkling fruit juice
Chicken noodle soup
Revenge
Red Box
Sweatpants
Banana nut Cheerios
Golf on tv
Lin-sanity
Our own bed
New IPad games
Sour Patch Kids
Bethenny Ever After
FaceTime
Our fireplace
Apple Anti-bacterial
UNO
Any kind of berry
Each other

Okay well maybe some of the things above are items I only love and am trying to persuade (force) B to love as well but I do know one thing is for sure; I try to tell him I love him at least 100x's a day (& vice versa too:)

Monday, February 20, 2012

A Sister's Perspective

Some may call it writers block, I'm just calling it a change up. This week our guest bloggers are Lindsay and Kelsey, Brandon's sisters. My focus and energy has 100% been on Brandon and I sometimes forget how this is effecting our family members around us. Having so many siblings between the two of us is truly a blessing. We have constant support and help 24/7. So thank you Laura, Mike, Tony, Meg, Liz, Bryan, Peter, Laura, Katie, Ed, Lindsay, Alistair, and Kelsey, you are our rocks.

Lindsay .......
When I found out my brother, Brandon, had cancer I was sitting at home anxiously awaiting the text of the results. I had a gut feeling it was indeed cancer considering the doctors were 70% sure but i kept telling myself this cant be. A single word text came through to me as soon as they found out..."malignant" and from that moment on everything changed. The strange thing though is that while my world and our family’s world came crashing down at that moment, I didnt for a second think this was something he couldn't beat. Despite the flood of tears running down my cheeks I knew i had to be strong for not only him but for our family. Staying positive and spending every free moment over at my Brothers to keep his mind off of the diagnosis became my main focus. I knew Brener & Carter could always make him smile so we spent every night over there for the days thereafter till a course of action was decided upon. I just kept telling myself that everything is going to be ok...it had to be.
Despite staying positive, the mind has a horrible way of telling you otherwise but I didn't lose focus. Of course my emotions got the best of me at times, I had breakdowns, I lost sleep, I couldn't eat, I felt numb, afraid, angry and above all a bit selfish. How could i feel this bad when this isn't even happening to me. Im not the one with the disease, my brother is, I cant imagine what he must be feeling? Then comes the thought of am I next? is this something I need to be tested for? From a family with little history of health problems to all of a sudden having a sibling with cancer just frightened me to death. I have 2 small boys they need their mommy. I couldn't let my fears get the best of me I had to take care of myself or what good would I be to not only my own family but my entire family. When the cycle of hospital trips and chemotherapy started is when reality set in. The port could been seen in my brother's chest, his normally charismatic demeanor faded, his hair began to fall out as well as his eyelashes, and his energy depleted. I think that is the part that hurts me the most is seeing him in that frail state and knowing that this is something you can't fix. How can something so good be so bad, this is chemo. Despite the harshness of these drugs Brandon took them very well. His body responded well and things are looking good all the more to fuel the fight.
Although my life has been somewhat turned upside down there is a good that can come out of this..wait good out of cancer? I think so I can honestly say it has certainly brought out a great warmth for helping others. My empathy and compassion seem to grow with the crisis. I think in the end our entire family will benefited from the stressful experience in many ways and above all will strengthen the family closeness. LOSING THE BATTLE IS NOT AN OPTION.

