Month: November 2025

Sam is in that “middle time” between his first round of chemo and the start of the next. Those first few days afterward were tough—lots of achiness and low energy—but he’s perked up the last couple of days. He even helped me get my winter tires mounted this weekend. I did get a bit of a stern talking-to about how much I was going to let him help. And by the end of it, I was the one showing signs of “chemo brain,” so we got a good laugh out of that.

He has started losing his hair—really more like shedding at this point. This afternoon we’re taking him to get his head shaved, and his mom has requested a mohawk photo before it all comes off. That one should be fun to share.

He had his first in-office visit with his oncologist yesterday morning. Bloodwork still looks good, and we reviewed logistics for the upcoming treatments. It was a pretty uneventful visit, which is exactly what we hope for these days.

His next round of chemo is scheduled to begin Monday, December 1st. The only wrinkle right now is that his health insurance approvals haven’t fully come through yet. That held us back from mapping out all the future chemo dates and appointments. As someone who likes a solid schedule, that part is unnerving—but Sam and Grace handled it with so much calm, trusting that the pieces will fall into place.

We continue to be so proud of them. They’re facing everything with strength, honesty, courage, and deep faith. That doesn’t mean there aren’t hard moments, tears, and tough conversations—but they are leaning hard on their Heavenly Father and the people around them. It’s humbling and incredibly encouraging to watch, and we can see how God is answering one of their biggest prayers.

A few new prayer requests:

• That the health insurance approvals get aligned quickly and the next several months can be scheduled smoothly.
  
• Peace in the uncertainty as the next round of chemo begins.
  
• That symptoms are minimal for the next round of chemo and Sam remains physically strong.

Over the last week of Sam’s almost two weeks in the hospital, he was getting rather antsy about going home.  I was working to prepare him to not be too disappointed if the discharge process didn’t happen all that smoothly and to have some patience.  Well was I a little wrong (in a good way) on that front!  He texted at 10am on Friday that they were expecting to bust him out at 11am.  Val and I promptly drove down to the hospital to find him all unhooked from his PICC line and IV, organizing things only the way he can.  The nurse came in, went through the discharge instructions, gave a hug and we walked right out.  After all things “hospital” we have been through since he was admitted on November 3rd, that was by far one of the most welcomed of them!  

He is now trying to get some rest while alternately getting out for some exercise and movement when he feels good.  The Oncologist let us know this coming week is the one where he will feel the most icky and then the following week he should start to feel better before starting the next round of chemo on Monday, December 1st.  He and Grace will start to figure out the new rhythms of life where patience and encouragement will be in extra need.  Determining how both their work lives fits into this new pace will be important.  He is planning on trying to work some each day and I have been teasing him that we will need to triple check his static load calculations for a while!

Right now as they figure out this new, temporary normal here are a few prayer requests:

1. The chemo has the desired effect to kill those nasty cancer cells while also taking as little toll as possible on him.
2. Finding physical and mental rest while figuring out what their new “normal” looks like for the foreseeable future.
3. That they continue to live solidly in the present, continuing to lean on their Heavenly Father.

Sam has been tolerating the first round of chemo extremely well to date.  Side effects have been minimal with the biggest challenge being his taste being off and some swelling in his feet.  He did start a different chemo drug today, Rituxan which has had some more challenging side effects.  Swollen feet, some heaviness in the chest and thrush in the face.  They have been managing symptoms today by adjusting speed of delivery and also putting loads of prednisone and benadryl onboard.  

One other skill Sam has picked up is something we are calling “tube management”.  He has a PICC line installed for right now that will be replaced with a port in an outpatient procedure.  He has three different IV pumps hooked up and getting him anywhere requires some interesting gymnastics with all the cords, tubes, etc.  AKA Tube Management.

I must say watching Sam and Grace navigate this challenging time makes me extremely proud of them both.  While fully understanding how scary things are, their attitude has been beyond amazing.  They are well grounded and so, so strong both for each other and those around them.  That doesn’t mean there aren’t things that throw them for a loop or cause challenges, but it is to say they are processing things well and leaning on the Lord in a really cool way.

Regarding schedule, the plan is to bust Sam out of the hospital tomorrow sometime.  He is soooo ready to be home!  I already clued him in last night that the discharge process may take a little patience and could be frustrating with how long it will take.  Pray that all goes smoothly.  

The medical community has indicated that next week he will most likely not feel too well and have given him ideas and ways to help make him as comfortable as possible.  Their support group is on the case and working to help with meals, etc.  Pretty cool to see how so many people have rallied around them!  That includes both emotional and physical support!

