A busy week

This week was a busy week.  My how time flies.

The week started with my scheduled PET scan on Monday.  This was my 3 month checkup from the previous PET scan back in November.  This scan coming back clean will mean, the obvious, cancer still gone, and the BONUS of getting my port removed.

The PET scan is relatively easy, with the hardest part being the waiting, and drinking a quart of funny tasting contrast fluid.  I start off by getting an injection of some radioactive chemical into my vein, then sitting for 45 minutes.  During this time I needed to drink the contrast fluid.  Not bad tasting, especially after no food / drink since the previous night.

They still want a head scan as well as a full body scan.  The first one took approximately 20 minutes, the body scan was more like 40.  It seems like a lot longer as you need to lay there on the table and not move.  For the head scan, the put a velcro strap around my forehead to “remind me to lay still”.  During the scans, I had a velcro strap around my feet, and another wide section across my torso.  I need something like this at night to keep someone from stealing the blankets.

Once the scan was done, the technician performing the scan seemed to have a different demeanor.  Of course I took this to mean she saw “something”.  I also believed that she just might not be having a good day, but you know which way I was really thinking.

I told Tammy about my concerns, and she agreed that it was probably nothing.  Put this together with feeling sore muscles / bones and it creates a recipe to worry.  Talking it over with others helped too.  Basically I concentrated on what I knew, which was nothing.

The doctor was kind enough to leave me a message on Tuesday evening with a simple message:  “all good news, see you on Friday”.

Tuesday night was the end of my first scuba class – having returned to teaching.  We finished up the confined water work (pools) and they are now ready to hit the open water.  Looking like it will be somewhere around mid May.  The class was a lot of fun.  Took a bit to get back into the swing of teaching, but I settled in pretty well.  Was nice to have the other Denis with me at the start, but he bailed out with some excuse about going to Florida for vacation, warm water, golf, etc.  What’s up with that?

Wednesday was a snow day for us.  Getting a few inches, mostly just making a mess of things.  Didn’t really accumulate too much, just a reminder that spring is not quite here yet.  This was also a day for a vendor at work, so I spent a few more hours than planned.  All good as we were able to accomplish quite a bit for another project we are working on. Way too much stuff happening, not enough time or people.

Thursday was another 1/2 day of work, then back into the pool at night.  Had to make up a few students that missed a class.  I had a good time as they did well.  They didn’t get all the skills perfectly the first time, but we were able to laugh, have fun, and do them over.  Was another fun night and we all learned a lot.

Friday is the big day…  Back to the doctor’s office for my follow up.  I needed to have my port flushed, as it has been over 6 weeks since last time.  Really shouldn’t go more than 4, but we pushed it a little.

Went right in to see the doctor, as they didn’t need to draw blood for the CBC.  Since I was getting the port flush, they would get the blood then.

When the doctor came in, he was all smiles.  Started to concern me when he said we had a few things to talk about.  First up:  the scan results.  All good news.  He read the report which basically stated that in the areas where previous lesions / tumors had been found, there is NO cancer present.  (Woo Hoo)  After we went through the results, he said the next thing was the port.  Asked me if I had thought about having it removed.  My response was hell yeah!  It has been bothering me quite a bit lately, so I really couldn’t wait for him to say this.  This would mean I needed another, different, blood test to check blood clotting ability for the surgery, but otherwise I was all set to schedule the removal.

The doctor gave me an overview of the different level (severities) of Lymphoma.  Someone that has a mild or non agressive case, would have a mild or non agressive treatment.  The probability of beating it would be low.  Someone with a more severe case, of a more agressive Lymphoma would be treated aggressively and would have a higher degree of [possibility for] remission.  Basically, at the level I had it – being so aggressive, he said that if the treatement didn’t kill you, you would do just fine.

😮

It would appear that his concern was more of would I make it through the treatment, rather than beat the cancer.  He said that the beginning was a little rough [going into anaphylactic shock, getting sick] but I made it look easy.  Who the heck was he looking at..?

Looking back, it was not an easy road.  Was it bad?  Yes.  To be honest, it was not as bad as I thought it was going to be.  I can truly attribute most of this to God and my family and friends!

WE made it through this!  -Thank You!

My next doctor’s appointment is scheduled for 2 months from now.  My next scan will be somewhere around 4 months from now.  During the office visits, they continually perform blood tests to monitor for the presence of Lymphoma.  Since my conditions did not present themselves in any logical manner in the beginning, the blood test will be our first line of defense.

Looking forward to a GREAT summer.  Many wonderful things planned as we need to make up for lost time.  🙂

Peace,
-Dennis