[Nfbf-l] Updates for Jim Ellsworth from Caringbridge-org

[Debby B]

Thank you for sharing this news with us. Such a difficult situation. We will be praying for Jim and his family.


 
Debby
bwbddl at yahoo.com

~"Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can read."~Mark Twain


________________________________
 From: Sherrill O'Brien <sherrill.obrien at verizon.net>
To: NFB of Florida Internet Mailing List <nfbf-l at nfbnet.org> 
Sent: Sunday, September 29, 2013 2:41 PM
Subject: Re: [Nfbf-l] Updates for Jim Ellsworth from Caringbridge-org
 

Thank you so much for sending this to us, Sherri, though it is very
difficult to hear such news. Prayers for Jim will go out to my church
prayer chain very soon

Blessings to Jim and his family,
Sherrill

-----Original Message-----
From: Nfbf-l [mailto:nfbf-l-bounces at nfbnet.org]On Behalf Of Sherri
Sent: Sunday, September 29, 2013 2:23 PM
To: nfbf-l at nfbnet.org; NFBF-Leaders at yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Nfbf-l] Updates for Jim Ellsworth from Caringbridge-org
Importance: High


Hello all,

Jim Ellsworth has contacted me and ask that I send updates to the group from
Caringbridge.org. This site has updates on how he is doing with his battle
against cancer. If you want to join the site, be able to post and receive
e-mail updates, please follow the link below.
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/jime


Below is the latest update, thanks to his daughter Jennifer. Please keep Jim
and family in your prayers. Thank you.

Sherri

Moffitt follow-up
September 24, 2013 3:09pm

Family and friends,

Yesterday we headed to Moffitt for the follow-up PET scan and subsequent
visit with Dr. Sotomayor. As of our last appointment, we had no reason to
believe we would be receiving any news other than which direction we would
be taking for the maintenance portion of dad's treatment. It is with a
saddened heart that I must tell everyone we received quite the opposite.
Everything went routine as far as the scans and bloodwork. We were greeted
immediately by Dr. Sotomayor instead of his Fellow like the previous visit.
He indicated the cancer is coming back at a very rapid rate and that if we
do not seek a new treatment within the next 2-3 months, we would be right
back where we started over a year ago- collapsed lung, etc. Dad has been
feeling great and getting back into the swing of things and to say that this
was quite a shock would be an understatement. They would like to do
preliminary testing to find out which path we will take from here as there
are a couple of options. That testing is scheduled for this coming Friday.
Dr. Sotomayor is requesting an echocardiogram, a bone marrow biopsy, and an
ultrasound guided biopsy of the lymph node under his right arm. The results
of these tests will be received within a week or two. The doctor would like
to begin treatment in the next 2-3 weeks. He says that time is of the
essence.

Our first option is the treatment dad would have had originally if he had
been strong enough to endure it due to the harshness. It is called HyperCVAD
and will be given in the hospital in two parts per round. There will be four
rounds total. The first half will be four days long with a three week break
and the second half will be given during a three day stay. A month will
elapse and then another round in the hospital and so on until completed. The
Dr. would perform another PET scan to determine dad's remission status. We
will then be looking for a bone marrow donor from the registry as he has no
full-blooded siblings. They prefer to find someone on the donor list that
would be a closer match than trying to match him with Jamie, who would only
be a 50% match.

The bone marrow transplant would only occur when he reaches remission status
and of course outweighing the pros and cons of the situation.

The second option we have is a daily pill given in conjunction with the
Rituxan. Unfortunately, this option will only have a 40% success rate and
can take months to become effective.

As you can imagine, this news is almost as hard to give as it was to receive
it. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we continue through our
journey. We could certainly use it!

Jennifer




Character is the side of yourself you choose to show the world.
Integrity is what you do, what you say and how you act when you think no one
is paying attention.
Sherri Brun
NFBF Newsline Chair
flmom2006 at gmail.com
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