Brian broke out today from the hospital! He was discharged around 12pm and quickly ran to the car in case they decided to keep him. He was very excited to come home. He hasn't been home in over a week and had only been outside once in that time period. What a perfect day too!
He said he might go back tomorrow though only to watch the Cubs on Comcast because we don't get that channel.
Hopefully Brian will be able to return to work on Monday and will be able to work the entire week. Please pray that he doesn't catch any colds!
His mom had a lumpectomy today which revealed that no lymph nodes were infected yet. Praise GOD! Please continue to pray for her.
Thank you so much for all the support and the cards. It was so nice to come home to a mailbox full of cards.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Still hanging in there
Hello All!
Brian is still hanging in there today! The oncologist said today how impressed he was with how Brian was doing. Brian walks 2-3 miles a day (laps around the floor), yesterday he made me count ceiling tiles so that he could calculate the distance. Brian continues to be in very high spirits. The nurses think he is a breath of fresh air to the floor (they sneak him doughnuts while he walks @ 6am). He began to lose his appetite last night no upset stomach though. He did start to lose his hair but he still trying to grow it.
Brian has had many visitors the past few days, which he LOVES, so keep coming. The mornings are rough for Brian because I'm in school and his friends are at work. He has however made many friends with receptionist in the PT department which he walks by numerous times a day.
We continue to ask for prayers for Brian as he keeps on fighting. Also, we ask for Prayers for his mom who is beginning her fight against breast cancer on Thursday. We love you Angie you are in our prayers!
P.s. Brian has one more chemo bag left then one other drug to finish up this round. Hopefully, his counts stay up so he won't have to have a transfusion. He will be on a 21 day cycle and will be in the hospital every time.
Brian is still hanging in there today! The oncologist said today how impressed he was with how Brian was doing. Brian walks 2-3 miles a day (laps around the floor), yesterday he made me count ceiling tiles so that he could calculate the distance. Brian continues to be in very high spirits. The nurses think he is a breath of fresh air to the floor (they sneak him doughnuts while he walks @ 6am). He began to lose his appetite last night no upset stomach though. He did start to lose his hair but he still trying to grow it.
Brian has had many visitors the past few days, which he LOVES, so keep coming. The mornings are rough for Brian because I'm in school and his friends are at work. He has however made many friends with receptionist in the PT department which he walks by numerous times a day.
We continue to ask for prayers for Brian as he keeps on fighting. Also, we ask for Prayers for his mom who is beginning her fight against breast cancer on Thursday. We love you Angie you are in our prayers!
P.s. Brian has one more chemo bag left then one other drug to finish up this round. Hopefully, his counts stay up so he won't have to have a transfusion. He will be on a 21 day cycle and will be in the hospital every time.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Just another day...
Well we have taken over Methodist hospital! Thanks to all the visitors today. Brian is on his 3rd bag of chemo. I think he was more chipper then me today (I think it is all the drugs). He is responding well to the chemo, no side effects yet!
He is so excited because the cubbies have won 3 in a row now. He says it is all because of him, I think it is the $10 Million dollar pitcher in the bullpen.
We ask for more prayers and support for our FAMILY!
Brian, "We are going to be OK!"
Love you all and thanks again for everything!
Stacey
He is so excited because the cubbies have won 3 in a row now. He says it is all because of him, I think it is the $10 Million dollar pitcher in the bullpen.
We ask for more prayers and support for our FAMILY!
Brian, "We are going to be OK!"
Love you all and thanks again for everything!
Stacey
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Good Day!
Hello all,
Today was a good day. Brian was up early for surgery. Today they implanted his chemo port. This round of treatment he is/will be getting it through a PICC line in his arm (not fun). Next chemo he will be able to get it through his new port.
Brian was finally able to get up and walk today after 24 hour bed rest from his lumbar puncture. He walked 1 mile (13 laps around the floor), then ate a c.c. cookie (I may have eaten half while he was walking).
Otherwise, today was a good day. His rash is gone (he was covered head to toe) and he finally broke his fever.
Today he enjoyed some Tai Chicken Pizza from Fong's. Trying to get some good meals in before the drugs kick in and he gets nauseous.
We had some visitors today and watched a movie. That always makes time go by fast.
Once again, thanks for the prayers and all the support. I must say I'm still overwhelmed by all the support everyone has shown us.
