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

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!

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!

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!

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:)