Treatments Complete?

I made it through the three weeks after my treatment and it was now time for my next treatment. The routine was, I  would  feel worked over for the first day or two after treatment, then the side effects would start to set in. The side effects would then fade a little after two weeks and by the third week, I would feel semi-normal. Then it would be time for treatment again.

I would follow this routine for the next five treatments. Take the Juice, feel like sh*t for two weeks, get my blood checked, then be ok for a week, then treatment. After 5 months, my course of treatments were complete and it was time to meet with Dr. S.

Two weeks after my final treatment I went in to get my blood checked and met with my doctor. He felt my neck, underarms, groin and spleen. He did not say much. I asked what he thought and he responded that he wanted me to go get another CT Scan. With the slow-growing type of Lymphoma (Cancer of the lymph nodes) that I had, the CT Scan was the best way to evaluate my progress. The reason the CT Scan was the best test for my cancer is that the lymph nodes should be small, that is less than one centimeter (1cm) in size. If they are bigger then that, well then, you probably have Lymphoma.

The office manager set an appointment for me to go to the Diagnostic Center to get my Scans. After fasting the night before it was early in the morning on May 4^th 1998 when I arrived for my CT Scans. In my earlier blog I’ve describe the procedure of the CT Scans. I received the tests and went to work. I went back to the Diagnostic Center on May 7^th and picked up my films and a copy of the report.

Once again, I sat down inside my car and opened the envelope. I was hoping the report would say that I was now free of Cancer. I mean I just took all these chemo treatments’ and had lived through a type of hell so I could get well. I open the envelope, took out the report, and scanned through all the reports. They read as follows…R-CT Pelvis: Unremarkable (that was good), R-CT Thorax – Lungs: No evidence of mediastinal or hilar lymphadenopathy (that was also good), R-CT Retro Contrast Only  No evidence of retroperitoneal lymphadenopathy (more good news) R-Chest –Pal: Negative chest  (I was starting to feel good).

Now for the final report…R-T Head/Neck Cont Comparison 12/3/97 Contrast enhanced CT examination of the neck demonstrates numerous bilateral anterior and posterior triangle lymph nodes, submandibular and submental lymph nodes. Some have decreased slightly in size. However, most remain pathologically enlarged. Greater then 1 cm (That was BAD NEWS).

I was disappointed. I became overwhelmed with emotions. Damn, all that chemo and no change. I still had my Lymphoma. Every minute of every day is a battle when you are trying to outlive cancer. I gathered my emotions, as I knew I had to be strong to beat this beast.

I drove to my doctors office for my follow up appointment.