Kelsey......
I had just flown home from San Diego and was on my way down to Camp for the day. I heard mom ask B if his leg was okay today, as curious as I was I had to ask B what was going on. He said his leg was bothering him and he was going to Suhey to get it checked out. Okay, we are an active family we all have aches and pains from sports injuries, we push through them but a pain that is still there for awhile is worth checking out. No idea as to what was coming next.
70% chance cancer…. But 30% not. Cue the annoying Jeopardy music.
I was with Lindsay over at her place when she got a text from Brandon and Sam saying that the doctor called and it was Cancer. I jumped in the car and rushed over to their place to be with them. I just remember sitting there eyes full of tears not knowing what to say to my Brother. There was nothing I could say. I just knew deep down that it was going to be okay, but how do you say that?
Everything will be okay… But right now its not! Its scary and its okay to be scared but it CANCER. The most feared condition that you don’t want someone close to you to go through let alone your Brother. There were tons of tears, little sleep, no appetite, and the little things didn’t matter, I just wanted my brother to be okay. But what did it matter what I was feeling? What was my brother feeling? I think that was the hardest thing to try to comprehend and I probably never will. He was going to be going through the treatments, his life was being swept from under his feet. I just knew I had to just be strong for him.
The whole waiting game was the worst. When were the treatments starting? Did he need surgery? A ton of questions and it felt like a year to hear what the hell was happening.
When B left for his first treatment I wanted to be as strong as possible for him I didn’t want him to think we were scared for him. I failed at that, but I hugged him and told him I loved him and it was going to be okay.
The waiting was over B was getting treatment and going to Florida to “relax”. Even though this is one treatment and there were more to come, he was being taken care of.
As I look back to all the feeling and thoughts, Brandon’s life has changed but it’s a bump in the road and he is dealing with the cards he is being dealt. He has kicked every treatments ass. Even though I have not been there physically I have heard he is doing awesome.
My eyes and my families eyes were opened real wide and I think in the long run after Brandon beats this it will have made us stronger, especially Brandon and Sam.
My Little note to B:
You’re in my thoughts everyday B. You are an extremely loved person and I am so proud that I am your sister. Everyone is Park City is thinking of you and wishing you well.
March 28- Good luck in Surgery! Love and Miss You
"Believe deep down in your heart that you're destined to do great things." -JoePa
Had throw some JoePa advice to ya… He was apart of making the person you are today. A FIGHTER!!!

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

My Momma said there would be days like this...

Is it the weekend or better yet, is it October? We went into this week with a positive outlook and things just did not pan out as hoped.

5am Monday morning I woke up with a stomach bug. As most of you know germs and Brandon/whole Penn oncology unit do not mix. So Becky and Brandon headed off to treatment. I transferred myself and a bucket of ice chips over to Becky's room so I would not infect our suite. Brandon getting sick would result in him being hooked up to fluids for an extra 2 days. That is the last thing we wanted, so Becky was left to taking care of the both of us. I pretty much felt awful that I couldn't be there with Brandon while he got pumped with the neon yellow superhero liquid. (aka Methotrexate) but understood it was for the best. Brandon's treatments are pretty standard now. The only thing that seems to vary are the side effects, did you know there are pages of side effects for all these cancer drugs? There is ringing of the ears, sore throat, side pains, nose bleeds, extreme fatigue, etc etc and Brandon never knows which he'll wake up with for the day. So for right now that is our biggest struggle. We just go to bed every day believing the next day will be better.

Big thanks Becky for taking care of us this week. She told me that is what Mom's are for and I'm pretty sure Brandon and I have the 2 best moms in the world.

Ending on a positive note, cycle 2 is over, GO BRANDON!

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Happy Valentine's Day XOXO

Brandon and I are spending our 7th Valentine's day together in the Sofitel watching movies, playing UNO, and drinking Gatorade :) Cycle 2 is over! Much love xoxo

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Goodnight Moon

In bed at 8pm, most likely asleep by 9pm, new record in the Ream household? Definitely on Brandon's part. Seems like this cycle B has taken a toll on B's energy, so lots of naps and rest seem to be the answer.

Not really sure if I am blogging too much or not enough, new to the whole blog world. Many of you have been asking me to blog more, so here is my attempt. You may be reading some random posts but doing this has helped us and hopefully helping all of you stay connected to Brandon. Just another thank you to everyone for the continuous cards, emails, texts, messages etc. Trust me they do not go unnoticed and bring many smiles to our day. We are very blessed.

