Bump. Maybe some of us just got a tax refund, and want to buy a little good karma! 
Yes to better living through stem cells!!
Best of luck to you and yours.
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Once chemo is over, how soon does hair start coming back, if it indeed does? My mom has been off for a while now, without seeing any new growth.
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It seems to depend on the kind of chemo. His initial treatment was one called R-EPOCH and his hair started falling out out within a week of the initial dose. After four ultimately unsuccessful cycles of it, his hair started to come back, which the onco says isn’t particularly unusual. The tumor coming back is another story… He’s now on R-GDB, and while it seems to be managing the tumor, it’s not killing his hair. He’s about 2/3 through th first cycle of that, and he has an overall growth of white peach fuzz.
For the stem cell transplant, he’ll probably have at least one round of something called R-IVAC. No idea how that is against hair.
I’m so sorry you both have to go through this; it’s stressful enough without having to worry about money, and I’m glad I could help just a little bit. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for you!
WinkieHubby had R-CHOP chemo a couple of years ago. It took out his hair, and that first peach fuzz was soooo soft I couldn’t stop touching his head! It took a couple of months after chemo for his hair to really start coming back. When it did come back, it was just the same as before.
After GoFundMe fees, the OP has almost 2 months of daily expenses covered. And that is bleeping awesome. But we are the best family ever. Maybe 3 months would allow sufficient breathing room. Even those of us without much money can share on social media.
Just checking. Hope all is well.
Well, that was a bit uncanny…I was headed here to post an update, and you beat me by ten minutes. 
He’s starting what may as well be called Plan C on Tuesday. The first chemo attempt failed after three or four cycles, and its replacement failed mid-cycle. It started out promising - the tumor started shrinking a couple days after starting it, but the results were not “durable” - in other words, the tumor started growing back during the treatment cycle. The “Plan B” was also just hammering him with headaches and killing off his platelets and hemoglobin, requiring a blood transfusion.
Plan C will be the R-IVAC protocol favored by the stem cell doc, and is apparently a difficult one to administer, requiring a two-week hospital stay to accommodate the fussy timings and monitoring. Even if considered as a warm-up to the stem cell transplant, he’s not looking forward to that much time in hospital.
Bumping with an update. Three or four different chemo regimens have failed.
His tumor is bigger than ever and we’re still waiting for Social Security, so the Gofundme page is still active.
Our hope now is with a new immunotherapy drug that’s not approved for treating lymphoma yet, but it’s doing well in the clinical tests. So far, it’s approved for a form of leukemia. If the insurance company allows it, great, otherwise the stuff goes for $178,000 a year. There’s a small but growing body of knowledge that people (men, primarily) of Mediterranean, and possibly even more specifically, Sicilian descent have a particularly ornery genetic flip that makes most chemotherapy treatments ultimately ineffective.
$178,000 a year…:eek: any extra tax refunds out there? ![]()
The more we learn about the human body, the more we find out we don’t know.
I sure hope you can get that new drug. Thanks for the update.
Wondering how your DH is doing?
In a word, poorly.
By definition, but not necessarily by severity, he’s now got Stage 4 lymphoma with distant metastases.
The new med was not effective from our standpoint. So far, the only winners in this game are the doctors, hospitals and pharmaceutical companies. Since last October, we’ve racked up $1,3000,000 in billed costs.
Right now, he’s getting strong radiation treatments to try and stop the original tumor growth. The various oncologists are trying to figure a Plan F for a systemic treatment to control the new growths in other areas of the body. Stem cell transplant is probably a non-option now as he hasn’t had a positive response to any chemotherapy yet.
Sorry to hear that. Sending good thoughts for Plan F.
Donation made.
Sorry to read this. Was hoping for good news. Donation made.
Thanks for asking, and thanks for the financial assistance. It’s all those “little” incidental costs that really add up like gas to drive him to treatments and doctor visits, trips to the pharmacy, and even more laundry than usual.
I’m just in a dark place now, knowing that the end is probably not far off as just about every journal article I’ve read about his particular kind of cancer includes words like grim, bleak, and dismal. If you do well with the standard first pick of treatment, something called R-EPOCH, you’ll probably live another two or three years. If not, then the outlook is poor and substantially shorter. The “double hit” nature of his lymphoma led to the cancer becoming immune to the chemo, and there’s very little in the oncology arsenal to throw at it that’s had any success at all with any of however many people with this variant over the years.
Such sad news. Sending gentle hugs to you and DH
Here is a link to the recent update on the Go Fund Me page. Papa Glen has cancer and needs help, organized by Steve Geist
He’s been moved to hospice and now they are in need of help for funeral arrangements. Sadly, they don’t think it will be much longer. I think any help will be deeply appreciated.
Passed away yesterday, update as of 31 minutes ago.
((gotpasswords))
I’m so sorry gotpasswords. My thoughts are with you and your family…damn but cancer sucks dingo dongers. 
I’m so sorry for this news. We all will be thinking of gotpasswords and family.