The Marathon...

Dear Team Boyd,

David and I are in the car heading home from Northside Hospital. We met with our doctor and have been given an enormous amount of information. This e-mail will not be eloquent; I'm just going to put it all out there.

David has an extremely resistant lymphoma. While he has greatly improved since his initial admittance to Northside, he has not reached even a partial remission. However, his blood counts and organ function are strong at the moment. As a result, it looks like our best option is to proceed with an allogeneic bone marrow transplant. Allogeneic is a fancy word for a transplant from a donor. It is riskier but more effective in curing the disease than if they used his own bone marrow. I'm not going to give the percentages...we threw out probability and statistics several months ago. As David says, "Don't give me easy; just give me possible."

The time line will look a little something like this: first, David will get one more round of RICE chemo at Athens Regional starting Monday. Meanwhile, our doctors and coordinators at Northside will be preparing for the transplant. Two weeks after the RICE, David will go back to Northside to undergo all sorts of tests to make sure the transplant can happen. The donor, a player to be named later, will begin his process of having his stem cells harvested. By mid August, David will be admitted to Northside where he will receive a high dose of chemo to wipe out his system. Immediately afterwards he will get the transplant. On average, patients stay in the hospital 10 to 14 days. 30 to 100 days after, he will go to the Northside clinic daily. Therefore, he will have to stay in the Atlanta area while he is an outpatient. He will be on immune suppressant drugs for 6 months at the very least. He will have to avoid crowds and anyone with a hint of illness.

During the first 100 days, the doctors will be looking for signs of graft host disease where the transplant begins to reject David's body (here lies the major risk involved). The graft rejection can be treated as long as it is not overwhelming. Some rejection is expected and can even be a good thing in small doses early on. Graft host rejection could happen at anytime during the first year and sometimes into the second year.

With all that said, we are going to eat this elephant one bite at a time. Once we get dates I will sit down with my list makers and figure out what we need and when. This is going to be one long marathon, people. We need to rest up and grab some really good energy snacks.

As David and I continue to process all of the information and consider the incredible obstacle lying in front of us, we will continue to share our journey with you. At this time, the things we need right now that each of you can give are positive energy and the power of prayer.

Much love,
Lisa

Settling In

Dear Team Boyd,

All is quiet on the Athens' front. We are slowly finding our summer routine complete with doctors' visits, platelet counts, and swim team practice. We had a bit of a rough start, and I take full responsibility for that. I finally hit the proverbial wall and succumbed to lying in the fetal position with the covers over my head. With a lot of help from ALL of YOU, including my number 1 list maker Monica Huff, I have bent over, grabbed my ears, and pulled my head out of my . . . well, you know. As I keep telling Izzy, it's NOT time to cry yet.

David, on the other hand, is doing awesome! He looks great, is still exercising daily, and is eating well. He is using the weight loss as an excuse to eat a daily helping of Turtle Tracks ice cream. Yeah, I know, ladies, it must be nice.  

David must still have his blood counts checked every other day, as well as have his PICC line flushed daily. His platelet counts have been low and he has received platelets twice over the last week, but that is to be expected at this point in his post chemo cycle. As for the PICC line flushing, the nurses taught me how to do it, so just add "nurse" to my list of winning attributes.

As for the next step in this journey, we get to spend one more week in Athens and then it is back to Northside Hospital on July 18 for a bone marrow biopsy and CT scan. Once we have the results, we will make the next set of treatment plans. We will also be meeting with David's team of doctors to discuss the bone marrow transplant. We received more good news when we found out that he not only has one bone marrow match but two! Philip, along with Wesley, is a perfect 10 match. How blessed are we! As for whose bone marrow we use, well, they can wrestle for it! Thank you guys for your selfless acts of brotherly love. Don't worry, Steven. We still love you, too!

As most of you know, Captain was born with spontaneous Hirschsprung's Disease and underwent major surgery in his first month of life. The healing process is slow and we still must do daily "management" until his body completely adjusts to having a portion of his intestines removed. Captain had a check up with his wonderful surgeons today, and they could not believe their eyes. My little nugget is not just managing but flourishing. In fact, he is doing so well that we get to start weaning him off of the daily "management" routine.  Believe me when I say that is one stinky phase I will not miss.

