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.
1 comment:
It sounds like you are about a month or two ahead of me. I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's the end of April, but the journey to diagnosis was a terrible one. I just wanted to say a quick hello, but am interested in reading more of your posts. Right now I am in the process of trying to network with those that are experiencing this or have done so in the past. Everyone I know that hasn't been through this looks at me like an alien. It's nice to know that I'm not alone. Good luck to you in everything!
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