Going for bone marrow/biopsy test

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Comments

  • merrywinner
    merrywinner Member Posts: 626 Member
    #22
    COBRA666 said:

    YOU'RE THE BEST
    Mary, you are the soul and inspiration for a lot of us. You are the best, Thank You John

    Thank you John.
    I don't know that I deserve all that credit. It's just that I have received so much from so many here. Just trying to pay back what I owe. But thank you John your kind words mean so much. Never have I been in the company of so many smart and compassionate people. Mary
  • merrywinner
    merrywinner Member Posts: 626 Member
    #23
    dixiegirl said:

    BMB
    I have been very fortunate and been completely knocked out all 3 times I've had my bone marrow biopsies. I was only really sore the first time, the last 2 I didn't feel anything. The first time when I got home I cracked up..........they put a mickey mouse bandaid on my butt! LOL

    It'll be ok. I know you are scared.

    Take Care,
    Beth

    Lol Dixiegirl
    You always make me laugh. I was out both times too but I must not have been as well behaved cuz I had an ugly white dressing.....no Mickey for me! Take care. Mary
  • COBRA666
    COBRA666 Member Posts: 2,401 Member
    #24
    dixiegirl said:

    BMB
    I have been very fortunate and been completely knocked out all 3 times I've had my bone marrow biopsies. I was only really sore the first time, the last 2 I didn't feel anything. The first time when I got home I cracked up..........they put a mickey mouse bandaid on my butt! LOL

    It'll be ok. I know you are scared.

    Take Care,
    Beth

    bmb
    Beth, I wasn't knocked out, but I did have a local that did numb everything. I could not bear the pressure when they were taking the needle out. It was actually moving me on the table. They have to twist the thing into the bone and you would think they would remove it the same way. No, they push,wiggle and pull it out. My blood pressure actually dropped from that roughness.It was very upsetting. 73/42. you would have thought I had brain surgury with the bandage they had on me. John
  • COBRA666
    COBRA666 Member Posts: 2,401 Member
    #25
    allmost60 said:

    Tumor location
    The tumors that I can physically feel are in my left side groin..(6 tumors)... one was removed for biopsy, so now there are 5 remaining. They don't hurt at all and don't bother me. I cannot feel the ones in the back of my abdomen, but I know they are there from the CT scan results. The 3 lumps on the left side of my neck are the ones that bother me the most. When I touch them they are very hard and tender to the touch. Plus, they are obvious when looking in the mirror which immediately creeps me out. It's just a constant reminder that cancer is growing in my body. I'm getting better each day with that kind of thinking and most of the time I am able to put myself in check before I start the whole panic routine. I truely enjoy all the feedback...it's very comforting..."Thanks"...Sue

    tumor location
    Sue, the location of your tumors above the diaphram and below(abdomen) and in the groin area makes it a stage 3. If it is in the bone it will make it a stage 4. Don't worry about it if it is in the bone. It will be treated the same as if it was a stage 3. I am just relaying what my onc. said to me because I asked the same question. John
  • Tracie1981
    Tracie1981 Member Posts: 125
    #26
    COBRA666 said:

    tumor location
    Sue, the location of your tumors above the diaphram and below(abdomen) and in the groin area makes it a stage 3. If it is in the bone it will make it a stage 4. Don't worry about it if it is in the bone. It will be treated the same as if it was a stage 3. I am just relaying what my onc. said to me because I asked the same question. John

    Hey Sue
    Sorry that you are having to go through this. I think its hard the first few treatments you have to go through just because of the uncertainty. Its wonderful to have a site like this to beable to ask question and get answers from those who have been through it. I think John is right about the staging process, I have Hodgkins Lymphoma stage 2b...I had it in 2 different areas above the abdomen and I had symptoms... The symptoms thing makes it a b...I guess lol. My tumor was 10 1/2 inches across my right lung and behind my heart, dont ask me how I was able to breathe because its still beyond me lol. But I'm on cycle 6 of ABVD and its down to 4 1/2 inches Woohoo! Goodluck to you on your treatments, and goodluck on your results!! Keep us updated :)
  • COBRA666
    COBRA666 Member Posts: 2,401 Member
    #27
    Tracie1981 said:

