Vince's Journey

Today is the 7th day since being told the news the I have follicular lymphoma. Since receiving this news, our family has been showered with an incredible amount of love and support...it is truly overwhelming.

Since I have nothing medically scheduled until tomorrow (they'll be doing a scan of bone marrow - I'm sure looking forward to that!!!) we tried to go about our lives as normally as possible this past weekend.

On Friday we golfed with Dan and Janet Geeding in the Our Daily Bread golf outing. Dan was wearing a wind jacket with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society logo which I found ironic since I had not told him of my news. When I did, he told me that his step-daughter (Janet's daughter) had non-Hodgkin Lymphoma 10 years ago and has been clean ever since.

During our round of golf, I received a call from a man by the name of Chuck Scheper. I have never met Chuck, but he got my name from a prayer chain and he simply wanted to call and let me know he had the same lymphoma as me 13 years ago and he has been clean ever since. He said he'd be happy to talk with me anytime and assured me that I can beat what I have. Since I was about to tee off on the 13th hole, I asked him if he could call me back on Saturday. He did, we had a great conversation, and he told me he that he hopes his story can be an inspiration to me as I work through my treatment. The ironic thing is I had actually heard Chuck's story before. He was a speaker at the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Journey of Hope Ball this past May and as I told Chuck when we spoke Saturday, I've told his story many times throughout the summer...it truly IS inspiring. Chuck has told me to call him at anytime. Hopefully I'll be able to meet him in the near future.

I also talked with Jenny Bradley, a fellow parishioner from St. Susanna who was treated for follicular lymphoma about 5 years ago. She is doing well and has offered her support in any way. She did extensive research on clinical studies when she was deciding how to be treated and has kept up on the latest in lymphoma treatments. She also told me I can beat what I have and has offered her support in any way.

I was hoping my football teams, the Buckeyes and the Bengals, could provide us with a little good news this weekend but they both took it on the chin. The funny thing is, it didn't seem to matter as much. As they say in sports, there's always next week. The 5th grade football team that I coach DID win a hard fought battle with All Saints, 8-0. We returned the opening kick for a TD an held on to win with two goal-line stands. I've asked the boys to adopt the motto, "Be Relentless", (which is the motto of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society) and they certainly were relentless on defense yesterday.

Finally, last night we got together with our small faith group, a group of married couples who we have grown very close to over the past 5 years. Due to everyone's hectic schedules, we had not gotten together since last spring so it was great seeing everyone. I was hopeful that the evening wouldn't turn into an emotional struggle and it didn't...we were able to keep things in balance. We did agree to make sure we get together more often and I think that will help as we go through the next few months of adjusting to dealing with this disease.

As I said, tomorrow they're going to draw some bone marrow - this will help to determine the 'level' I am at this point. All I know right now is that I'm Grade 1 which means its a low-grade, non-aggressive lymphoma. Keep the prayers coming...you are all providing our family with the strength to make it through this. I'll let you know the results of the bone marrow test as soon as I know something.

Peace, Love and Blessings to all!

Vince