MY CANCER ADVENTURE

Why in the world would I call cancer an adventure? Well, I will tell you that and more...

My adventure first began in 1992 when I first saw a doctor about some small lumps on my neck. I called them "lumps" because I had no idea at the time that they were swollen lymph nodes. The doctor ran some blood tests, had me do a TB test, and did a chest xray. When all of these came back negative, he decided to put me on some antibotics. A couple weeks later I returned to the doctor for a followup and the lumps had gone down some so he sent me on my way.

Within 6 months, new lumps came up on the other side of my neck. However, every time that I went to sick call for one thing or another, the lumps on my neck were written off as nothing. One doctor said that I had already had a battery of tests and the results were negative so basically there's no need to worry about them. So I didn't... Although I found myself feeling them more often than not.

It wasn't until I went to my family reunion that I was finally alarmed that something might be wrong. By now, the lumps were huge... and there were a lot of them... when my mother saw what my neck looked like when I cocked it to one side, she about had a fit and implored me to go get it checked out. However, this wasn't done until after I arrived at my next assignment in Georgia.

I finally went to sick call at my new base when I was having a lot of trouble sleeping because my legs and hips ached real bad when I tried to sleep. Of course, I wanted to get my lumps checked out too, but I was a little gun shy of wanting to make a big deal out of what I had been constantly told was nothing. the aches and pains in my legs were now secondary to what the doctor was concerned about. Again, I went through a battery of tests with all of them coming back negative. Hmmmmm, what next?

Well, finally someone decided this wasn't nothing and referred me to an internal medicine doctor for further evaluation and tests. These also came back negative... But they didn't stop there. They referred me to another specialist--infectious deseases.

This doctor was located at Keesler AFB, MS. He thought maybe it was cat scratch fever, but that test came back negative too. At this point, both he and the previous doctor ruled out lymphoma as this had been going on for so long. The only way we would know for sure was to biopsy one of them. So I was referred yet again to another doctor for another evaluation and more tests. During the evaluation, I remember this one intern coming in to feel my neck and his only words as he was doing his exam were "Holy Cows!!!" This doctor was the first doctor that indicated that it could be cancer. My surgery was scheduled for December 8th. Are we having fun yet??

At this point, I was very worried that it might be cancer. I had no idea that it actually would be... but it was. The doctor was waiting for me when I arrived on the surgical ward. He had a pathologist standing by as they thought they could do a needle biopsy right away (the surgery was scheduled for the next day.) Within one hour I was told it was Hodgkins Disease.

My first question was "Is that cancer"

So now the adventure really begins. The next two weeks are a blur in my mind. The biopsy of the biggest node was performed. A CT Scan, a bone marrow biopsy (OUCH!!!), more blood tests, a breathing test, an EKG, etc. These were all done for staging purposes. I was diagnosed and staged with Hodgkins Disease, Stage IIIB, Mixed Cellurarity.

Before I went home for Christmas, I had a mediport surgically placed into my chest and my first round of chemotherapy was given to me through this mediport. I was to report back two weeks later for my next dose with blood tests done in Georgia at the one week point.

And so began the routine trips to Mississippi every two weeks.