“The Chemo is working!”

–Rob’s Hematologist, Levine Cancer Institute,  11/12/2018

 

Those words were music to our ears just a little bit ago at Rob’s Hematologist appt.

The tumor that surrounded his lung is decreasing in size!!

Additionally, his M-Spike level (sp?) has decreased significantly, something they were anxious to see happen. There are many levels they monitor each time he goes in for an appointment or chemo, but apparently this is one in particular they were thrilled to see improve. The hematologist was very pleased about both the tumor decreasing and the M-Spike level decreasing as well.

It is our hope and prayers the chemo will continue to decrease the lung tumor, along with the 7 others in his body. We will know more on those after the next two cycles of chemo, and of course post the news here.

The cycles are two weeks long, followed by a week off, and then repeat.

If all goes well, Rob will be looking at a stem cell transplant in January.  We were fortunate enough to meet a man the other week who had been through a stem cell transplant for stage 3 Multiple Myeloma (same as Rob) and offered great hope and inspiration as we look towards that journey in January.  More updates on that as they become available.

For now, we want to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who is helping Rob Keep Pounding!!!  You prayers, support and love have given us strength we didn’t know we had to face cancer head on.

Thank you again, from the bottom of our hearts…we couldn’t have got through the past few months without all of you!

Thank you, Keep Pounding Rob Team!!

 

 

Hi everyone!

Rob’s first chemo of the week went well.  Unfortunately, his cough continued to get worse, even while on the 3 meds prescribed last week. On Tuesday evening, he began coughing up blood and had a racing heart rate, even when the coughing fits subsided.

He spent the next 18 hours at the ER, on the advice of his hematologist.  They did a myriad of tests, including a heart ultrasound, chest x-ray, and chest CT scan, in addition to lots of lab work. The good news is that everything appears to be ok, and the hematologist prescribed a different-and stronger-antibiotic for him.  Additionally, this won’t affect his chemo today at Levine, assuming his labs beforehand come back good. (He has labs to check to make sure his counts aren’t too low for chemo, followed by the actual chemo).

We are incredibly thankful we didn’t have to spend another night at the hospital, and extremely appreciative of all of the doctors, nurses, techs, and everyone at CMC (now called Atrium) who helped him with the tests and changes of medicine.

On another thankful note, we have the new wristbands!! If you already let me know you’d like one, it will be in the mail soon! If you’d like one, simply send me  (Brandii, Rob’s wife) an e-mail to keeppoundingrob@gmail.com or  call/text me at 704-301-2480.

Some pictures of the new wristband that say “Keep Pounding Rob”–and for those of you who know Rob and his love of superheroes, he choose the font style because it was named “Batman”…:)

They wristbands turned out great, though some of the pics below are a bit blurry, thanks to our crazy golden trying to “help” with the pictures…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi everyone!

If you would like our mailing address, please don’t hesitate to text/call me (Brandii, Rob’s wife)  anytime at 704-301-2480 or send an email to us at keeppoundingrob@gmail.com and I’ll pass it along.  😊

Thank you so much for your cards, comments and emails!!! From friends, neighbors, family,  Sunday school classes and prayer groups, we are so thankful for your love and support! It makes this crazy difficult time much easier to get through. ❤️❤️❤️

Rob has two more chemo rounds next week, plus the continued nightly chemo at home.  He has had major dizziness come on the last 24 hours,  though it was a bit better this morning.  Please pray that the dizziness continues to go away,  especially with him having chemo at Levine tomorrow.  It’s not unusual for him to be a little unsteady after chemo, so we hope and pray the dizziness he has now will be long gone by tomorrow🙏

Please also pray for the 3 meds he was put on Friday (for his cough) to really kick in before tomorrow as well.  He has an appointment a week from Monday with the pulmonologist, but they will see him sooner if needed.

Thank you again for helping us through this incredibably stressful time. It’s appreciated more than words can express!!

Finally, if there is anyone you have on your own prayer list, please let us know so we can offer prayers and support, just like ya’ll have so kindly done for us.

Have a wonderful Sunday!

#KeepPoundingPanthers
#KeepPoundingRob
#Thank you KeepPoundingRob team ❤️❤️❤️

Hi everyone!

Rob’s chemo went well yesterday. Unfortunately, he has a pretty severe cough that began about a week ago, and got much worse over the past 24 hours. Long story short, they put him on 3 meds to knock it out, so it doesn’t get out of control.

As the usual, we are to call the office or on call dr. If after hours, the moment we know he has a fever. This is to lessen the risk of infection related complications. The nurse drove the point home—don’t try and wait a fever out at home when going through cancer and chemo. Point well taken. 😉

Thank you all so much for being a part of the Keep Pounding Rob team!

We wanted to add some light hearted features to the Keep Pounding Rob blog, and here is an example of what’s to come, along with the regular updates. Please, please please share your own favorite funny clips or links to funny videos…sometimes laughter really is the best medicine!

