(4/18/24)
Well a lot has happened since my last update. Chemo treatment ended up not working so I ended up doing a stem cell Transplant in December. So far things are looking good. I’ll be starting Keytruda (An Immuno Therapy) in the next week as a preventative and hopefully that will be the only thing I have to do going forward. I’m no longer needing donations now as my treatments are now all covered by insurance. Thank you all who donated and also for your prayers.
(1/13/23)
Wanted to give out a long delayed update. So in September I had another PET Scan unfortunately it showed the cancer had spread back immensely. After talking with my Doctors I decided to go the traditional Chemo route. It has definitely been a harder treatment than what I did previously. I’ve had to endure lots of bone and stomach pain. I’ve also dealt with extreme fatigue and various other symptoms which have been difficult. Lord willing I have two more Chemo Treatments left. Afterwards I will be getting another PET Scan to verify that I am cancer free. As it stands right now February 8th should be the date of my last Chemo Treatment. I want to thank you all again for your generosity, support, and prayers. It has helped immensely in getting through one of the most difficult times of my life. Thank you all.
My name is Peter Hoss I’m 32 years old and this April I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Stage 3A. In March my Chiropractor found some enlarged lymph nodes on the left side of my neck which then led to me getting an X-Ray which showed a mass near my heart. After that I was then sent to an Oncologist who ordered a CT scan that showed I had enlarged lymph nodes in my neck, chest, and groin. I then underwent surgery to have one of the lymph nodes in my neck removed for a diagnosis. It came back as Bulky Tumor Classic Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. As can be expected this has been a pretty life changing event for my family. After finding out about the mass near my heart I immediately started on a complete change to my lifestyle and diet in order to better my health. Since then I’ve lost 50lbs and am continuing to lose weight. All of these lifestyle changes are only one part of my cancer treatment. After a lot of research and prayer I decided to seek treatment at An Oasis of Healing in Mesa, Arizona. There I will undergo a number of conventional and alternative therapies which my insurance unfortunately will not cover. I believe the treatment at An Oasis of Healing has the best long term outlook for my health which I’m very concerned about as I am both a husband to a wonderful wife of almost 7 years and a new father to a beautiful 7 month old daughter. Both of whom you can see in the pictures below. Another benefit of treatment at An Oasis of Healing is that I will only have to take 6 weeks of time off from work versus up to a year of time with therapy through my HMO which would severely limit our families income.
The cost I’ve been given for treatment at An Oasis of Healing is $79,000 for 6 weeks of treatment. I will also be having to find a place to stay for the 6 weeks while I am in treatment. I want to thank you for taking the time to read this and for any support that you can provide.
(7/20/21) Just wanted to write a quick update here. I will be starting treatment next week on the 27th and hopefully be back home in six weeks. I also wanted to thank all of you who have donated. I’ve been astounded by the generosity and support myself and my family have been given during this bump in the road. I’m so very grateful and want to thank you all.
(8/24/21) Just wanted to give a quick update here. This week is my fourth week of treatment. It’s been much harder than I originally thought but I’ve been seeing amazing results. Almost all of the Lymph Nodes in my neck have shrunk to the point that I can only feel one. My markers have also started to come down which is another great sign. I’m so thankful for all the giving I’ve received without all of your support I wouldn’t have been able to afford the treatment. I also want to thank you for all your prayers as they have lifted my spirit and I know the Lord is definitely working in my life for good with my cancer diagnosis. I may not know why I was afflicted with cancer but I do know the Lord has a beautiful purpose and I am glad to be his servant. I’ve been reminded greatly of one of my favorite passages in the Bible that has gotten me through a lot of hardship. Matthew 6:25-34. Verse 34 of Matthew 6 has been how I’ve tried to live my life since I was 18 and it has served me greatly over the years “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own.”
(9/12/2021) I finished up my time at An Oasis of Healing on Friday and drove home on Saturday. I also had my PET/CT scan on Friday. Next week I should be going over the results with my Doctor. Currently my next steps are to continue the Insulin Potentiation Therapy (IPT) Chemo treatments and High Dose Vitamin C IV locally in San Diego for a short period of time.
I could currently use prayer though as before I can start back on those treatments I need to get a new port put in quickly as my last one had to get removed as I developed a blood infection a couple weeks ago. Thank you all for your prayers and support.
(11/17/2021) It’s been awhile since I’ve posted an update and I wanted to apologize. Let me start off by saying that my PET scan results from back in September were really good and I had significant shrinkage of the lymph nodes and the metabolic rates had reduce significantly. However it was not completely gone. So I’ve been continuing low dose chemo treatments with high dose vitamin C and some other IV’s for the past 7 weeks near a place at home that was found for me by the center in Arizona. I’ll be having one more treatment this week and then next week on 26th I’ll be having another PET/CT to see where I’m at now. If they don’t detect anything I’ll be tapering off the chemo treatment. Thankfully I’ve done really well during these past 7 weeks and haven’t had any side effects so that has been a real blessing as it’s allowed me to go back to work. My prayer is that next weeks PET scan will come back clear and I’ll be able to start transitioning away from weekly treatments. Thank you all for your prayers and donations they have helped immensely and really made this whole journey way easier than it would have been without. I am extremely grateful.
(12/3/2021) Had my first doctor appointment today after my PET/CT last week. Got good news that I only have two small lymph nodes left with lymphoma in my chest area with pretty low metabolic activity. I’m going to be doing at least 4 more treatments of low dose chemo every other week and we will look at my blood tests after that and see where to go from there. I’m very happy that everything is going in the right direction and that I should be cancer free sometime in the next year. Thank you all so much for your prayers and support they’ve been greatly appreciated.
(3/21/22) I have some good news from my last doctor visit this past Wednesday. Two of my blood markers are now in a more normal range. I also had an RGCC Oncotrace test conducted that shows the amount of circulating tumor cells in my blood. My current number for the test is a 3.2 and the goal is to get to a 2. The 3.2 number is very good though as anything less than 5 shows the treatment is working and typically my doctor would sees around a 4 for a patient where I am at in treatment so I’m doing better than expected. I am now going to be doing what should be my last three low dose chemos over the next three months. I will also be starting Supportive Oligonucleotide Technique (SOT) which will go after the remaining circulating tumor cells. I’ll be doing three treatments of SOT over fifteen months. Lastly I should be getting a new PET/CT in July which if my blood work is correct should hopefully show no cancer. Thank you for all your prayers and support they mean so much.