Tests, scans, preliminary appointments: DONE!

Great news! I am all done with my CT scans, PET scans, three biopsies, surgery to put in the port, heart scan, pulmonary function test... everything! From here on out it's just the routine appointments, if everything goes according to plan :-D

So yesterday I had the biggest of my appointments: the surgery to take a small amount of tissue for a third biopsy, and the operation to put in the port-a-cath. I guess the port will be good since yesterday I went through the whole poke-the-arm-three-times-before-we-find-a-vein thing again. I don't know what it is about my arms, I just have bad veins, I guess. Or really deep veins. Or something. Maybe I am a robot. Apparently it is routine to give all female patients of a certain age a pregnancy test at the hospital as well. I was in the pre-op room laying in a bed for like 45 minutes before the operation. Just before leaving the pre-op room, they gave me a really mild sedative... not anywhere near enough to put me to sleep, just enough to calm me down. I was told that the general anasthesia would be administered in the OR, and that they'd talk me through it, so I assume I was awake for the administering of that, but I have no recollection of even making it to the OR. The last thing I remember was being wheeled in my bed from the pre-op room to the OR, and kind of enjoying it. I am disappointed because I wanted to see the OR. So either I fainted on my way there (which seems unlikely) or those drugs they give you are so powerful you get amnesia for the past ten minutes. So, the next thing I remember is waking up in the recovery room. Getting dressed was difficult, because they had cut into my right lymph node, and the port was put into the upper left part of my chest, so moving my left arm is difficult. I was super super super thirsty, too. And whatever they gave me as an anasthesia made my throat hurt. Other than some fairly acute soreness on the left, however, I'm feeling OK. Not great, but OK.

This morning I had a pulmonary function test, which was basically me blowing into a tube. They have you breathe normally, and then you inhale really large amounts of air, then you pant into the tube, then they have you inhale some carbon monoxide. Good news: I have normal lungs.

OK, off for a nap! The pain killers I have are opiates so they make me feel weird. Urgh. Vote in my poll on the right!

Bone marrow!

I had the bone marrow biopsy Friday morning, and it wasn't quite as horrible as expected, thank goodness. The worst part by far was preparing for it. The nurse had a really difficult time finding my veins. She went in through the underside of my forearm, instead of in the crook of the elbow. Going in through the forearm hurts worse than the crook of the elbow! She went in twice before calling someone else to do it. I guess this is why having the port-a-cath will be good.

I got a fairly high dose of morphine to calm me down, and a shot in my hip to numb the skin. Of course, they can't really numb the bone, so not much could be done there! After numbing the skin, they make a small incision in the skin down to the bone, because the needle they use is fairly thick. They then used something that was like a cross between an apple corer and a corkscrew to drill about an inch and a half into my pelvis (it took about 90 seconds of pushing). Let me tell you, feeling something grind through your bone is a very weird sensation, and not at all pleasant. Strangely enough, it sends a really really sharp pain shooting up and down your leg. LUCKILY, they got enough material the first time they went in. Apparently, they often have to drill two or three times to get enough material. They showed the bit of bone marrow to me, and it was a little over an inch long and maybe one or two millimeters thick. Not much material for so much fuss!

The morphine left me feeling really dizzy and out of it. I had to lay down, completely horizontally, for about fifteen minutes, and then sit in a semi-reclined position for another fifteen, before I could stand, and even then I had to move really slowly because the room was spinning. Mom drove me home and I collapsed onto the couch and slept for about five hours. I missed the quiz I was supposed to make up that afternoon, since I'd missed it on Wednesday for the heart scan and CT scan. I feel bad, because I've missed like four consecutive classes for Digital Signals Processing, and I'm missing on Monday, because Monday I'm going in for another biopsy and to have the port-a-cath put in, which is basically a full day at the hospital. Luckily, I don't have to stay over night! It'll just be an outpatient procedure, but I am going to be asleep for it. Unfortunately, my classes on Tuesday are going to be really hard to make up, because it's labs and stuff, so I'm going to make every effort to be in bright and early at 7:30 Tuesday morning for my first class.... and unfortunately, there till 9:30 PM for my last lab. Grar.

