Gary

Gary {our son-in-law} is your average 31 year-old guy – active in sports, hard-working at his job, loving husband to Heather and doting daddy to Taylor and Weston, fastidious about yardwork, home projects, spending time with his family, and – Oh yes! Fighting an aggressive form of cancer known as Burkitt’s Lymphoma; it's hard for me to even write that word, and it's almost if I don't say it .... it isn't so. But it is, and it's a battle.

He was diagnosed at the end of Sept. 2008, and quickly went from going to work each day, to going in for blood tests, biopsies, CT scans, bone marrow samples, lumbar punctures, all of which help determine the type of lymphoma and how far it has spread in the body. This info was then used to help decide which treatment is most appropriate for him. He started the first round of chemo in October. He is now on the 2^nd regimen, and is responding well to it. If it is successful, there is almost a 90% chance that he will be cured – not in remission, but CURED! That is what all of us are hoping, praying, and depending on.

Burkitt’s lymphoma is a type of B-cell lymphoma. In the Western world, the most common symptom is an abdominal swelling that starts in the bowel. Burkitt’s lymphoma may also affect other organs such as the eye, the ovaries, kidneys, and glandular tissue such as the breast, thyroid or tonsil. It may also affect the lymph nodes or bone marrow. Some people experience a loss of appetite/weight loss and fatigue. For practical purposes, non-Hodgkin lymphomas are divided into two groups: low- and high-grade. Low-grade lymphomas are usually slow-growing, and high-grade lymphomas grow more quickly. Burkitt’s lymphoma is a high-grade lymphoma. This means that it is faster-growing and usually needs prompt treatment with chemotherapy.

Gary is on an A B schedule, and each schedule lasts 21 days. On the A schedule he spends most of his days in the hospital, and on schedule B he gets 4 to 5 different types of chemo a day for 7 days straight. “It pulls the life out of you”, Gary says.

Gary will be spending his birthday and most likely Christmas in the hospital this year. Gary is halfway done with his regimen but we still have ‘til the end of January before he gets to stay home for good (cross your fingers). With this type of lymphoma you have to hit it fast and hit it hard. Gary spends most of his days lying flat, because of such bad migraines that make him nauseous. The migraines are from the many spinal taps he has to have. He never gets a chance to build up fluid before they take it from him. It causes the brain to sag and leaves you with the worst headache you’ve ever had. He will have 8 total spinal taps. 3 with schedule A and 1 with schedule B.

Thanksgiving and Christmas are being viewed in a new light - we're focusing on what's important. We're not worrying so much about getting Christmas lights up, or the marathon shopping trips, all the cooking and baking, or whether there is a gift for each neighbor. With that said, I would like to invite any of you that would like to donate to a fund raiser that Gary's co-workers have initiated. They are selling T-shirts and are donating the money to Gary and Heather to help defray hospital bills, and other expenses. You will never understand the meaning of 'catastrophic medical expenses' until you go through something like this!

They come in gray or black, sizes M-L-XL-1X and the cost is $20 per shirt. To order you may contact

Tina at tinah@mountainwesttc.com or call 888-478-2276.