I asked Dr. George about the likely hood of me needing radiation and he said that based on the way my last scan looked and the size of the tumors to begin with, it is not likely that I will need radiation. He said that Hodgkin's Lymphoma patients need radiation more often than Non-Hodgkin's patients like me. Hodgkin's tends to leave bulky and/or dead tissue tumors that need zapped whereas Non-Hodgkin's tumors more often shrink and disappear. So I am not anticipating radiation. That means that I will get my last chemo about November 6th and a PET/CT scan that next week. When that scan comes back clear (and it will) I will be done with cancer treatment! By Thanksgiving I should be feeling good and looking forward to good health...and hair. I will get scans about every three months for the first year, maybe two. Heh, goodbye cancer, but not goodbye medical bills for a few years.
While I was checking out at the Cancer Center, I noticed a flyer on the wall for a Lymphoma conference night at Dave & Busters on Nov. 1st 6-8:30 p.m. It is a free conference all about non-Hodgkin's lymphoma treatments and new research and future directions for NHL, as they call it. I am definitely going to go. I am very interested in the why's and how's of treatment and research. I read like crazy, cause I have to know as much as I can. So this is definitely a must-attend thing. And it is free, dinner provided, in a cool environment. I just need to find a sitter. Anyone? Beuller?
David had a heart stress test today. Looks like his heart is in good shape. We didn't really think there was anything wrong with his heart, but for the past few months he has been having pains in his chest and abdomen that were possible heart related but more likely stomach-related. He has tried a few different medicines, some OTC, some prescription for heartburn/reflux but nothing has worked. The doc sent him for a stress test, then an ultrasound later this week to rule out gall stones. I doubt it is gall stones. I think it is an ulcer. And if the ultrasound turns up no gall stones, we'll get him in to see a gastroenterologist to talk about an ulcer. His job has been stressful all summer and his wife has cancer. And we have a two-year-old. Recipe for an ulcer? I think so.
Tonight is pre-chemo-Jacksonless night so we are going to dinner with Elaine to use the other half of the gift card from David's company at Macaroni Grill. Then maybe half-price Books for some chemo-reading goodness. Then home in time to watch Heroes at 8:00 and prep for tomorrows house cleaning. I love to come home from chemo to a clean house. Offsets the nastiness of chemo a bit, to have a clean house.
We have been watching Heroes on Netflix, the first season. And we got caught up on season 2 last night. They are putting the full episodes on the internet once they have aired and our new badass TV has the capability to connect to the computer. We tried it for the first time last night. David brought his computer, keyboard and mouse into the living room and used the new cables we bought to hook it into the TV. picture my giant TV acting as a computer monitor. It was so cool. We accessed the internet, pulled up the show website and were able to watch the first three episodes nearly full screen and crystal clear. Not commercial free though. They have one sponsor per episode and about 1/2 the number of commercial breaks. Course it is all the same commercial. Intel and Sprint over and over. But still better than regular TV. It was pretty cool. I told David that he is not aloud to hook the computer to the TV for gaming purposes. Though I am sure that would be cool, I don't want to see the monsters being gutted or the war games portrayed in that big a scale. yuck. Plus the TV is my realm in the evenings. Cancer-girl gets first dibs on TV shows. I watch too much. But given that I do have cancer and that requires a lot of couching it, I figure I have a pass on that one. When I am better I'll do a show again and rehearsals will get me outta the TV watching habit.
I am hoping to be able to audition for something this year that opens early next year. I need the affirmation of theatre after completing my treatment. I have a great wig and access to a hundred more so having no hair shouldn't be an obstacle to me getting cast in something, I hope.
Jackson comes home on Wednesday from David's folk's house. Susanne sent pics of his day, as usual. I love to see what he has been up to. And it more often than not involves water, water and more water. Watering plants is a special favorite past time at his Omi's house. Cute boy, great pics!
1 comment:
Excited to hear that you're in the home stretch. Take care Marsha.
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