After that, I'm NEARLY done with my many appointments. I have a short appointment for a pulmonary functions test, and then chemo starts up Thursday :( I'll be there from 10:30-5, so anyone who is in town Thursday afternoon and isn't working is more than welcome to come sit with me and distract me... they welcome and encourage visitors (KIM, this means YOU).

More tests...

So far this week I have had so many doctors' appointments, it isn't even funny... :(

Wednesday I had a heart scan and a full body CT. I am glad they did them in the same appointment because that allowed me to minimize the needle pokes I got. Apparently I have hard-to-find veins. They just gave me an IV so I didn't have to get poked more than twice while I was there. Heart scans, for the record, are quite boring. I was just laying there and nothing was moving or beeping or whirring or anything. I think the machine was broken or something. However, the 30 minutes of boredom for the heart scan PALE in comparison to the 2 hours of boredom that was the PET scan this morning...

First of all, it was at 7 AM out in freaking MERIDIAN, which meant we left at 6:30 AM. They gave me a bunch of shots, including one shot of radioactive sugar. I then had to sit, alone, in the dark for an hour. Then I was wrapped up really tight in a blanket, with my arms at my sides, like a mummy (or a nutcase in a straightjacket!). Then I was put onto a very narrow table and shoved into a small tube and left there for 55 minutes, and not allowed to move for the entirety of that. I kind of snoozed while I was in there, because what else was there to do? If I twitched much I would have fallen right off the table, four feet down to the tile floor, and with my arms all bound up at my sides, that would have hurt a bit. Next time I get a PET scan, I'm bringing my iPod so I can have something to distract me for the hour of waiting for the dye to spread, though there's nothing I can do about the 55 minutes in the tube.

Tomorrow morning, I go in for the bone marrow biopsy. I am not looking forward to this, because many people say it hurts like hell. On the other hand, a lot of people say it only hurts a bit more than a shot. So I guess we'll see. Apparently some people react badly to the anaesthesia so I have to have mom drive me there and back. Hopefully I'll be back on my feet by 1:30, because I have to take a quiz then! Digital Signal Processing, bleh.

Monday I go in for the biopsy on the right swelling and having the portacath put in. I actually get to be asleep for this one so it'll be an all day procedure (I check in at 10 AM, and will be discharged around 4 or 5). Fun, fun. Presumably I'll be on my feet again in time for my 7:40 AM class the next day. Bah.

In other news, I saw the cinecast of the final Rent performance on Broadway, and it was fantastic, except I was continuously distracted by the actor who plays Roger because he had really freaky pale blue eyes, with creepy eyeliner, and then in the last scene when he's singing his not-so-great song, he's wearing a horrible purple shirt. I think that scene just isn't meant to be put onto film, because it was creepy in the movie, and it was stupid in the cinecast. Other than THAT, though, I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Oncologist's visit #1

Today I had my first visit with Dr Stephenie Hodson, who works out at the Cancer Care Center at St. Al's. I didn't learn much that I didn't already know, except now I have a better idea of what to expect. This week, or early next, I have to get a bunch of tests done. I'm getting a full CT scan so they can see lower than my neck, a PET scan to measure cell metabolic activity, an excisional biopsy of the larger tumor on the right, having a port-a-cath put in, and getting a bone marrow biopsy. The excisional biopsy and the port-a-cath thing are going to kind of suck, because they're the type of things where you're asleep for the procedure and they do a lot of cutting. I am also getting a heart test and a lung test to evaluate the strength of my heart and lungs. Apparently there is a small chance of having heart failure due to chemo, and it can be really hard on the lungs. I am not really sure what they do for those tests. I am also REALLY not looking forward to the bone marrow thing, which is going to be Friday morning. The results of this test are going to determine what kind of treatment I'll be getting... it'd be REALLY not good if they found something wrong with the bone marrow.

