A week and a day after surgery I went back in, May 22nd, 2013, to have the suture in my neck removed. I was informed that the mass was indeed cancer. Anaplastic ALK-positive large cell lymphoma, which is the good type of this kind of lymphoma. I have better odds than most. It is a rare type and I say of course I had to have a rare type because I must always be special in some way. (haha) However, it scares me to no end. The Cancer Center at University of Michigan Medical Center wanted me to come in as soon as there was an opening. On May 22nd I was a sit and wait patient for a full body CT, turns out I am allergic to the barium they have you drink before a CT. I was sick for 2 days after that. So on top of having cancer I was sick and couldn't eat or drink anything but Gatorade.
I made it in by June 5th and had a bone marrow biopsy, PET scan, and Echo scheduled for June 6th. The bone marrow biopsy was one of the worst experiences of my entire life. They don't warn you beforehand what to expect but they have you lie on your stomach with your hips elevated and push a pen gauged needle into your right and left hip. They tap the bone until they find a spot where it produces pressure rather than stabbing pain and then go into the bone. They draw out some marrow to test then pull out more. Once they draw out the marrow they push deeper to get a piece of bone. The next hip they will either only take a piece of bone or take more marrow along with bone. For me they only took a piece of bone from my right hip. After this I had to go down and get a PET scan where you lie on your back, which was not happening after having needles shoved into my hip bones. They gave me a couple pillows to lie on during the procedure and I did alright.
I made sure that I asked my oncologist/hematologist, Dr Wilcox, my likelihood of infertility after chemo and he said it was slim due to the type I'd be having but that I could discuss it further with the reproductive endocrinologist. They decided to give me Lupron Depot to put me into temporary menopause through the whole of chemotherapy to hopefully protect the eggs already there. I was unable to have my eggs harvested due to the time constraint that they placed on when I would start chemotherapy. If I could go back and do it I think I would postpone chemo another week or so just so I would be able to have them harvested. It takes 2 to 3 weeks to have your eggs harvested. Dr. Wilcox wanted me to start on June 19th.
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Having the Lump Removed
I found a doctor at the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor. Dr. Wolf is great, his specialty is Otolaryngology, so Ear, Neck, and Throat. He told me it was serious but the surgery would be simple and he does it quite often. I felt much more at ease with this doctor than with the one before. I wanted to go on a trip with my grandparents and sister so I told the doctor that I'd like to wait to have it removed. He said that that would not be a problem. I was able to go on the cruise I had planned with my Grandparents and Sister to the Bahamas. We had a great time, I just had to make sure not to get a sunburn on my neck. Once we got back at the beginning of May it had been decided that my surgery would be on May 14th, 2013.
On May 14th I went in for the surgery. It took the anesthesiologists 7 tries to get an IV for the surgery. I remained relatively calm until they started telling me that they were going to try going in through my feet. They brought out the ultra sound to try to find a vein and still weren't able to get one. Finally someone found a spot in my left hand that worked. I was bruised for weeks afterwards. The surgery went well, they ended up snapping a nerve in my neck to get the whole mass out which had grown to about 3x4 inches, inward. They reconstructed the nerve but I could not feel most of the left side of my face (including my ear) along with having problems with lifting my left arm and shoulder. I will have problems with this for up to 6 months to a year is what they informed me.
On May 14th I went in for the surgery. It took the anesthesiologists 7 tries to get an IV for the surgery. I remained relatively calm until they started telling me that they were going to try going in through my feet. They brought out the ultra sound to try to find a vein and still weren't able to get one. Finally someone found a spot in my left hand that worked. I was bruised for weeks afterwards. The surgery went well, they ended up snapping a nerve in my neck to get the whole mass out which had grown to about 3x4 inches, inward. They reconstructed the nerve but I could not feel most of the left side of my face (including my ear) along with having problems with lifting my left arm and shoulder. I will have problems with this for up to 6 months to a year is what they informed me.
Doctor Check Up's Are Good
On February 13, 2013 I found a lump on the left side of my neck behind my ear. I went to the doctor because after a week it was still there and I didn't feel sick. I went in and the doctor was very serious about it being a big deal. He mentioned cancer, cysts, and abscesses and had blood work done and then had me go in for an ultra sound of my neck and a CT.
I went in for these tests and got the results back, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. It was just an enlarged lymph node. The doctor (Dr. Hamilton) was still worried about it due to my blood cell counts and had me start antibiotics while having these tests done. I had my blood work done again and he sent me for a pinpoint needle biopsy of the lump. This test came back negative so I thought I was in the clear but my doctor wanted the lump removed and I had no problem with that because I didn't want it anymore than he did.
I went to an Ear Neck and Throat surgeon in Grand Blanc, MI and he was horrid. I didn't want him coming anywhere near me after the way he treated me. I went in to talk with him and he didn't seem very worried about the lump and just prescribed me with antibiotics and insisted that it had to be cat scratch fever. I informed him that I'm allergic to cats and had not been around them in over a year but he didn't believe me. Two weeks went by and he would finally see me again after the antibiotics did not do anything. He then decided that it was a big deal because the blood work for cat scratch fever came back negative and he wanted to remove the lump, finally. I have Irritable Bowl Syndrome and can not handle too many strong emotions at once so I have to remain calm when dealing with difficult situations. This doctor did not seem to understand that everyone deals in different ways so when he told me how serious this situation was I remained calm and he was not happy with that. He grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me saying that I wasn't taking the situation seriously enough. Once I started crying he turned to my mother and asked her if I was alright. After that I was done and was not allowing this man anywhere near me again. I would find another surgeon to remove this lump.
I went in for these tests and got the results back, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. It was just an enlarged lymph node. The doctor (Dr. Hamilton) was still worried about it due to my blood cell counts and had me start antibiotics while having these tests done. I had my blood work done again and he sent me for a pinpoint needle biopsy of the lump. This test came back negative so I thought I was in the clear but my doctor wanted the lump removed and I had no problem with that because I didn't want it anymore than he did.
I went to an Ear Neck and Throat surgeon in Grand Blanc, MI and he was horrid. I didn't want him coming anywhere near me after the way he treated me. I went in to talk with him and he didn't seem very worried about the lump and just prescribed me with antibiotics and insisted that it had to be cat scratch fever. I informed him that I'm allergic to cats and had not been around them in over a year but he didn't believe me. Two weeks went by and he would finally see me again after the antibiotics did not do anything. He then decided that it was a big deal because the blood work for cat scratch fever came back negative and he wanted to remove the lump, finally. I have Irritable Bowl Syndrome and can not handle too many strong emotions at once so I have to remain calm when dealing with difficult situations. This doctor did not seem to understand that everyone deals in different ways so when he told me how serious this situation was I remained calm and he was not happy with that. He grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me saying that I wasn't taking the situation seriously enough. Once I started crying he turned to my mother and asked her if I was alright. After that I was done and was not allowing this man anywhere near me again. I would find another surgeon to remove this lump.
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