Perhaps you were as shocked as I was on Friday, November 30, when you saw Christy’s Facebook post that Ian has Leukemia. Perhaps your head began swarming with a thousand questions you wanted answered—
what happened?; are they sure?; what’s the prognosis?; where is he being treated?; how are their spirits?
I am Ian and Christy's friend Amber. Here is a rough history of the past several weeks and, including, today.
The week before Thanksgiving the Brown family was looking forward to a trip to Reno and Sacramento for the holiday. Ian was going to take the whole week off work. The week before Thanksgiving Ian was playing tennis, practicing yoga, doing p90x videos. He was the picture of health; he was, as Christy says: “so strong.”
The Monday before Thanksgiving, November 19, Ian got sick with a fever and, according to Christy, Ian never gets sick. The girls had both been sick, but it was still surprising. They canceled their travel plans. By Friday he still had a fever and had started with a cough. Christy had him go to urgent care. They gave him antibiotics and sent him home.
The Monday after Thanksgiving, November 26, Ian was still sick. They went back to urgent care, took blood and sent them home letting them know that they’d call in three hours with results. In three hours they got a phone call: “You have incredibly low platelet and white blood cell count, go to the ER immediately.” Once at the hospital, Ian had a platelet transfusion. He had a reaction to the infusion with a very bad rash for which they gave him Benadryl… to which he also reacted, and he started to have a hard time breathing. Christy ran into the hallway and shouted for help. They put him on oxygen and brought him back. It was scary but short-lived. They, needless to say, admitted him at El Camino Hospital. There they soon discovered that 40% of his cells were Leukemic (which translated into an 80% chance that he did have Leukemia).
On Tuesday, November 27, Ian had a bone marrow biopsy.
The full results of the biopsy which will give information on the severity of his case will take about 2 weeks, but on Wednesday, November 28… they could at least definitively diagnose that he had cancer and the sub-type which is acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
At this point they had to decide where to pursue treatment, a trusted doctor told them that for what he has he needs a better facility than just his local hospital. Through a series of referrals they decided to put Ian under the care of a doctor at UCSF. The hospital isn’t as beautiful as Stanford or even El Camino but they decided to focus on the quality of practice over the aesthetic of the room.
On Friday, November 30, Ian was transferred in an ambulance with two friends named Alex. One of whom initiated a worship time in his new room and the other covered his walls with his artwork (which Ian loves). Other friends, Burton and Trupti, brought Ian and Christy homemade Indian food with plenty of leftovers.
To be frank, survival depends on the genetics of his version of this disease—if he has certain genetic mutations he has a really great chance of recovering. If he has other ones the odds feel less encouraging. I would get into specific numbers but, to quote a poignant song: "
I was just guessing at numbers and figures/Pulling the puzzles apart/Questions of science, science and progress/Do not speak as loud as my heart." As Christy and I talked about the numbers, it felt painful to us both to quantify his chances of survival--so much is unknown and regardless of the numbers there is a spirtual layer to this that will never be quantifiable.
The doctors are doing a round of chemo while they wait for results from his biopsy. They refer to this first round of chemo as “carpet-bombing” I guess as though they are getting rid of the “bugs” in his marrow. Another doctor said to think of it as a week that is “hitting the reset button” on his blood system. They will do another biopsy after the first round of chemo—what they find in this biopsy will give them additional information about how serious his condition is. The ideal circumstance is that the chemo was completely effective. Then they start blood transfusions and rest. The whole process from start of chemo to the end of the round would be a month—and if all was going well he would be able to go home and be re-tested every week. If they do not find that the first round of chemo was completely effective the course is unclear but certainly seems to include more chemo; blood transfusions?; possibly bone marrow transplant?
Today, December 4, was a hard day. Christy’s words were that he wasn’t doing well at all. He has lost a lot of weight and has really been making a concerted effort not to. He can't eat, he is vomiting. Ian had also been trying to not take medication for the nausea. He really wanted to keep his mind clear. But today he had to start on several medications. Christy said that how he felt even yesterday versus today was very different. He had been getting chemo infusions morning and night. But he is now on 24/7 chemo for a few days. He said his spirit felt "asleep" (possibly a side-effect of the anti-nauseals). He wasn’t able to communicate much with Christy today, and she understands and yet her heart is also breaking and aching—she wants to be with him in San Francisco but also needs to parent her daughters.
And Asha is having a very hard time. She had a super fun sleep over with her Auntie Pri and got to watch Snoopy, Charlie Brown Christmas and Curious George. But it took her well over an hour to tell her mama about all the fun things she did at the sleep over because she would stop and flail and scream that she was feeling scared and mad, then snuggle and share another syllable or two of what they had done. It was a hard day for the whole family.
You should know that this blog will be a place for you to come to find out what is going on with Ian, with Christy, Asha and Fiona. Please know that Christy will likely post about joyful, hopeful moments—but that she will also post honestly about the physical, emotional and spiritual struggle that this will be.
I really encourage you to check this blog often if you want updates on Ian’s health and the family’s process as well. Christy, as much as possible, needs to stay present with Ian. She can do that best if there is a central place where friends and family are able to get information. And also know that the outpouring of support is really really wonderful. But know that Christy will have to make moment to moment decisions about what is the most important way to use her time when choosing between critically important options—so, please be understanding if your phone call or text or email goes un-responded to in this time. But continue to let them know you love them. Respond to this post or any update she posts. Send her scriptures and reminders that she is in your thoughts and let her know, she doesn’t have to respond.
Christy’s mom is at their apartment, since last Tuesday. Her father came Sunday. Her parents are keeping her household running. There is a caring bridge support site set-up and you can get instructions for how to access it by
clicking here.
Please join me in praying that Ian would be well. That Christy could rest and have a clear head and heart as she makes difficult decisions on little sleep, every day. That Asha would feel safe and secure. That Fiona would be able to continue to rest and grow. That their friends and family (us) would find ways to be compassionately and practically supportive as they navigate this difficult and unknown territory. Pray that the Lord most high would reveal Himself to each of them in deep ways, every day, and that this would give them the strength and comfort they need.
