Here it goes ...

After a lot of thought I have decided to document what is going on in my life right now, and why I'm not in Rome. At first I thought it might be weird to talk about myself. Its a lot different than writing about Italia and all those experiences. So...here it goes. Sorry if its boring!

On March 1, 2008 I felt a rather large lump in my neck. Since it was right above my left collar bone I knew it wasn't near the thyroid and didn't worry much about it. My mom has had thyroid cancer twice so that is always a concern for me. It wasn't in a normal place that I get swollen lymph nodes, so when it didn't go away I called the doctor. I figured that I should get it checked before Rome for peace of mind. A friend of mine had this happen a couple of months ago and it turned out to be a fatty cyst. I had no worries about the outcome.

When I called the doctor, they got me in the next day. My doctor was on vacation so they set me up with Dr. Cooper. I didn't mind because I wasn't particularly happy with my regular physician. He was very nice and ordered up some standard blood work and chest x-rays. The next day his office called to tell me they needed me to do a CT scan. Normally all this would take a lot longer but they knew I had plans to leave the country and expedited everything for me. I am so thankful for that. The next Tuesday, March 11th, were the scans. They did an IV of pigment/dye and scanned my neck and chest. I have never had any scans so it was freaky in a way.

Thursday the 13th I went back in to Dr. Cooper to go over all the findings...again such a quick turn around. He went over my blood work and showed me results that showed that I had elevated white blood cell and lymphocyte counts. This could mean infection but with this high of levels I would be sick or something. He went on to tell me that the CT scans showed a lot of swelling all around my neck and shoulders - not just the lump. He also said that there was swelling in my chest that was indicated by a severe widening of the chest cavity. That's when he said something that is still foggy to me. All the signs indicated lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system. I asked if he was sure, could it be anything else? He said no, the only other thing it could be is a bad infection but I would be showing some signs like fever. I hadn't and still haven't had any of the usual side effects for lymphoma like fatigue, fever or weight loss...only night sweats, ewe. In a fog, I asked if I should delay my trip to Rome a couple of weeks and he responded with no, I really needed to cancel my trip. What? but we don't know for sure? He felt certain with his diagnosis. When I left him, I was passed on to the surgeons coordinator. Dr. Renne Quarterman was going to take out the lump in my neck so they could biopsy it and see if it was indeed lymphoma and what kind. There is Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin's. In the non, there are about 30 different kinds. I met with her the next Monday, then that Friday the 21st I had the out-patient surgery to take out this uncomfortable lump that I thought was nothing. This was the last place I thought I would be the day before I was to depart for Rome.

The surgery went well. We arrived at 11am, I was starving since I hadn't eaten since 11pm the night before. The coffee withdrawal was no fun either! However, when we arrived in the waiting room we saw people that had obviously been there for hours, possibly all night. People were sleeping on couches and leaning on each other with their shoes off. I could tell Jeff was getting kinda nervous. I knew that they were going through far more trying times then I could imagine. This was confirmed when I was in my hospital room waiting to go into surgery. People were being wheeled by with loved ones crying by their side. It was then that I was grateful for my health despite this glitch.

The next couple of days sucked due to the pain meds making me nauseous, but once I took a day off and ate some real food I was fine. Jeff was amazing during this time. I had a whistle! I couldn't lift my own head/neck when I was lying down so he'd have to help me. He also made me ginger ale with fresh grated ginger to help the nausea. It really helped!

So, I guess this blog is pretty dry... only a little more! My follow up with Dr. Quarterman was the next Thursday, March 27th. Since the surgery I had been pretty emotional, not because of all this but because I was supposed to be in with my friends in Rome. Their blogs started up and I was getting e-mail and photos. It really made me feel like I was missing a truly amazing experience. The doc didn't waste any time, she told me the biopsy indicated that I have classic Hodgkin's lymphoma. Wow. Until then I was really expecting them to tell me they were wrong and I had this plan to get really mad and leave the next day for my trip! They think it's just in my neck and chest which would be stage II. I will find out the stage for sure soon though. I meet my oncologist, Dr. John Smith II (yeah, I don't know if that's his real name either) today. I requested to be seen at the Providence down the street 25 blocks. I have a full body CT scan on Friday and those results will tell them how far this has spread. I am posting links on the side bar that have good Hodgkin's info.

So, I am on my leave from work that I arranged for Rome. I figured I needed a bit of a rest. I will go back as soon as I know my treatment plan and what I can handle. I am hoping I can work but I know they might want to treat this aggressively due to my age and health. Also, my health comes first but finishing school comes 2nd, not work. I don't know how this is going to work out financially. I need to work to survive, but if I get my degree out of the way (I graduate June 21st), then when I go back to work it will be full time and I should get a pay increase. I guess I'll need to win the lottery or pimp out Porter and Chachi!

I hope to be good at updating this, but as always, please contact me anytime! I am so thankful for my family and friends. Everyone has been so supportive. Love you, D