Yesterday I did yet another test; this one to check the strength of the left ventricle of my heart.
A few of the chemotherapy drugs, especially one named Adriamycin, can (but don’t always) have a toxic effect on the heart. Before starting treatment with it, Dr Norman wanted to find out the current strength of my …
We started early today, with a check-in time of 7:30am. My brother woke up really early and made the trip up to be our designated driver.
This weekend we had a moment of doubt; the surgeon (Dr Kent) had recommended that we remove a lymph node from underneath my arm, but the oncologist (Dr Norman) was …
Within twelve hours I should be plus one chest port and minus one very-biopsiable lymph node.
Then we’ll keep checking for biopsy results and seeing how soon we can start treatment.
Wish me luck!
I’m fairly certain that we’ll get good data on this cancer from a biopsy of the neck lymph nodes that the PET scan pointed out.
I say this because I can feel a couple nodes when I press beneath my jaw bone. It’s fascinating, creepy, and scary all at once. I’m pretty sure they’ve got the …
Learned of possible information-having lymph nodes in my neck
Met awesome folks with great advice at the Lymphoma Networking Group
Got the ball rolling with SCCA second-opinion scheduling
Requested that Group Health send my records to SCCA
Scheduled MUGA scan for next Tuesday
Scheduled surgical consultation for Friday, and surgery for Monday
And now I go to the dentist, where I …
After the meeting with Dr Norman, we headed to our first meeting of the Seattle Cancer Lifeline’s Lymphoma Networking Group. It was so very worth it.
We had a lot of questions that would be difficult for the doctor to answer. Questions that make people who’ve already been through this ideal resources.
We picked up some food …
We met in-person with Dr Norman to look at the slides from the PET scan that pointed out the neck lymph nodes. He was able to flip through the images to rotate my body lengthwise, giving us a view of the neck. It was really neat to see.
He warned us that the lymph node may …
July 6, 2009 – 4:41 pm
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By Tom
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Posted in Diagnostic Phase
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Tagged adriamycin, chemotherapy, chop, diffuse large b-cell lymphoma, dlbcl, dr norman, group health cooperative, lpl, lymph nodes, lymphoplamacytic lymphoma, muga, permanent remission, pet scan, r-chop, rituximab, seattle cancer care alliance, second opinion
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I got a call in the early morning from Dr Norman; the PET scan shows an abnormally sugar-hungry lymph node in my neck. He’s going to call and cancel my upcoming chest port installation surgery and find a surgeon that can do both the chest port installation and remove the lymph node in one session.
It …
Ok, that was really cool.
We drove to the Group Health Bellevue Medical Center nice and early; we didn’t want to risk missing the appointment for this test, since it seemed so tough to get scheduled.
Apparently the street address for the facility is so new that online mapping services provide a route that is completely wrong, …
We had our scheduled call with Dr Norman today to discuss the results of the blood tests, bone marrow biopsy, and CAT scan from last week. We’re getting close to knowing what I’ve got.
He says the evidence is pointing strongly toward lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma. It’s not an aggressive cancer, which is nice. But that very trait also …