One of the things Sam and I have been discussing early in his marriage is perspective and that experience (we call it mileage) helps with developing wisdom.  We talked about the fact that some of the mileage is uphill and that at those times we are really investing in developing wisdom.  Well, neither of us expected this kind of uphill mileage at this point in both their lives or their marriage.  I joked with him that they are getting a PhD in mileage very early on!  Which goes along with his prayer request that the Lord would not waste this situation.  It has been so great to see how even in the smallest things their attitude is providing them the opportunity to share their faith.  

Latest Prayer Requests

1. That this current round of chemo causes minimal challenges
2. That the discharge process from the hospital goes smoothly
3. That he and Grace get settled in at home well

Yesterday provided a clear treatment path and plan for the next 18 weeks.  Sam was officially diagnosed with primary mediastinal b-cell lymphoma.  This type of lymphoma is fast growing which also makes it very receptive to treatment.  The term “treatment to cure” is the philosophy Sam’s oncology team is taking.  We asked the doctor when this might have started and he was guessing more than two months but less than six.

The treatment plan is one continuous week of chemo and then two weeks off.  This will go for a total of six cycles.  His chemo week will be office appointments every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  The office appointment days will consist of getting the chemo started and sending him home with a very cool 90’s fanny pack which contains a pump and chemo to be run while he is at home.  

Our understanding is that the second week of each cycle will be the one where he feels the most tired and yucky.  Right now his goal is to continue his work at GMB while going through chemo.  His co-workers have been so supportive with helping take the burden off his mind of missing work.  

The first week treatment started yesterday (Saturday) and the medical community wants this first round to occur while admitted at the hospital.  That will allow Sam to be under some good observation and make sure he tolerates the treatment.  It also helps keep an eye on that crazy blood clot in his neck.  So the current plan is to keep him in the hospital for the time being with an expected discharge on Friday 11/14.  Sam has so far been doing good with visitors, which has helped break up the monotony.  Please feel free to visit him this week, just check in a little bit before heading over to make sure he is up for a visit.

Prayer requests:

1. That Sam would not be discouraged as he figures out that his limits are narrower than he would like.
2. Sam responds well to the chemo treatment.  That it has the desired results and the side effects are minimal.
3. Patience for both Sam and Grace.  And especially patience with each other.
4. That God would glorify Himself through all of this and be made much of!

Well, this is hard to comprehend but we are back to the fight again. This time not with Val, but with Sam.

Back in the middle of October, the family got together to celebrate my Dad’s birthday. At that gathering, Sam mentioned he had some tightness in his face and a little stiffness in his neck. The symptoms got worse over the next few days which prompted a visit to Urgent Care. They thought it was a viral infection and would clear up on its own. Over the next few days the swelling increased and he was noticeably uncomfortable.

A visit to his Primary Care Physician was scheduled for the middle of the following week. At the visit, the Doc ordered up an ultrasound of the neck to get a better picture of what may be causing the swelling and stiffness. Trying to get that ultrasound scheduled sooner rather than later was a challenge, but he successfully got on the schedule for the following week. He didn’t make it to the next week before the symptoms got much worse. He woke up on Saturday, October 25th to increased chest pain and swelling. His wife Grace, wisely encouraged a trip to the ER. When you enter the ER with chest pain, you get everyone’s attention pronto. During that process, he underwent a CT scan, and a large mass was found in his chest cavity sitting on his heart.

Now that we had that figured out, it was time to get some insight into what we were dealing with. Three main tests were scheduled; a CT scan of his entire body, an echocardiogram of his heart, and a biopsy of the mass. The first two happened no problem, getting the biopsy scheduled with Interventional Radiology was a bugger. He never made it to the biopsy before another trip to ER.

On Monday, November 3rd his neck was very distended with very pronounced swelling in his face. We were getting good at figuring out this whole ER admission process, so back he went. Another CT was done specifically on his neck, and a “no kidding” large blood clot was found in his jugular vein. That situation is what got him admitted to the hospital on Monday.

The biopsy we waited for finally occurred on Thursday of this past week and the results came back yesterday as primary mediastinal b-cell lymphoma.

Treatment will start with chemo, specifically for you medical types it is R-EPOCH. This will be administered over the course of a week and then have two weeks off. There will be a total of six rounds of chemo with PET scans at the halfway point and also at the end.

Trying to keep everyone informed is always a challenge and so we encourage you to sign up for this blog. You can adjust your settings to get informed when a new update gets posted.

Things to pray for this coming week:

1.) That Sam handles the start of chemo well.

2.) That Sam, Grace and the rest of us have strength and peace.

3.) That we don’t waste this opportunity to glorify God and make us more like His Son!