Love,
Stacey
P.S. Brian swears that in the middle of the night he could feel his huge lump tingle and today he said it feels 'softer'. It is working!!!
Today was a good day. Brian was up early for surgery. Today they implanted his chemo port. This round of treatment he is/will be getting it through a PICC line in his arm (not fun). Next chemo he will be able to get it through his new port.
Brian was finally able to get up and walk today after 24 hour bed rest from his lumbar puncture. He walked 1 mile (13 laps around the floor), then ate a c.c. cookie (I may have eaten half while he was walking).
Otherwise, today was a good day. His rash is gone (he was covered head to toe) and he finally broke his fever.
Today he enjoyed some Tai Chicken Pizza from Fong's. Trying to get some good meals in before the drugs kick in and he gets nauseous.
We had some visitors today and watched a movie. That always makes time go by fast.
Once again, thanks for the prayers and all the support. I must say I'm still overwhelmed by all the support everyone has shown us.
Love,
Stacey
P.S. Brian swears that in the middle of the night he could feel his huge lump tingle and today he said it feels 'softer'. It is working!!!
Friday, April 23, 2010
Update!
Brian got an official diagnosis of Non-Hodgkin B lymphocyte with T cell activity lymphoma. They went ahead and staged him at 4. Since this type of cancer progresses fast they went ahead and admitted him to Methodist Hospital to begin chemo. The Dr. didn’t feel comfortable waiting so we were quickly admitted and started treatment today. He will do his first round in the hospital and are waiting to determine if he will do all of his treatments at the hospital or outpatient.
Thanks for all the continued thoughts and prayers. WE appreciate it and Brian can feel all of them. He is still in high spirits, but has been running a steady fever all day today so just worn down.
Thank you all so much for your support!
I will try to keep the website updated so please check it out!
Thanks for all the continued thoughts and prayers. WE appreciate it and Brian can feel all of them. He is still in high spirits, but has been running a steady fever all day today so just worn down.
Thank you all so much for your support!
I will try to keep the website updated so please check it out!
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Thank You All
First, I want to apologize for taking so long to post something. All of your outpouring has literally left me speechless. I sat for a few days wondering where to begin. I know the following is not enough to express my gratitude but it is all I could do without drowning in all my tears of JOY!
I would like to thank you all for your support, thoughts, and prayers. It has brought me to tears and am truly touched by how many people have come together to support Brian (and I) during this journey. He is so Lucky, as well as I, to have been blessed with so many people who care about us.
His diagnosis was a huge shock, but he has responded very positively to the situation. He is eager to start chemo and beat this! We are still waiting for the official diagnosis as to what type of lymphoma from Mayo (if you work there can tell them to hurry up that would be appreciated). As soon as Mayo gets back to us we can start treatment. Yesterday Brian had a bone marrow biopsy to confirm that it is in his bone marrow. Once that comes back he will have an official stage (we are predicting stage 3 according to the PET scan). Next week Brian will have a chemo port surgically inserted so that chemo and radiation treatments will be easier on him. Please continue to pray for him as every step brings something new.
I can't wait till Brian finds out he will be so inspired by you all and ready to battle this head on.
Once again I cannot thank you enough for everything. Being a newly wed and a young adult hearing news like this was devastating however with all the encouragement we have received we have been able to stay positive and live every day as if it was..."The best damn day." -OAR
Love,
Stacey Pritchard
I want to leave you with this thought.
Brian in bed last night turned to me and said,
"You know what, people shouldn't feel sorry for me. I don't feel sorry for me. I have a great wife, 2 great families, and many friends that pray for me, send me emails, text me, send me cards, and people who just love me. People should feel sorry for the people who don't have that."
I can't say this enough, THANK YOU for everything!
I would like to thank you all for your support, thoughts, and prayers. It has brought me to tears and am truly touched by how many people have come together to support Brian (and I) during this journey. He is so Lucky, as well as I, to have been blessed with so many people who care about us.
His diagnosis was a huge shock, but he has responded very positively to the situation. He is eager to start chemo and beat this! We are still waiting for the official diagnosis as to what type of lymphoma from Mayo (if you work there can tell them to hurry up that would be appreciated). As soon as Mayo gets back to us we can start treatment. Yesterday Brian had a bone marrow biopsy to confirm that it is in his bone marrow. Once that comes back he will have an official stage (we are predicting stage 3 according to the PET scan). Next week Brian will have a chemo port surgically inserted so that chemo and radiation treatments will be easier on him. Please continue to pray for him as every step brings something new.
