Saw my oncologist

lindary
lindary Member Posts: 711 Member
in Lymphoma (Hodgkin and Non-Hodgkin) #1

Today was my 6 month visit with my oncologist. Expectation was I would go on the annual plan. Blood test are good. We talked about my bowel blockage in August. The first one thta put me in the hospital was in May of 2017 and this one was about 18 months later. The CT scans done at the time showed no sign of cancer.  She feels everything is fine but also wants to be double sure. S0 I am getting a CT scan with contrast next week.  I think I have had small ones where I just had fluid for a day and the bloated feeling went away. I have altered my eating habits to try and avoid another serious blockage. Smaller servings, eat slower and drink lots of water. Also chew things thouroughly. Also I am to see her again in 6 months. If anythng serious shows up she will call me.

I did learn something today. The doctor said that all of the early (2014-2015) reports show my lymphoma as stage 1-2. Yet I was treated as having a stage 3. She said R-chop is good for fighting a stage 3 but not so good on the 1-2 types. She is not sure why they started with the R-Chop. My origianl onc retired last year so my current oncologist can only go by what is in the records and reports, She did remark that she is not saying I was treated wrong. The fact I am doing good and am still NED says the treatments did their job. 

I am focusing on working and staying healthy for now. Grandchild #5 is due in Dec, it will be our daughter's first. (Our son has 4 kids). Our third child, a girl, has made it clear she does not plan to have children. But will spoil the grands. 

Comments

  • Almost70now
    Almost70now Member Posts: 37 Member
    #2
    Stage determination

    Hi Lindary,

      I remember my doctor explaining how they stage Lymphoma and if memory serves me right he said...stage 1 it's in one part of the body, stage 2 it's in a 2nd different location as with stage 3, 3rd seperate location and stage 4 means you have it in the bone. I had tumors in my groin, stomach and neck which put me at stage 3 because I didn't have any bone involvement....(bone marrow biopsy came back clean). I had Grade 2 because I had a mixture of small, and large cancer cells. The Type A means I didn't have any symptoms other than tumors that could be felt....I wasn't tired, or had any night sweats or unexplained weight loss. If you have all those symptons they say you are a Type B. Maybe you know all of this already, but just thought I'd share how my doctor explained it to me. I'm one of those people that needs to know what "everything means" and also what each drug in my chemo cocktail does to me. My doctor was very patient with all of my questions and took the time to explain everything. I'm a Libra, and always need my scales balanced. ha! Laughing Hope your scan comes back clean and worry free! Innocent Love...Sue

    FNHL-stage3-grade 2-Type A-diagnosed June 2010

  • lindary
    lindary Member Posts: 711 Member
    #3
    staging

    I didn't have the typical symptoms. My thyroid meds hadn't changed for several years. Then in 2014 my dr had to adjust them 2 or 3 times. I was also having problems with breathing. So when my Dr felt the mass in my abdomen she ordered a CT scan. When they did the scan it was noticed I had fluid around my right lung. Turned out it was pluresy. It all came together when the biopsy resulted in a dignosis of lymphoma.  Just glad it is all behind me. The experience did teach me a lot.

  • Almost70now
    Almost70now Member Posts: 37 Member
    edited October 2019 #4
    Usually unrelated...

    Hi lindary,

      It seems many folks get diagnosed after going to the doctor for something not even associated with cancer. Our dear friend was complaining of a back ache for about 3 weeks and we finally convinced him to go to his doctor and get it checked out. He had one xray that led to a scan and other tests resulting in his cancer diagnosis....lungs, liver, kidneys, bone and finally to his brain. We all were just shocked because all he had was a backache to start with. He was diagnosed last February and passed on Sept. 24th. The crazy thing is that he didn't have symptoms except for the back ache which later we were told was the cancer in his kidneys. He went so fast. It's best to always get checked out when you feel off. Love Sue

    FNHL-stage3-grade2-typeA-diagnosed June 2010

  • lindary
    lindary Member Posts: 711 Member
    #5
    unrelated

    It has to be at leasst 14 years ago. Co-worker was remodeling his basement. One comes in to work with back pain from playing weekend warrior. Sees dr, gets meds and treatment. Starts getting better, Then after several weeks it goes bad again but he has not been doing any work. Back to Dr who runs tests. It's Multipl Myeloma, early stage. He fought it for 11 years.

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