I've got you now cancer.

As anyone that knows what my medical history since December 2007 has been like, I do not seem to ever get good news from doctors that holds up. Today though will hopefully mark a change in that trend. We got some bad news as well but the good more than makes up for it.

We are now in Indiana and today Karen and I met with Dr. Einhorn. He is very kind and you can tell that he cares. At the same time though you can tell that he is really smart and experienced. We discussed everything about my cancer chronologically and set up a treatment plan. I'll start with the bad news. The bad news is that we will be here longer then we had originally hoped. Dr. Einhorn says it could be up to 3 months. Our goal is to make it home by Christmas now.

The good news is in 2 parts. The first being that I will not be confined in the hospital very much at all. I start a 5 day treatment tomorrow and I will have to be in the hospital from then until Sunday. After that is done though everything I do will be out patient if I feel well enough.

The other part, the best part, is that Dr Einhorn is very sure that my chances of having this cancer cured completely are much higher. In fact, the statistics have completely reversed. My doctor in Utah gave me a 70% chance of dying within a few years. Dr. Einhorn gives me a 70% chance of having this disease completely gone by the end of this year and for it to never come back. He says that they have done thousands of these treatments before and in looking at my individual case there is no way my chances are even near that low.

That news definitely lightened my spirits. Even when my chances were less than a coin flip I believed I could beat the cancer but it still weighs on you to be told such things. Now that the statistics are in line with my hopes everything feels better. The sky is brighter, the trees are greener, and Indiana feels like a wonderful place. Today, at least. These next few months will still be very hard for us and I am still going to get assaulted with some intense treatments.

Let me explain briefly what the treatment plan is. I will be admitted to the hospital tomorrow to start a 5 day round of chemotherapy. I will be given Cisplatin and two other drugs I did not get before. I will have to be in the hospital all 5 days. Then I have 2 to 3 weeks to recover. Once my blood count is at a safe level I will be given the stem cell treatment. They will harvest my stem cells so that they can return them to me after the high dose chemotherapy that will be administered. The high dose chemotherapy will be 3 days long and will seriously knock me out. It will be a higher dose mixture of Cisplatin and Etoposide. After that the stem cells will be given back to me to basically bring me back to life. Then I will have another 2 or 3 weeks to recover and they will rinse and repeat with the high dose chemo/stem cell thing. Then it should all be done. The side effects will be similar to before. Yes, I will lose my hair. :(

Karen and I love and miss everyone back home and we can't wait to come back. Thank you for all the support that is being given emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and physically. When I come home I WILL be cured for good.

Sean

(ps: I love you Karen)

Me>Cancer