No Mo Lympho

I just had my one year scan and I am lymphoma free! My doctor advises celebrating and I always follow doctor's orders.

Another Clean Scan

I had a another scan and got the results back on March 17th. Everything looks great and my ENT says that my adenoid tissue looks better than ever. My next scan is an important one because it will be close to one year. If the cancer remains in remission for a year, not only are the chances of a recurrence reduced but the virulence of the disease would be likely less.

6 Month Scan and Checkup

I had another CT scan on December 1st and I got the results last Monday. I also went to see my ENT doctor on the same day. The inspection and the scan both showed I was clean as a whistle. The doctor said it was a good reason to celebrate. With each successive clean scan the chances of recurrence are reduced.

I'll continue to have checkups every three months with my oncologist and scans every 6 months for the next 5 years. I'll also continue to see my ENT on a regular basis.

Merry Christmas everybody and a Happy New Year!

3 Month Follow-up Checkup

I visited my ENT a few weeks ago and everything looked great. I went to see my oncologist this morning and my bloodwork looks good.

I'm scheduled to have a CT scan 3 months from now.

I've been feeling great and my hair has grown back. The color started out blonde but has returned to my original red (at least in my beard). The hair on my head may be a little darker and it is growing on the part of my head that hasn't seen hair in twenty years. Go figure.

I've started going back to the gym and I joined Weight Watchers. Last weekend I went kayaking for the first time.

There is life after cancer!

237 days, 37 doctor appointments, 15 blood draws, 12 infusions, 6 lung function tests, 3 PET CT scans, 1 chest X-ray, 1 EKG and 1 biopsy later...

I am officially in remission!

My PET CT scan came back with very different results than the previous one. It showed no uptake in any of the places I had shown uptake before. Any swollen lymph nodes had reduced back to their original size.

This news is a big relief. It will be nice to start thinking about plans for the summer.

Drumroll Please...

I had my adenoid tissue biopisied a week ago on Thursday and I got the results back today. The tissue was benign. Yay!!! It's a big relief and suggests that I am in remission. I'll still get the rest of my body scanned in July.

The biopsy itself went very smoothly. The recovery was fast and I didn't have any bleeding. The nurses were amazed I was up and talking so soon after surgery. The people at Mass Eye and Ear were great and as hard as this is to believe, they even made a good plate of spaghetti and meatballs.

Huh???

I got the results from my PET CT scan and they were "shocking" in the words of one of my oncologists. The scan showed uptake in 4 different parts of my body: armpit, esophagous, and two sides of my groin. Both of my oncologists and my ENT doctor believe the scan shows a false positive for the following reasons:

1. Nothing showed up in the original site of the cancer, my adenoids. If it were going to show up elsewhere it should also show up here. Had I undergone treatment with radiation it would be possible for it to be gone here but show up elsewhere. I never had raditation treatments.

2. Lymphoma spreads to nearby nodes and progresses toward the spleen. This scan shows uptake in disparate parts of my body.

3. I feel fine and show no symptoms of lymphoma.

I'll need to redo the test on July 1st and I will undergo a biopsy of the tissue surrounding where my adenoids were next Thursday. If the adenoid tissue comes up clean, the rest of me should be OK too. I'm doing my best to stay positive and act like this test never happened.