As for Izzy, she is holding strong. However, she is starting to crack a little under the stress I know she senses even though we try so hard to shield her. Please say an extra prayer for her to have strength and courage. With our two high maintenance Boyd boys, I need her to stand strong with me:)

Lastly, I want to send a shout out to Philip Boyd, the owners and employees of South, and our West Coast family. There are no words to express how honored, humbled, and touched we are by your generous donations of time, talents, and gifts. If I could, I would hug you all. Thank you so much.

Until next time, assume no news is good news. We are resting up before the next big push.

Love and peace to you all,
Lisa

LATEST UPDATE FROM LISA!!!! ALSO, WORD ON THE STREET IS THAT MONICA HUFF IS COORDINATING MEALS, SO CONTACT HER IF YOU ARE LOCAL AND CAN VOLUNTEER. AND WOW, LOTS OF DONATIONS HAVE COME IN - I AM TRYING TO KEEP IT UPDATED AND JUST ADDED 18 NAMES! THESE TEAM BOYD LOVERS ARE AWESOME!!! THANKS EVERYONE, TEAM BOYD BLOGGER

Dear Team Boyd,

David is finally at home, for real this time, in our house in Athens, GA.  He completed his second round of RICE chemo yesterday morning and spent most of the afternoon with Izzy and Cap.  We are still taking it one day at a time for the next two weeks; David has to go to the hospital every day to have his PICC line flushed and blood counts tested.  Depending on the results, he'll either stay for his blood products are go straight home.  Nevertheless, if we can keep him well then he gets to spend each night in his own bed.  At the end of the two weeks, we will head back to Northside Hospital for a CT Scan and bone marrow biopsy.  The results of those two tests will determine our next course of action.

The kids and I have been spending the week getting settled in Athens.  I want to give a special shout out to Kasi, Bobby, Evin, and Vail Carvell who made Izzy a part of their family for two days and nights.  It was so helpful to know she was having a great time as I handled the chaos that insued on our first day back to town.  Thank you also to Leslie, Chris, and Katherine Queen for having Izzy over on another day for fun, food, and adventure.  Izzy is continuing to have a fun filled summer with her friends and extended family.  She has spent today with her cousins Bree and Blair at the Atlanta Aquarium.  Thank you Sheila, Steven, and Kendal for loving on our girl for us.  David and I hope that she will remember this summer as the year she got to spend a lot of time making memories with family and friends-who-are-like-family.

I also must give a shout out to Kim Ness who has helped me work through the pains of getting Captain to sleep through the night.  My little nugget really didn't need that 3 a.m. feeding.  Thank you for offering encouragement and Ferber advice. I could not have done it also without my partner in crime, Kerry,who continues to get down in the trenches with me every day to take on the onslaught of craziness that is my life right now.

If you have been on the weloveteamboyd.com website lately then you have seen the flyer for the fundraiser on July 9th at South, a bar in Santa Monica, CA.  Philip, one of David's brothers, is working tirelessly to organize the fundraiser for us.  Philip is such a "doer" and it has been hard for him to be so far away while his big brother fights this disease.  He has thrown himself into this event, and we appreciate all that Philip and his co-workers are doing for us.  We are deeply touched by the outpouring of support from our friends and family out west.  We wish we could join in the festivites.  Thank you so much!

If I have not responded to your e-mail, call, or text I sincerely apologize.  It has been crazy week after week, and I have been in survival mode.  My hope is to find time soon to respond to each of you, but I don't know when that will be.  I do apologize.  I want to respond in a thoughtful way and thank you in a manner that is befitting all of your support.  Please know that we do appreciate ALL you are doing, from the smallest hand squeeze and kind word said to the donations of your time and money.  We are very blessed.

The Boyd Family wishes all of you a wonderful 4th of July weekend.  Be safe, eat well, and stay cool!

Love,
Lisa
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