Much Love,
B&S

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

I've seen better days

Hello from Philly-
Currently finishing up in Cycle 2b. We tried to stay in State College as long as possible on Sunday, spending time eating and watching the Superbowl at Gary and Becky's house, finally around the 3rd quarter we decided we better begin our trek back to Philly. Needless to say it was a late night and we were pretty tired for our 8:30am Monday appointment. Our talk with Dr. Staddon and Laetitia was very positive; Brandon's counts looked good, we found out we could leave Philly a day early this week, and we discussed our game plan for the next few weeks. All in all that was a positive point in the day.
I would be lying if I said each visit gets easier. Although we have this drill down pat and we are very lucky to have amazing medical care and support team, mentally some days are better than others. Anxiety and stress can get the best of the most positive people sometimes. Maybe it's the fact Brandon knew he'd be in that chair 2 more Mondays in a row or maybe it's that spending 8 hours in an oncology unit can't be fun for anyone, who knows? But, yesterday we were mentally drained. On a more positive note Brandon felt pretty decent & we were much happier once we were nice and comfortable back at the Sofitel. Our favorite homecare nurse, Meredith, came and hooked Brandon up to fluids and he ate a full dinner. My good friend and college teammate, Kara, came down to the Sofitel and had dinner with Becky and I. So after a long day, our night ended pretty well.
We are taking each day in stride, Brandon has bloodwork at Penn throughout this week and we look forward to having a relaxing weekend at home, before repeating this exact same process next week.

Much Love-
B&S

Friday, February 3, 2012

Back to life, Back to reality

Greetings from Happy Valley. I lie here at 9pm on Friday night, about to watch 20/20 and Brandon is sound asleep next to me. Wow, how the times have changed. I can't help but remember that 7 years ago on a Friday night Brandon and I would probably be on the Blue Loop heading downtown to The Lion's Den. Our lives have taken a complete 360 and it seems like it happened in seconds. Can it be that something that came on so sudden change us forever? ....Absolutely, I truly believe Brandon will come out of this smarter, stronger, and healthier than ever. Heck, he may even get curly hair out of it. (he'll hate that, but I'm secretly excited) So instead of dreading the oncoming change we are dealing with it and embracing it, together.

We are currently mentally and physically preparing this weekend for another treatment next week. He's got this.

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

#sweet

Being the social network addict that I am, I figured I would share this tweet below. Mark Herzlich is a former Boston College football player and now a New York Giant. In 2009 he was diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma, bone cancer, his tumor was in his left leg and his surgeon was Dr. Lackman. Dr. Lackman will be performing Brandon's surgery in March.

A Mark Herzlich tweet from earlier this week....

"2 yrs ago I was told I might never walk again. Just WALKED off plane in Indy to play in The #SuperBowl. #TakeThatSh*tCancer"

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Monday, January 23, 2012

Happy Birthday Brandon

Happy 28th Birthday to the best son, brother, uncle and husband. Here's to a great year ahead!

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Jolly Ranchers? Really Brandon?

Brandon had some trouble sleeping last night, I woke up to him not once but twice chomping on Jolly Ranchers (in my ear) & watching the replay of the Penn State vs. Illinois basketball game. Bright spots of him not sleeping; he was hungry therefore has somewhat of an appetite and PSU beat the Illini.

Brandon also received a phone call today from the new Penn State basketball coach, Pat Chambers. We do not know Coach but he wanted Brandon to know he was thinking of him, keep his spirits up and thank him for the Ream's support of PSU basketball. Pretty cool, thank you Coach Chambers. So many good people involved in Penn State athletics, reasons why we will forever be Penn State proud.

Stay warm State College,
B&S

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

City of Brotherly Love

Philly is starting to feel like a second home to us. We have our favorite eating spots, stores we like to explore, and we even get the same hotel suites every time. I can't reiterate the fact how great everyone here has been, the whole Penn Medicine Oncology Staff, the Homecare staff, and hotel staff. This city has stayed true to it's name.