    Hey Sue
    Sorry that you are having to go through this. I think its hard the first few treatments you have to go through just because of the uncertainty. Its wonderful to have a site like this to beable to ask question and get answers from those who have been through it. I think John is right about the staging process, I have Hodgkins Lymphoma stage 2b...I had it in 2 different areas above the abdomen and I had symptoms... The symptoms thing makes it a b...I guess lol. My tumor was 10 1/2 inches across my right lung and behind my heart, dont ask me how I was able to breathe because its still beyond me lol. But I'm on cycle 6 of ABVD and its down to 4 1/2 inches Woohoo! Goodluck to you on your treatments, and goodluck on your results!! Keep us updated :)

    Tracie Symtoms
    Tracie, I believe you are right what make the A and B is if you have no symtoms it is classified as A. If you have night sweats,temperature or weight loss then it is classified as B symtoms. I was nhl follicular stage 4 A
    Are you sure the tumor was 10 1/2'' and not 10 1/2 cm. I know mine were 5 and 6 cm in the abdomen. John
  • Tracie1981
    Tracie1981 Member Posts: 125
    #28
    COBRA666 said:

    Tracie Symtoms
    Tracie, I believe you are right what make the A and B is if you have no symtoms it is classified as A. If you have night sweats,temperature or weight loss then it is classified as B symtoms. I was nhl follicular stage 4 A
    Are you sure the tumor was 10 1/2'' and not 10 1/2 cm. I know mine were 5 and 6 cm in the abdomen. John

    Hey Cobra
    Nope, it was over 20cm and 10cm across, stretched from behind my heart and consumed most of my right lung, I'm lucky to be alive. I was pregnant and thought that the reason I couldnt breath, was itchy all the time, the sweats, dark circles under my eyes, it all was blamed on pregnancy, until I still couldnt breath after I delivered then they took it serious. My hubby is a marine so I had to go to the naval hospital for my pregnancy, I'm a little ticked off that they didnt catch it sooner but I am thankful for the insurance thats for sure!
  • COBRA666
    COBRA666 Member Posts: 2,401 Member
    #29
    Tracie1981 said:

    Hey Cobra
    Nope, it was over 20cm and 10cm across, stretched from behind my heart and consumed most of my right lung, I'm lucky to be alive. I was pregnant and thought that the reason I couldnt breath, was itchy all the time, the sweats, dark circles under my eyes, it all was blamed on pregnancy, until I still couldnt breath after I delivered then they took it serious. My hubby is a marine so I had to go to the naval hospital for my pregnancy, I'm a little ticked off that they didnt catch it sooner but I am thankful for the insurance thats for sure!

    TRACIE
    HEY, I thought mine were big at 5-6cm. thats 2-2 1/2''. Yes you are lucky It may take a little more to shrink those up. I am sure they can do it though. John
  • allmost60
    allmost60 Member Posts: 3,178 Member
    #30
    COBRA666 said:

    Tracie Symtoms
    Tracie, I believe you are right what make the A and B is if you have no symtoms it is classified as A. If you have night sweats,temperature or weight loss then it is classified as B symtoms. I was nhl follicular stage 4 A
    Are you sure the tumor was 10 1/2'' and not 10 1/2 cm. I know mine were 5 and 6 cm in the abdomen. John

