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.