January 22, 2009

Dearest Family & Friends,

I want to start by letting you know that all of your thoughts and prayers are felt so deeply. It's an overwhelming amount of love that we feel. We are so blessed.

Today we received the result of Tom's T-Cell Gene Rearrangement test. Contrary to the doctor's expectation this test came back positive. They have found parent cells. Tom has some form of T-Cell Lymphoma (http://www.lymphomation.org/about-lay.htm). This diagnosis will be complete only when they can identify the type (http://www.lymphoma.org/atf/cf/%7B0363CDD6-51B5-427B-BE48-E6AF871ACEC9%7D/T-CELL%20LYMPHOMAS.PDF). It is my understanding that there are a range of types and prognoses.

The City of Hope appointment on Tuesday will now have a different focus. Dr. Olsen expects them to help complete the diagnosis and act as a second opinion. He stated that one of the key factors in specifying a T-Cell Lymphoma type is analyzing cells from a tumor. Tom has no visible or felt tumors.

Dr. Olsen also expects that they may begin with chemotheraphy. A bone marrow transplant will still possibly be a component of his treatment in the future, but will not likely take place soon.

We are now in the process of ensuring that all of his medical records are forwarded to City of Hope before the appointment.

It seems that we are back to a very early square on the game board. And that is truly frustrating. I don't know how long it will take. Some of my friends who have experience with T-Cell Lymphoma tell me that they learned that it takes time for the doctors to narrow in on the diagnosis and proper treatment because the medical field doesn't know as much as they'd like about T-Cells. I can say that I am more ready for a battle than I am for waiting and I think Tom is more ready for waiting. I think he's doing well at functioning as normally as possible and avoiding becoming discouraged.

Thank you all, again, for your love and your devotion to prayer and good thoughts.

With love, The Highland Park DuBranskys