Went to see Dr. Weeks today to meet and discuss the results of my biopsy. Had my blood work done. Weighed in (194! I've kept the weight off that I lost at the start of the year...). Blood pressure, pulse, temperature all good. All that, then they come in and tell me that the results of the biopsy aren't back yet. Kind of a waste of a morning, but whatever. Turns out they sent it to a center in California to be analyzed, rather than Seattle like we thought. They're going to call me next week when they receive the results. So we continue to wait...
I'm heading to Olympia this afternoon for the weekend. Melissa and I are celebrating our six month anniversary, and on Sunday we're going to my sister's house for my nephew's second birthday. I've got an appointment on Tuesday morning to meet with Dr. Cordero for him to check out the incision from the biopsy. It looks good - much better than last time!
Friday, April 25, 2008
Monday, April 14, 2008
Left Mediastinotomy #2
I finally had the biopsy on my chest done today. I was a little nervous heading into it, as this was the same procedure from last March that stuck me in the hospital for four days. Last time, I had an adverse reaction to the anesthesia, which caused my lungs to fill with fluid. I certainly didn't want to repeat that process.
Well, the procedure went flawlessly, and by the evening I was feeling good enough to go home, though they wanted to keep me in the hospital overnight for observation. I didn't argue too hard, as I knew I was feeling fine, and would go home in the morning.
Melissa and I watched game three of the Red Wings/Predators series in my hospital room. The Wings dominated the game, but had a couple of untimely defensive lapses that cost them the game. I am not really worried about the Wings at this point - they should be able to finish off this series fairly quickly - but we will have to tighten up if we want to make a run at The Cup.
Well, the procedure went flawlessly, and by the evening I was feeling good enough to go home, though they wanted to keep me in the hospital overnight for observation. I didn't argue too hard, as I knew I was feeling fine, and would go home in the morning.
Melissa and I watched game three of the Red Wings/Predators series in my hospital room. The Wings dominated the game, but had a couple of untimely defensive lapses that cost them the game. I am not really worried about the Wings at this point - they should be able to finish off this series fairly quickly - but we will have to tighten up if we want to make a run at The Cup.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Bad Timing
I was scheduled to have my biopsy on the mass in my chest today, but woke up overnight sick. I had a pretty high fever, and was throwing up, and certainly was not in position to have surgery, so it was postponed until Monday.
By the middle of the day, I was feeling much better. I'm not sure where that came from, or why I got so sick so suddenly, but whatever. I'll be just fine by Monday.
By the middle of the day, I was feeling much better. I'm not sure where that came from, or why I got so sick so suddenly, but whatever. I'll be just fine by Monday.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Consultation Day
So my mom, my new (well, new to the blog - it's been six months) girlfriend Melissa, and I met Dr. Robert Witherspoon at the Seattle Cancer Care Center (http://www.seattlecca.org/) in Downtown Seattle. He basically echoed everything that Dr. Weeks said, and spoke that the Stem Cell Transplant would be the best course of action. While he didn't tell us a ton that we didn't already know, it was great that everyone (Dr. Witherspoon, Dr. Weeks, and us) were all on the same page. We also got a tour of the facility. It is an absolutely beautiful building, and looks to be a very state-of-the-art facility. Overall, this calmed us down tremendously.
Dr. Witherspoon laid out a timeline of what we could expect. He requested a biopsy of the mass in my chest (the nodes in my neck were not large enough to biopsy), which would take a few weeks to get and analyze. After that, I would run through a couple rounds of chemotherapy here in the Tri-Cities before heading to Seattle to have some of my stem cells harvested. This would be around mid-May. After that, I would return home for a couple of weeks while everything was set up for the summer. Then I would return to Seattle in early-June to start the transplant process. I would likely spend the next 10-12 weeks there running through the transplant process. The actual transplant would be in mid-June, and the next 8-10 weeks would be recovery.
Overall, I feel great that there is a gameplan now. I've spent the last 7 weeks on pins and needles worrying about what is going to happen. I was basically sitting around knowing that I was "sick" but nothing was happening to get better. I spent the rest of the weekend with Melissa and her family in Surrey (suburb of Vancouver, BC). We had a great time, and it was nice to take my mind off of the whole situation for a couple of days.
Dr. Witherspoon laid out a timeline of what we could expect. He requested a biopsy of the mass in my chest (the nodes in my neck were not large enough to biopsy), which would take a few weeks to get and analyze. After that, I would run through a couple rounds of chemotherapy here in the Tri-Cities before heading to Seattle to have some of my stem cells harvested. This would be around mid-May. After that, I would return home for a couple of weeks while everything was set up for the summer. Then I would return to Seattle in early-June to start the transplant process. I would likely spend the next 10-12 weeks there running through the transplant process. The actual transplant would be in mid-June, and the next 8-10 weeks would be recovery.
Overall, I feel great that there is a gameplan now. I've spent the last 7 weeks on pins and needles worrying about what is going to happen. I was basically sitting around knowing that I was "sick" but nothing was happening to get better. I spent the rest of the weekend with Melissa and her family in Surrey (suburb of Vancouver, BC). We had a great time, and it was nice to take my mind off of the whole situation for a couple of days.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Ultrasound
I had the ultrasound on my neck. The jelly was cold, and despite the technician's best efforts, she got it all over my shirt, and I had to go home and change afterwards. Lame.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Good News
I met with Dr. Weeks to discuss the results of the bone marrow biopsy. Everything looked great. i.e. the cancer cells still were not in my bone marrow. That means that I will likely be able to have an "Autologous" Stem Cell Transplant. I will be able to use my own cells for the transplant rather than depending on finding a donor. That type of transplant has a lower risk of side effects (Like some kinds of transplant rejections. A lot of those lead to - gulp! - death).
Dr. Weeks referred us to the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance to meet with their specialists to get a second opinion and basically discuss my options. I started talking with some of their Patient Care Coordinators, and scheduled an appointment for April 4 to meet with a doctor there.
In the meantime they wanted me to have a biopsy on some of the lymph nodes such that they can get a better idea what they are dealing with. The scan in February indicated that their may be some cancerous nodes in my neck, and they wanted those biopsied. However, it is unclear if those nodes were big enough to get a good sample. I scheduled to have an ultrasound on my neck on March 19 to see if the lymph nodes would be big enough to biopsy. If they're not, then I would have to have another biopsy on the mass in my chest.
Dr. Weeks referred us to the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance to meet with their specialists to get a second opinion and basically discuss my options. I started talking with some of their Patient Care Coordinators, and scheduled an appointment for April 4 to meet with a doctor there.
In the meantime they wanted me to have a biopsy on some of the lymph nodes such that they can get a better idea what they are dealing with. The scan in February indicated that their may be some cancerous nodes in my neck, and they wanted those biopsied. However, it is unclear if those nodes were big enough to get a good sample. I scheduled to have an ultrasound on my neck on March 19 to see if the lymph nodes would be big enough to biopsy. If they're not, then I would have to have another biopsy on the mass in my chest.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)