It's looking more and more like I'll be able to mostly manage my schedule this semester. She wants to start me up on chemo as soon as next week, probably Thursdays. Apparently, each chemo treatment takes 4-5 hours, and then you're basically completely out of commission for the next 36 hours, possibly more. I was glad to hear that they usually do a very nice job of controlling nausea. I have this nifty book that lists how to eat when you have cancer, and I'm not too worried, but it's looking like I might have to add fish back into my diet (Sorry, Emma!). The chemo might start up as soon as next week, depending on what they find with the additional tests. It'll probably be two times a month, which isn't too bad. If I go in after class Thursday morning, I can have Thursday evening and Friday to recuperate, though I'll have to figure out how I'm going to miss my one class on Friday. However, Mondays through Wednesdays are much busier than Thursdays and Fridays, so I think this is the best option. I am really hoping to avoid radiation therapy because that increases your chance of getting leukemia and breast cancer later in life.

More information to come, as I get it!

Diploma to lymphoma...

... Thanks to Brian for the tacky-yet-kind-of-hilarious title.

So, I decided to make this blog, even though I've never pictured myself as a blogger, because the majority of my friends don't live anywhere near me, and as much as I like you all, I can't talk to each and every one of you personally every week. I also realize that some of my friends might want to keep tabs on my progress (or at least, I like to think so!)... ergo, a blog!

Basically, here's what's been happening in the last few months for me:

Finally graduated from Wash U, which is sad, because I'll miss my WUStL friends and I'll miss the EPSc department... BUT, I do have an "in" on the EPSc department in the form of Alison!

I started grad school here at BSU in the geosciences department, and I like it a lot so far. The choice of grad school basically came down to Boise State, Rice University, and St Louis U. Rice was by far the best choice, academically, but it didn't really feel right for me. So, I decided to come home. Being a TA is more entertaining and more irritating than I thought it would be and the classes thus far are pretty difficult. I like the people I share my office with, I like my fellow first-year-grad-students a lot, and so far I like the faculty and my advisor (though he can be tricky to track down, sometimes).

Here is the more significant news, which the majority of you know already: In June I found a weird lump on the right side of my neck, just above my collar bone. I ignored it because lymph nodes swell up and stuff on their own all the time, so I figured it would go away. However, it seemed to get larger, and firmer, so finally I reluctantly dragged myself into the Student Health and Wellness center here on campus. After having a registered nurse, a physician's assistant, and an MD prod at me, I was referred away to a surgeon, who prodded at me some more and then made me get a CT scan. The CT scan only covered my upper chest and neck, but it revealed that not only was the lymph node at the base of the right side of my neck really swollen, but one on the left side, a bunch in the base of the neck, and a bunch in my upper chest were swollen as well.

From here, the next step was a needle biopsy. This was done Wednesday Sep 17th. I got to the hospital way early for that, had some confusion at check in, and then was sent up to the ultrasound department. They took an ultrasound of the area, so they'd know where to stick the needles. Ultrasound gel feels like someone took Jell-O that hasn't quite set, and heated it up and rubbed it around on you. I got a local anasthetic which basically did nothing, and then it took them four needles to get enough tissue for a sample. The sample-collecting-needles make this really weird snapping noise, and it's kind of startling. I got this big old nifty ice pack to strap to my neck, which was kind of amusing. The pathologist told me that it'd take 24-48 hours, and if I hadn't heard anything from Dr. Henson by Friday morning, give him a call. I waited till Thursday afternoon, got impatient, called, got an answering machine, suffered through Thursday evening and Friday morning, got really impatient, called two more times, called another time, called a FOURTH time, finally got a person who said that it would actually be 3-5 days, and then I was just depressed because it seriously SUCKS waiting that long for results from a biopsy. And then, surprise, Dr. Henson calls with the results: Hodgkin's lymphoma, just as he suspected.

So, that is basically all the information I have right now. I am being referred away, again, to a lymphoma specialist who will probably order a bunch of tests to stage it. I expect it'll come out being stage 2A, but obviously, I'm no oncologist. Right now, mostly I'm just fretting about the possibility that they might want to take a bone marrow sample which is extraordinarily painful, apparently. Hopefully I'll get the first meeting with the new oncologist this week, and hopefully soon I'll be able to get more information to all of you! For what it's worth, I am feeling fairly healthy and optimistic about my prognosis.