Todd celebrates his 45th bithday on his 5th day of Vidaza

Good News:  Today we celebrated Todd's 45th Birthday!
Bad News:  He had to get his 5th treatment of Vidaza.

No one wants to spend their birthday getting chemotherapy or being weak, nauseated, and sick.  However, we are praying that this treatment and the treatments to come will give us another 40 or more years of birthdays for Todd!
                                                                                                                            

Todd with daughters Abby, Ellie, & Hannah

Day 4 was not as good as day 3.  He wasn't allowed to have the Aloxi that day, but they wrote him a prescription for a different anti-nausea medication called Ondansetron HCL that he takes orally every six to eight hours as needed.  While it helped, he didn't feel as well as Day 3.

Day 5: He received the Aloxi, but I think depression accompanied the fatigue and sickness today.  He has things he wants to do and it is depressing to spend your birthday being sick.

Todd with wife Kimberley and daughter Abby.

We took him out for lunch at Panera Bread and he ate some soup, bread, and half of a sandwich.  Then he came home and took a long nap.  He got back up this evening as our family went over to his mother's house for dinner, cake, and ice cream.  He ate moderately and enjoyed the taste of the cake, but felt sick after he ate it.

Although he has lost some weight, he still looks great!  Hopefully, he can rest up and bounce back a bit with a respite from the treatment on Saturday and Sunday.  He will begin treatment again on Monday and finish with his 7th treatment on Tuesday.  They will do some blood work to check to blood counts, which have a tendency to decrease with the seven-day treatment of Vidaza.  Round one will be done.

At some point, they will also follow-up with a bone marrow biopsy.  The waiting period for re-treatment is 28 days, but we are not sure he will receive another round or if the bone marrow transplant will be scheduled by then.  It depends on his blood counts, bone marrow results, whether staging for the transplant has been completed, and his bone marrow doctor's re-assessment.

Todd's mother, Anna, after the birthday dinner. 

If your dad were here Todd, he would say, "KLU, Keep Looking Up!"  The rest of us who are here say, "We love you!  Keep the faith! and Hang in there!"  We are happy to celebrate your life today.  Just think it has been two and half years since your diagnosis and we are still fighting!  I know that God will use this to his glory!  He's got so much more in store for you!