Before I met with him, I, of course, had to fill out 10 pages of paper work, get my blood drawn again, and wait.
Through this waiting time, Brett and I decide that playing solitaire on our phones is an easy distraction. And so starts another addicting spell of solitaire.....
I was a little frustrated because I asked to make sure he had my PET scan results, which weren't ready, but he was able to call a radiologist and have him tell him the results. Would have been cool to see them.
He did say that the tumor was lit up on the PET scan just like how cancer looks. He said that it was just the one tumor and lymph node by it and not anywhere else on my body. Yay! He said that it looks very much to him like Hodgkin Lymphoma, but he has been wrong once. Haha. But with my age and symptoms- itchy, night sweats it's probably that cancer.
He talked to me about how treatable it is- 85% curable (meaning it never comes back) and everything else looks healthy and good on me- so it's very likely that I'll beat it this time around.
I asked him.... "Ummm...do you know how big the tumor is?" He got out his little measuring stick and showed me. I wish I could have seen Brett and I's mouths drop. It's over 9 cm. That's a huge thing to have in your chest! I was not mad, sad, or depressed about it. I was actually quite impressed with myself.
That big and not showing symptoms? Then I thought to myself .... "Oh that's why my left arm has been throbbing and achy off and on for a couple months" and "Oh that's why I wheeze and can run or exercise without feeling like I can't breathe."
All this while I though that my age was catching up to me or that I was really out of shape. Well it might be the mix of the two.
He did an exam, explained to me what they were going to do next (Hook me up with a cardio-thoracic surgeon, do a biopsy, bone marrow sample), and made a next appointment for almost 2 weeks later. 2 weeks?! I want to get this show on the road.
Because we were so impressed, Brett and I grabbed the measuring device thingy and snapped a picture. I think the nurse and doctor thought we were weird. Oh well.
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