What I Know

This could end up being a very short post if I stick to the theme of the title!

Just kidding, I am actually referring to the next steps in this journey of mine.  Speaking of which, it is so strange, EVERY morning (and this is now after 10 mornings!  Quick to catch on?  Not!) I wake up totally disoriented and now having a clue where I am or why I am there.  I guess it’s good that the last few days I have woken from a deep slumber with few night-time awakenings.  When I was first admitted to the hospital, I would wake every 15-20 minutes because I was so disoriented to my surroundings.  I supposed it is progress that I’m mostly sleeping through the night (except for 5am when the aide comes, says, “Good Morning,” takes my vitals, and then says, “Good Night.”).

Today is Sunday, June 8, three days after I was diagnosed with lymphoma.  There are not tests scheduled to happen today, just lots of visiting of friends and family (My mom arrives today!  You know, the one with the gams!)  Much like yesterday, I anticipate today to be filled with chic-chat, laugher, a few tears, and an otherwise go-get-em attitude.

Tomorrow, Monday, I am supposed to be getting a biopsy on my lymph node underneath my right arm pit.  This is one of the lymph nodes where the doctors believe there to be a significant collection of lymphoma, based upon it’s 2cmx4cm size (I guess that’s large in comparison to what it should be!).

So tomorrow is a biopsy to get at least three samples of these little guy, the product of which will hopefully be a near 100% identification of the type of lymphoma I have visiting my system.  As of right now, all I’ve been told is I have “Diffuse Large Cell Lymphoma” which is a “non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.”

Also tomorrow, I will have a PET/CT scan from head to toe to determine how much of the lymphoma I have in my system.   As of right now, the doctor’s have found the lymphoma in my hips through the bone marrow biopsy that was done earlier in the week.  Another piece of imagining is also informing them that my lymph node under my right shoulder contains quite a bit of the lymphoma due it’s swollen nature.

So by the end of the tomorrow, they should be well on their way to knowing the type and extent of the lymphoma in my stem.  And with this information in hand, we can begin to determine a treatment plan.  Several of my doctors are hoping I get into a special study at UCLA that is working with the R-CHOP protocol, the most relied upon treatment for non-Hodgkin’s Lymphomas.  If I am accepted into the study group (and this will depend entirely the type of lymphoma I end up having, not how tight the corners are on my hospital sheets), I would start as soon as the end of the week.

If I am not do not qualify for the group, I would be provided with standard (and yet somehow much less satisfying!) treatment of standard chemotherapy with a typical cycle being three or four treatments a week. (We haven’t talked that much about this option because my doctor thinks I’ll qualify for the former.)

The good news is that once I’ve had my first chemotherapy, I can go home!  Apparently that first exposure to chemotherapy will disable the squatter enough that it will be more or less harmless in my system and I should not have any symptoms such as fever, headaches, etc.

So I can go home!  To be with my son and my family!

Bring it on!