Speaking of all that, I had my 3-month post-chemo checkup a week ago today. Everything checked out as normal. I am still cancer free. Besides that good news, I also got the all clear to have my port removed. I'm going in early this afternoon for minor surgery. It will be weird to have it gone, but also a relief to no longer have a super sensitive bump (or as I sometimes called the “third nipple”) on my upper chest.
Without getting too sappy, I’m finding myself quite retrospective today. While I wasn’t diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma until late November, the medical adventures started way back in late September. It’s been a hell of a ride since then. I’ve been looking back at this myself, so here’s an updated version of the brief storyline I originally posted back in March:
- Late September 2016
- Terrible neck/shoulder pain and a lump on the left side of my neck/shoulder
- Visited my regular doctor. Two possible things were coinciding - an inflamed lymph node (my body fighting an infection) and muscle pains. However, if it didn’t get better in a week they would give me a referral to an ear/nose/throat (ENT) specialist. (It didn't get better.)
- October
- ENT doctor - Suspicions were that I had may have an extra rib causing issues. (Yes, a person can apparently get an extra rib on their neck.) I was scheduled for a CT scan.
- The CT results - Not an extra rib but some very inflamed neck lymph nodes. Prescribed a strong regiment of an antibiotic and steroid. (These didn’t help.)
- November
- Needle biopsy
- Needle biopsy results - “inconclusive but suspect” for cancer. A full biopsy was needed.
- Full surgical biopsy.
- The pathology results were positive for cancer, specifically Hodgkin lymphoma.
- December
- Began preliminary tests with my oncologist:
- Blood work
- PET Scan - revealed that I not only had lymphoma on my known neck area, but also on the lymph nodes in between the lobes of my lungs (the mediastinal nodes). That put a stage label on my Hodgkin’s – stage II.
- Received my chemo plan - 12 treatments (or 6 cycles) of ABVD chemo, every other Monday.
- Chemo treatment #1
- January
- Chemo treatment #2
- Chemo treatment #3
- Chemo treatment #4
- February
- PET Scan
- PET Scan Results - Basically clear of cancer. Possibly some remnants, but small enough that they couldn't reliably be picked up by the scanner.
- Chemo treatment #5
- Chemo treatment #6
- March
- Chemo treatment #7
- Chemo treatment #8 - My doctor threw us for a loop, telling us that he was scheduling me for a PET scan the following week. If all was good, no more chemo.
- PET Scan
- April
- PET Scan Results - All clear! No more chemo. No onto radiation.
- Radiation treatments #1-5 (& a port flush)
- May
- Radiation treatments #6-20
- June
- (Port Flush)
- July
- 3-Month post-chemo checkup
- Port removal surgery
- August
- 3-Month post-radiation checkup
There were a lot of smaller things, but two big things got me through all of this. First and foremost was and is Dr. S. This wasn't just my battle with cancer, it was ours together. Like much of what we do in life, we did this hand-in-hand. There were times when she was the stronger one (like most of the time, but especially on chemo treatment weeks), but there were times that I held her up as well. (Cancer takes a toll on the caretaker, just as much as on the patient. It’s just in a different way.)
The other thing that pulled me along can be boiled down to the phrase “defiant optimism.” Early on, basically right when I got my diagnosis, I was defiant that being diagnosed with cancer would not change me. I would not let cancer define my life; I would define my life with cancer. Yes, it affected my day-to-day living, but I still lived on my terms. I drove on and did so with continued positivity. There was no use in being negative about my situation. What would that help? I just continued being my normal happy-go-lucky self. I had a few friends or coworkers mention to me that they often forgot that I even had cancer because I was so positive. There of course was also the nurse who said to me, “You know you’re here for a chemo treatment, right?”
I’m not quite sure how to end this post, so with no better ideas here’s some music. For those that don’t know, I picked up the ukulele a few years ago and while I can’t play all that well, I can at least play this song. It’s always been a favorite, but when I play it now after these months, it always catches me deep down at some point. The video is a bit odd (so just listen if nothing else), but here’s Israael Kamakawiwo'ole's great combo of “Over the Rainbow” and “What a Wonderful World” -
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