More Adventures in ABVD: April 2009

Background

I'm 43 years old and live in a suburb of Boston, Massachusetts.

After decades of having a stuffy nose and breathing through my mouth I decided to have surgery to correct the blockages in my airway. The procedure included fixing a deviated septum, cauterizing enlarged turbinates and removing huge adenoids. The surgery was successful (and painless) and my breathing improved dramatically once the splints were removed from my nose a week later. My care at Melrose-Wakefield Hospital was top notch and the staff was kind and professional. I felt better than I had in ten years.

Two days later I received a call from the office of my ENT. I was told that the biopsy of the adenoid tissue that was removed was inconclusive and the doctor wanted to see me that day. I learned that two hospitals had reviewed my biopsy and thought I might have Hodgkin's lymphoma. I would have to wait a week to have more sophisticated tests performed at Massachusetts General Hospital. Boy was that a long week!

On November 16, 2007, the diagnosis was confirmed. I had cancer. I was told that it was a highly curable form of cancer and that a CT scan suggested that it may have been caught in a very early stage. A PET scan confirmed that it was located in a single area of my body. Since I had no symptoms I was diagnosed with stage 1A Classical Hodgkin's lymphoma, a cancer that affects only about 8,000 people per year in the United States.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

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.

More Adventures in ABVD

Jamie

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Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Another Clean Scan