 

 

“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’ You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”

Eleanor Roosevelt
Fdrlibrary.org

Thank you, Keep Pounding team, for giving Rob the strength, courage and confidence to Keep Pounding on his journey.

Your prayers, cards and e-mails make him smile every day!! Thank you so, so much!!

As the doctors  begin to “rev up” Rob’s chemo treatments, your support, prayers, emails and cards will be so helpful as he Keeps Pounding!

If you’d like to send Rob a card, please send an e-mail to keeppoundingrob@gmail.com and I’ll send you our address.

Likewise, if anyone is going through a struggle or knows someone that needs prayers, e-mails or cards, please send an e-mail to the above address and let us know. Thank you so much!

Keep Pounding!!!

Hello everyone!

Thank you all for your interest in the Keep Pounding wristbands!

I learned yesterday from the Levine gift shop that the Keep Pounding wristbands I posted about earlier have been discontinued. However, I found a business that makes custom wristbands, and I ordered some that are in panther colors and say “Keep Pounding Rob” on one side and “Myeloma.org” on the other.

They will be here Friday or Monday at the latest. If you’d like one, simply send me an e-mail to keeppoundingrob@gmail.com and I’ll drop it in the mail to you as soon as it arrives. Granted, it doesn’t have the panther on it (not available), however, it uses the exact shade of blue — “process blue” — that the Panthers use…leave it to Rob to locate the official name of the Panthers blue color. I didn’t realize that information was even out there. 😉

We also have a Keep Pounding flag that came in, and as soon as we get a flag pole installed on our house, I’ll post a picture.

Thank you, Keep Pounding team, for being there as we Keep Pounding!

Have a great Tuesday! 🙂

Hi everyone!

I just wanted to say a heartfelt THANK YOU to all of our friends, family, and neighbors who have joined the Keep Pounding Rob team!! We can’t thank you enough for your cards, comments, visits, texts, e-mails and meals! Thank you also for sharing the Keep Pounding Rob link (keeppoundingrob.com) on your social media, through your prayer lists, church groups, and beyond. Every one of you gives us faith as we dive head first into this journey of unknowns. We are stronger because ya’ll are with us, and can feel the love and support whether it’s next door or miles away. Thank you!!

Rob’s chemo round today went well. We met a wonderful man who also has aggressive stage 3 multiple myeloma cancer. He was so kind and talked to Rob about his journey, which also involves chemo, followed by a stem cell transplant, and now he is back on chemo. It gave us hope seeing someone fighting cancer since last January be so positive and optimistic. We are grateful to have met him!

We are keeping an eye on a low grade fever tonight, but hoping it’ll go back down. We have a dr. On call that we can reach 24/7 if needed. The danger of the fever while on chemo is risk of infection due to his low immune system. That’s why it’s important to keep an eye out and keep checking it, so they can address it if it gets too high, before it causes any additional complications.

Thank you again for being there, we could not get through this without all of your support, prayers and love!!

More posts coming tomorrow, (and we will return e-mails too). I also hope to have a resources page up with some things we have learned so far, in case you know anyone that is in the same boat. We have learned so much from others (such as the nice man from today), and want to pay it forward as well.

Have a great night, and thank you again for being a part of our Keep Pounding Rob team!

 

These Keep Pounding wrist bands are from Levine. If you’d like one, send your name and address to keeppoundingrob@gmail.com and I’ll drop it in the mail to you. 🙂

 

 

Our lucky “Keep Pounding” rock, from CMC Levine gift shop. 🙂

 

 

Hi everyone!

Yesterday was Rob’s hematologist appointment.  He was pleased with how well Rob was handling the first two weeks  of chemo.

He did advise Rob to not wait until the nauseous is so bad to take the anti-nauseous med, but to try and nip it in the bud verses playing catch up to get relief.  I mention this, as we have several friends that are also fighting multiple myeloma who are following our blog. We have learned so much from other people’s experience through a multiple myeloma support group and blogs/websites, and want to share tips we learn along the way as well.

The hematologist also looked at the x-ray the surgeon did on Tuesday. He couldn’t believe the severity of the break caused from the myeloma, and showed it to the nurse navigator in disbelief.

I think this is why the surgeon was adamant on Tuesday that Rob is cautious with his shoulder, as the break has a long way to go in healing, but at least we are on the right track. We hope to have a completely different picture in six weeks.

The goal at this point is to get Rob through a few more rounds of these 14-day cycles of chemotherapy, which they will “rev it up” according to the hematologist. The purpose of this is to get Rob where he will be able to undergo a stem cell transplant.  That seems to be the pathway we are on now, and it feels good to have a concrete (as much as possible) plan of attack.

His next chemo dates are Monday and Thursday next week, and every night at home for the next 14 days.

Yes, the hematologist did re-iterate that his cancer is very aggressive.  News flash cancer-so are we!!!

Thank you for your love and encouragement as we Keep Pounding!!