    A little more info about me
    Thank you Tracy for the added input...I appreciate all of the useful info being shared.
    I thought it might be a good idea to share a little more about myself.If this is inappropriate, please let me know. I was born with Klippel Feil Syndrome...a congenital birth defect of the cervical spine along with many other associated anomolies. My neck is short, thick and stiff. I have very limited range of motion due to complete cervical fusion(at birth) except between C-2 and C-3. I was also born with a hypoplastic thumb on my left hand. My thumb was removed at age 12 and the index finger was rotated to the thumb position and serves as my thumb...(works great). I only have one kidney(right side) and also born with missing female organs on the left side.All of my deformities are on the left side and I've been diagnosed with left hemiatrophy. Oddly enough my cancer is predominately located on the left side which I find interesting. As I've aged my neck and shoulders have gotten tighter and are sore most of the time. Alot of the symptoms of my cancer were ignored because I just thought my KFS was getting worse, as did my family doctor. Also, last August I fell down 11 stairs that lead to our family room and ended up having to have Rotator Cuff surgery on my left shoulder in November(09). The surgery was un-sucessful leaving me with only 40% use of my left arm. It froze up basically. I was scheduled to have my shoulder re-done this July, but now have cancelled because of finding this cancer. When I found the lump on the left side of my neck last January I just assumed it was caused by the needle they used to do the pain block for my surgery....as did my family doctor.In February I had a bout of bronchitis and was on prednisone and a strong antibiotic(Lavaquin). When I found the lump on my groin in March I just assumed(again) that the groin lymph was swollen from the medication I was given...as did my family doctor. So...as you can see, I assumed a whole lot.... the tiredness, sore shoulder,swollen lymph glands and other symptoms that may have been warning signs of cancer, were being blamed on my birth defect and the fall. Needless to say, the LAST thing I attributed my new aches and pains too was cancer. Anyways...I just thought you might like to know a little about my medical background BEFORE cancer entered the scene. Hope it was ok to say all of this as I don't want to step outside of the bounds with discussions here.
    Love...Sue
  • merrywinner
    merrywinner Member Posts: 626 Member
    #31
    allmost60 said:

    A little more info about me
    Thank you Tracy for the added input...I appreciate all of the useful info being shared.
    I thought it might be a good idea to share a little more about myself.If this is inappropriate, please let me know. I was born with Klippel Feil Syndrome...a congenital birth defect of the cervical spine along with many other associated anomolies. My neck is short, thick and stiff. I have very limited range of motion due to complete cervical fusion(at birth) except between C-2 and C-3. I was also born with a hypoplastic thumb on my left hand. My thumb was removed at age 12 and the index finger was rotated to the thumb position and serves as my thumb...(works great). I only have one kidney(right side) and also born with missing female organs on the left side.All of my deformities are on the left side and I've been diagnosed with left hemiatrophy. Oddly enough my cancer is predominately located on the left side which I find interesting. As I've aged my neck and shoulders have gotten tighter and are sore most of the time. Alot of the symptoms of my cancer were ignored because I just thought my KFS was getting worse, as did my family doctor. Also, last August I fell down 11 stairs that lead to our family room and ended up having to have Rotator Cuff surgery on my left shoulder in November(09). The surgery was un-sucessful leaving me with only 40% use of my left arm. It froze up basically. I was scheduled to have my shoulder re-done this July, but now have cancelled because of finding this cancer. When I found the lump on the left side of my neck last January I just assumed it was caused by the needle they used to do the pain block for my surgery....as did my family doctor.In February I had a bout of bronchitis and was on prednisone and a strong antibiotic(Lavaquin). When I found the lump on my groin in March I just assumed(again) that the groin lymph was swollen from the medication I was given...as did my family doctor. So...as you can see, I assumed a whole lot.... the tiredness, sore shoulder,swollen lymph glands and other symptoms that may have been warning signs of cancer, were being blamed on my birth defect and the fall. Needless to say, the LAST thing I attributed my new aches and pains too was cancer. Anyways...I just thought you might like to know a little about my medical background BEFORE cancer entered the scene. Hope it was ok to say all of this as I don't want to step outside of the bounds with discussions here.
    Love...Sue