Cycle 2a is complete. Like I previously stated Brandon and I weren't looking forward to this treatment. The two chemotherapy drugs he knew he'd be receiving weren't very welcoming the previous time. We had a great appointment with Dr. Staddon and our nurse practitioner, Laetitia. They informed us all Brandon's levels have been... In their words "perfect" trust me Brandon keeps reminding me of that fact. They also told us that the drug Brandon receives in the B and C parts, Methotrexate, is on shortage. Please tell me how a drug that so many people need is not made in appropriate amounts and the companies who do supply this drug are only releasing 1gram a day to Penn? Healthcare issues? I see a letter to the White House in my near future (put that one on my list) Anyways, if it is not available when Brandon needs it they will proceed with treatments but tack on all Brandon's Methotrexate portions on the end. A little confusing, but they assured us this has been a common practice because of various drug shortages in recent years. Again, we put all our trust in these amazing doctors and nurses and have full faith in their expertise. Brandon's time in the chair this week was only 5 hours compared to 7, so that was a plus, we enjoyed a day of our apple products and chatting up our neighbors. Dr. Staddon and Laetitia suggested that Brandon receive a shot of the strong anti-nausea medication directly into his port before he left the oncology unit. They seemed to think this would help fight any sickness caused by the meds. It definitely made a difference. He of course did not feel great but felt and looked much better in comparison to that first treatment. He was able to drink and eat a whole bowl of chicken noodle soup. Brandon is continuing to to eat a little and drink today, he is hooked up to fluids, and is in high spirits.

We are looking forward to each day improving and hoping he gets more strength and energy as the week continues.

Much Love from the City of Brotherly Love,
B&S

Home Sweet Home

Monday, January 16, 2012

Chinese food anyone?

Just Breathe

Quick recap of last week, Brandon's last treatment of Cycle 1 went really well. Sam's parents came to Philly for that treatment. Thanks Mom & Dad. We got to enjoy some time with family and a few friends and here we are again.

Well.....

Ever feel like you can't catch your breath? Yep, that is pretty much how I have felt since November 22nd. A little reminiscent of the 4 court suicides and 6am lifts Brandon and I use to endure back in the day. Not fun, but I will say Brandon is worth every breath I feel have missed the past 2 months.

Brandon begins Cycle 2 tomorrow at Penn. I'd be lying if I said we both weren't experiencing a little anxiety about this treatment. Although it wasn't terrible it wasn't easy either. Is chemotherapy ever considered easy? Probably not, so I guess we have been pretty lucky. Lucky as in we have been blessed that Brandon went through Cycle 1 pretty smoothly, a few bumps along the way but nothing he can't handle. So all we can do is pray Cycle 2 follows suit.

I'll say goodnight on this note, My husband is AWESOME.

With Love,
B&S

Saturday, January 7, 2012

You got that right ...

Really hanging on tight to this one lately.

"I know God wouldn't give me anything I can't handle, I just wish He didn't trust me so much." -Mother Teresa

Thursday, January 5, 2012

They Call Me Mellow Yellow

Hello 25 degree weather! Back in Philly after a wonderful 2 weeks in sunny Florida. Seems we left Florida just in time, temperature dropped to 40 degrees down South the day we left.

We are settled back into our routine in Philadelphia. Brandon finished Cycle 1B yesterday at Penn. It was a long day, we were there 8am -4:30pm. Brandon did great, he basically read, slept, and was on his iPad. The medicine Brandon received this round is meant to destroy all the cells dividing in his body, unfortunately it also kills the good cells. Did I mention the meds Brandon received in chemo were bright yellow, causing his skin and his bodily fluids to turn neon yellow, hence the title. The homecare nurse came last night and taught me how to administer the rescue drug through Brandon's port every 6 hours. This will restore his good cells. He is also having blood draws every 24 hours until Saturday so our oncologist can track his counts. FYI if anyone needs any medical assistance I am your girl, I'm practically a pro. (Again, Brandon begs to differ) Enough of the procedural talk, Brandon is doing well! No nausea after this round and he has a full appetite. Potbelly has been our food of choice.(right down the street from our hotel, yes!) I am so proud of him, his resilience and strength through this process is a constant reminder of why I married Brandon.

We are so thankful for all the love and support we have received. Most of you have seen our video of Brandon's haircut. He has since received at least a dozen pictures of friends and family who are now rocking a Mohawk in his honor. Thank you, every message, picture, action has truly touched our hearts. We have a couple days off to regroup and spend some time with family and then we will repeat this week again next Wednesday. Stay tuned.

With Love,
B&S