Willy's health update

Willy, you've been in my thoughts a lot lately. This health update is appreciated. Your cancer is definitely a rollercoaster of highs and lows. Thanks to researchers and donors, new treatment options are being discovered and offered ... promising possibilities. Chemo is no picnic but you have a wonderful attitude toward your treatment plan. That helps enormously. We're in your corner "Mr. D. capensis", stay tough and resilient!

I'll send more of your "Mystery Plants" for ID as they develop ... that'll give your memory a workout. Sending my best wishes your way.
 
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I hope to start talking to you again soon. I miss our little chats on FB. I've been laying low as I know you have a limited amount of energy. Love you Brother! You'll beat this thing! and think back in your old age and marvel of how you beat it!
 
Hello everyone, I hope that you are doing well!
The latest PET scan result shows that the chemo has been working so far to keep the cancer tumors under control - so that's good news! Things seem to be stable for now and the main tumors are less aggressive than few months ago.
The chemo cycle 4 that started on this Monday is going okay so far: I'm feeling extra tired, slow and dizzy but still doing not too terrible.
They are currently preparing me for the next treatment, it's called Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT). To simplify it, it is a procedure to extract the stem cells from the patient, nuke everything with intensive doses of chemo (hopefully killing all the cancer cells), and then put the stem cells back to the patient to slowly recover.
The bad news is that it is going to be very rough during the treatment, as you could imagine, it comes with all the chemo side effects and they are much more intense. The recovery period will take a very long time too. BMT also comes with a 5% fatal risk on paper - doctors told me not to worry too much though, because I am young and healthy.
The good news is that BMT will help with my lymphoma cancer! On paper, 30% of patients won't have this cancer coming back, and the rest of them will find the cancer much delayed so that they will have extra time for the next effective treatment plan.
I'll be staying at the hospital for about a month from around end of March to end of April. After that I will have to report to the hospital daily/ bi-daily for half a month before they can make sure I'm out of the danger period. Once that's all done, I will be slowly recovering at home for the following 4-6 months.
Before BMT can be performed I still have to go through a series of tests and a few minor surgeries. Hopefully everything will go smoothly! I will stay strong and positive.
Thank you once again for your support, care, prayers gifts, and good thoughts. It means the world to me! :)
 
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