    It's safe here!
    You can share as much or as little as you like. There are no boundaries and people will respond as they are able. Maybe to share info, empathize or identify. My heart goes out to you for having been through so much already and now this! But you also sound very strong and seem to have a great attitude. As to your prior issues I am not familiar with those conditions but they certainly sound challenging and it looks like you were able to come out the other side and cope. What I can identify with is the shoulder stuff as it applies to my Lymphoma. For several years I kept getting episodes of pain in one shoulder and upper arm or the other. They were fairly severe and acted just like Bursitis and were diagnosed as Bursitis. They would usually last about a week and then go completely away after taking Tylenol or ibuprofen and using a heating pad etc. Then in a month or 6 weeks it would return. I tried to figure out what I was doing to bring this on and blamed it on my job, different sleeping positions and the like. I was not really very aggressive in seeking an answer to it all because it would go completely away. That is how I discovered the lump in my neck. I was in the middle of one of these episodes and was rubbing my collar bone and shoulder area and felt a large lump just above my right collar bone and the rest as they say is history. As it turned out the lump was cancerous and I was affected in both collar bones as well as many other areas. So glad I didn't have Bursitis! LOL. As is my understanding from the Medical Director where I work,a big part of treating Lymphoma includes treating the tumors that cause problems by pushing on surrounding organs or structures. On hindsight,even though I am diagnosed with stage 4A meaning without symptoms I can now realize lots of subtle,odd things that I had going on. Since my treatment and remission my "Bursitis" has completely disappeared!! Take care, Mary
  • allmost60
    allmost60 Member Posts: 3,178 Member
    #32
    merrywinner said:

    It's safe here!
    You can share as much or as little as you like. There are no boundaries and people will respond as they are able. Maybe to share info, empathize or identify. My heart goes out to you for having been through so much already and now this! But you also sound very strong and seem to have a great attitude. As to your prior issues I am not familiar with those conditions but they certainly sound challenging and it looks like you were able to come out the other side and cope. What I can identify with is the shoulder stuff as it applies to my Lymphoma. For several years I kept getting episodes of pain in one shoulder and upper arm or the other. They were fairly severe and acted just like Bursitis and were diagnosed as Bursitis. They would usually last about a week and then go completely away after taking Tylenol or ibuprofen and using a heating pad etc. Then in a month or 6 weeks it would return. I tried to figure out what I was doing to bring this on and blamed it on my job, different sleeping positions and the like. I was not really very aggressive in seeking an answer to it all because it would go completely away. That is how I discovered the lump in my neck. I was in the middle of one of these episodes and was rubbing my collar bone and shoulder area and felt a large lump just above my right collar bone and the rest as they say is history. As it turned out the lump was cancerous and I was affected in both collar bones as well as many other areas. So glad I didn't have Bursitis! LOL. As is my understanding from the Medical Director where I work,a big part of treating Lymphoma includes treating the tumors that cause problems by pushing on surrounding organs or structures. On hindsight,even though I am diagnosed with stage 4A meaning without symptoms I can now realize lots of subtle,odd things that I had going on. Since my treatment and remission my "Bursitis" has completely disappeared!! Take care, Mary

    Thanks Mary
    Hi Mary...I was a little worried about sharing so much, but it did make me feel better after doing so. I'm sure glad to hear I didn't do anything wrong..ha! My birth defect never stopped me from doing anything, so I never really looked at it as much of a challenge... more as a reason to just try a little harder at whatever I had to accomplish. Funny how being born "a little different" can give you strength and determination to do what others won't even attempt to do with a perfect made body.Maybe all of this will help me with fighting this cancer...hope so! I must admit, I was a bit of a wild child and young adult, probably because I wanted to just "fit in" and not stand out in the crowd. Looks like I'll be standing out in the crowd when my hair falls out...ha!(glad I'm old and not vain anymore)...I cut my hair off short last week in preparation for chemo. I've NEVER had short hair, so it was a huge step for me. I'm use to it now and wish I had done it years ago...ha! I love how age changes our priorities.
    As I look back over the last few years, I like you am seeing warning signs of having this cancer for some time now. Weird how we found so many other things to tag as the problem and not giving cancer a single thought as the culprit. My new challenge is to remember to not associate every "new" boo boo to cancer and instead try to sort out what activities I'm doing that may be contributing to pain,etc, versus it being cancer symptoms. It's going to be interesting...huh? Gosh..I'm so glad I found this group...sure feels good to talk with others going through the same thing.Thanks again!
    Love...Sue
  • Tracie1981
    Tracie1981 Member Posts: 125
    #33
    allmost60 said:

    Thanks Mary
    Hi Mary...I was a little worried about sharing so much, but it did make me feel better after doing so. I'm sure glad to hear I didn't do anything wrong..ha! My birth defect never stopped me from doing anything, so I never really looked at it as much of a challenge... more as a reason to just try a little harder at whatever I had to accomplish. Funny how being born "a little different" can give you strength and determination to do what others won't even attempt to do with a perfect made body.Maybe all of this will help me with fighting this cancer...hope so! I must admit, I was a bit of a wild child and young adult, probably because I wanted to just "fit in" and not stand out in the crowd. Looks like I'll be standing out in the crowd when my hair falls out...ha!(glad I'm old and not vain anymore)...I cut my hair off short last week in preparation for chemo. I've NEVER had short hair, so it was a huge step for me. I'm use to it now and wish I had done it years ago...ha! I love how age changes our priorities.
    As I look back over the last few years, I like you am seeing warning signs of having this cancer for some time now. Weird how we found so many other things to tag as the problem and not giving cancer a single thought as the culprit. My new challenge is to remember to not associate every "new" boo boo to cancer and instead try to sort out what activities I'm doing that may be contributing to pain,etc, versus it being cancer symptoms. It's going to be interesting...huh? Gosh..I'm so glad I found this group...sure feels good to talk with others going through the same thing.Thanks again!
    Love...Sue

    Hey Sue
    I'm so glad you have also found this site, it truly has been a blessing to me as well as others!! Keep us updated and God Bless!!
  • britta
    britta Member Posts: 107
    #34
    merrywinner said:

    Ahhh Cobra I will try to explain
    First let me say that Zevalin or any other treatment is not the only game in town. We all must believe in and then do what are Md's feel is best for our own unique situation. That being said I was offered the Zevalin therapy after completing 6 cycles of R CHOP and achieving complete remission. I had the choice of deepening or prolonging my remission by Rituxan maintenance every 3 months or the Zevalin. Very tough call for me. Both have success rates and are effective. Zevalin as I was told is showing a longer time in remission as via European Studies over the past several years and recently studies here. They feel they are close to being able to use the "cure" word with this therapy. I hope so and we shall see. There are people on here and I am sure elsewhere that are 7 or more years out with no recurrence. That is as far as they can go because it's usage began in 2002 in the US. In the beginning it was used for people who were refractory or not responding well enough or at all to standard therapies. In the last few years it's usage has been approved for post chemo patients who achieved remission. Most recently it has been approved as a first line treatment. A very simplified method of action, as I understand it would be as follows. The Zevalin is given immediately following a dose of Rituxan. The Rituxin acts as a guided missile bringing the Zevalin to all of the affected B cells which are then destroyed. The Zevalin thanks the Rituxin but decides that it wants to play it really safe and destroy all of the B cells and let the body start over. The precursor cells are not harmed as they have no identifying markers on them. They will now fairly rapidly become normal healthy B cells because the body is calling for B cells please. The potential for unhealthy cells growing is greatly decreased because none of the old family members were left. Again really oversimplified but that is how I understand it. It is not offered everywhere only at major cancer centers that have the ability to do it. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time or at least I surely hope so. I do NOT want to step on anyone's toes here or challenge their treatments. This is in no way meant to do that. I had pretty much planned on going with the Rituxan maintenance and then was offered a choice that was really hard to make. I pray it was the right one for me. Is it without potential side effects? Of course not, none of the options are. I was told the potential for both of my options and it ended up being a horse apiece.If this interests you there is a website that explains it and why it's not available everywhere etc. It's www.lymphomabook.com. Again everyone have faith in your choices this was just mine. Sincerely, Mary

    Wow
    Mary

    What a wonderful and simple explanation of Zevalin! Thank you!!!! As John says, you are an inspiration for all of us.

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