I can't wait till Brian finds out he will be so inspired by you all and ready to battle this head on.
Once again I cannot thank you enough for everything. Being a newly wed and a young adult hearing news like this was devastating however with all the encouragement we have received we have been able to stay positive and live every day as if it was..."The best damn day." -OAR
Love,
Stacey Pritchard
I want to leave you with this thought.
Brian in bed last night turned to me and said,
"You know what, people shouldn't feel sorry for me. I don't feel sorry for me. I have a great wife, 2 great families, and many friends that pray for me, send me emails, text me, send me cards, and people who just love me. People should feel sorry for the people who don't have that."
I can't say this enough, THANK YOU for everything!
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
BRACELETS HAVE BEEN ORDERED!
We ordered 300 bracelets today. They will be Black with Yellow lettering that reads, "JUST TRY AND RUIN MY DAY." Black & Gold to represent the best college and sports team known to man. If you donate through the site's PayPal link we will get your confirmation via PayPal and will get back in touch with you and ask you for what size of bracelet you would like. Outside of site donations we will be asking $5.00 per bracelet in support. Please keep in mind that no donation is too small and all donations will receive a bracelet.
We hope to get the bracelets in early May (their ETA was May 11th...) We ordered 3 sizes with the majority being Medium. Sizes are as follows:
Large 8 3/8" interior circumference, Medium 7 3/8", and Child 5 7/8". Please note that the Large is very Large and will not fit most wrists so be sure to measure! We will be distributing bands amongst Brian's work peers and Stacey and Family Etc. will have them to distribute also.
Keep checking the site for future updates and thanks again to those who have already donated!
Sunday, April 18, 2010
We are up and running!
We opened the bank account today and it is now linked to PayPal. We are ready to take on donations! Thanks to those who have already donated!
Please donate and share your support for Brian and Stacey.
In addition to this, we have intentions to soon distribute LiveStrong style bracelets that will be black with gold lettering that read Brian's motto, "Just try and ruin my day!" We will be asking $5.00 for these bracelets and encourage all friends and family to donate for a bracelet and wear them in support of their fight against cancer.
We also have intentions on having a fund raising party at a Des Moines park sometime in the next few months - all pending on The Pritchard's schedule. The party will provide a chance for all friends and family of the couple to gather in support and enjoy some fun outdoor activities while we give to their cause. We have ideas of donations being taken at this event via purchasing a beverage cup and also hosting a bean bag toss tournament. The idea is to have everyone at the park and have Stacey bring Brian there for a big motivating surprise. Please keep this idea a secret from Brian - more details to come.
Feel free to make comments and posts to Brian and Stacey. This site will eventually be seen by him and your comments and words of support will be a gift to him in itself.
Stacey is in the know of all of this but we are going to try and keep all of this a secret from Brian for as long as possible. With all of your support we can help Brian and Stacey stop this cancer in its tracks and they can look back on this as a small speed bump in life.
PayPal is 100% secure and highly reputable. It is a site that will allow us to take donations via credit and debit cards online with little work on the donating parties end. PayPal does take a small % of the donation as a transaction fee (2.9% + $0.30 per credit/debit transaction). If you don't feel safe donating online or would rather donate via check, please send an email to justtryandruinmyday@gmail.com and we can make other donation arrangements. Please click on the image below to go to the PayPal donation site. Your donation is truly appreciated.
- Friends of Brian and Stacey Pritchard
When you go to the Paypal donation site simply enter the amount that you wish to donate and click "update total." If you already have a PayPal account you can log in at this time. If you don't have an account please click on the "continue" link that follows: "Don't have a PayPal account? Use your credit card or bank account (where available)," this can be found in the bottom left corner of the window. Please see the highlighted area of the screen shot below.
After you click the link you will be routed to a new screen where it will prompt you to enter your information just as if you were buying something online. It will ask you to set up a username and password however you will not actually be linking your bank account and routing information as you would if you were to set up true PayPal account. This will be a one time donation via your card of choice.
If you have any questions please email me at
justtryandruinmyday@gmail.com
and I can help guide you through the process. Thank you again for your support!
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