Thursday's Update

Dear family and friends,
Talked to the doctors yesterday to plan Richard's treatment. Richie is still going strong but having shortness of breath and pain & pressure from the lump in his chest. The doctors say that he must rest, so we are asking all of our friends and family to hold off on visits and calls untill things calm down. The doctors say that Richard should receive his first chemo. treatment tomorrow or Saturday. Thanks for your love and support our family is hanging on as well as could be expected. Will keep you posted. Keep praying.
Love,
The Taraborelli's

Transfered to University of Penn. Hospital

Hi All,Richard arrive by ambulance at Hosp. of the University of Pennsylvania at around 8:00PM last night after a day of waiting, calling HUP, waiting, calling HUP, and MORE waiting. He was supposed to be transported in the morning from LGH to HUP, but they gave his bed away. Betsey Collins, the head nurse at LGH tried unceasingly all day. Finally, we made a few calls of our own to Richard's cousin, Dr. MaryLou Galantino-Pack, and Richie is now in room 3009-A in the Rhoads building. Thanks to Mary Lou and Betsey Collin for ALL of the phone calls and time. You did it with your persistance and a little clout!I'm not sure of the phone # as of yet, but Richie says hello and thank you for ALL of your support. Right now, he needs to rest, his chest is giving him some pain, and they have him on morphine until they can diagnose his condition.

The news as of Tuesday

Our thanks to all of our family and friends who are showing us so much love and support for Richard David. After the original thought that Richard had pneumonia, the doctors took out a quart of fluid from around his lung cavity and ran tests. The tests did not confirm pheumonia, but we found out that he has Precursor T cell Acute Lymphoblastic Lymphoma - cancer. Rich had a bone marrow sample taken today, and thanks to our niece, Elaine, he received an ample serving of Dylauden (spelling?) which helped him get through it without a lot of pain. We spoke to his oncologist, Dr. O'Conner, and he helped us to decide to move Richie to the University of Penn Hospital for his treatment.The timeframe that we are working with is something like this... 4-6 weeks with daily chemotherapy at U. of P. and then maybe a week or two at home, a week or two at the hospital for more treatment for a while, and then maybe radiation for a while. It is a strong cancer, and they have to treat it aggressively. There is a 60% - 80% cure rate.This cancer happens mostly to young men ages 20-30, so Rich falls into the category. The doctor feels that the lymphnode under Richard's breastbone is the only place of occurance; however, he still took blood and bone marrow.Richard is in a fighting spirit. He said that he WILL beat this thing. He is upbeat, and his usual cheerful self, but we've only begun to fight and cancer does tire your will to fight. We leave for U. of P. tomorrow, 2/20/07 in the AM. This is killing me to see him left there to fight alone, but I can't quit my job or Rich or Daphne their jobs. We will try to set up a schedule of visits, so that he doesn't get overwhelmed with too many visitors at once, and he won't be left alone a lot.