Biopsy Number 2 And Video Emotions

I had my second biopsy today and they took it from my right groin. I've talked about how important it is to have a good surgeon and that was never more evident than today. The surgeon I had for my first biopsy in the beginning of August put me under general anasthesia and I was out of commission for about 4 days. When I woke up from that first surgery I felt like Spaulding Smails from Caddyshack right after he drank the cocktail with a cigarette in it.... for about 5 hours. The surgeon today just injected me with a bunch of novicaine, did the surgery in 20 minutes and I drove home. I should get the results in about a week. Now, some people have asked how I've been "handling" having cancer so I figured I'd go through my emotions that have video links with them.

To start off, when I first found out it was kind of like this clip (My emotions were the kid on the right and "Janice", the woman on the left is representative of anyone I've ever made fun of:
http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=457250&fr=

When I woke up from the first biopsy I felt like the following, but I was whimpering:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2876sYkMX8

After I met with the doctors over at Sloan and realized that they had a plan for my lymphoma and that regardless of what happens, I'll have gotten the best care possible and given the best chance for a good, long life I felt like this (My emotions were Rodney Dangerfield):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07SpB7kT3gw

FInally, if I ever happen to have a down moment I can think of this first clip and know that I'm better than at least 1 person in this world and when I think of the second clip I realize that there's still some things I need to stay alive long enough to see:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBm5ZSWbD14
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5h1EW5z1wdc

Till next time....

Talk About Your All Time Backfires

So I'm sure most of you hear that you lose weight when you go on Chemo. I never knew why you lost weight, but found out that it's generally because you feel so shitty that you don't feel like eating all that much or drinking alcohol. That pretty much takes away my pleasures in life (outside of Rhythmic Gymnastics, Nicholas Sparks books and Shoe Making). SO, I thought I was going to be on Chemo for a while and, even though it would suck, it would be a phenomenal diet. I figured I had about a month and a half to eat however much and whatever I wanted and to drink whenever possible. This equaled roughly 12 pounds in almost two months. I'm probably 5 pounds away from having that really loud breathing that Tony Soprano has when he's talking or even just thinking. THEN I go to the doctor and he says I'm probably not going to go on Chemo right away and that I really need to get in shape. When I told him my original plan, he begged me to stop. I may request Chemo, or find a guy in the South Bronx willing to sell me some, just for the ease of things. If Anna Nicole Smith was still alive, I'd love to see the TrimSpa diet commercial with her in it but saying, "It's Chemo Baby!". Oh well, I'm going to go eat my bean sprout and cottage cheese sandwich.

To Get Up To Speed

Just to catch everyone up to date and what got me to this point I'll give a quick summary. Sorry if it's a little long and boring. The rest of the entries will be much shorter and I'll try and make them much more entertaining.....About two months ago I went to my doctor to check out some swollen lymph nodes I had and a little fatigue I was feeling. He did some blood work and after it came back negative for an infection he had me go get a CAT Scan. Most doctors would have just said I was fine, come back in 6 months, but this shows how important it is to have a smart, thorough family doctor that you can trust. The CAT Scan came back showing swollen glands all over my head and neck. Next step was a PET Scan and Biopsy. A PET Scan shows where there's any "activity" in your body. This could be merely an infection or it could be cancer. My entire lymphatic system lit up with activity and my spleen was enlarged, still not proof of lymphoma, but it was starting to look like it. Next was the biopsy where they took a lymph node from my groin. The biopsy came back negative for cancer. Great news!!! Then an Oncologist took some blood and those results came back positive for Follicular Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. Crap. I sent all that info over to Sloan-Kettering (The #2 Cancer Center in the US) and they called back and said it's probably not Lymphoma. Great News!!! Then I got a secondary report back from the biopsy which said they actually did find Follicular Lymphoma present in the biopsy. Crap. I get an appointment at Sloan with pretty much the world's leading Lymphoma Specialist, Dr. Zelenetz. They said their results came back inconclusive, all the information they've gotten so far is kind of useless, and they'd have to get their own biopsy and also a bone marrow biopsy. I'll do a separate blog on what a bone marrow biopsy is like. Those results just came back Tuesday and were positive for Marginal Zone Lymphoma. It's a Lymphoma that's very very similar to the one they originally thought I had but there will only be a few hundred people in my age, gender demographic that will get Marginal Zone Lymphoma this year, so it's very rare. I'll be getting another biopsy on Monday which will hopefully give them all the info they need and they said there's a chance I may need to have my spleen removed because it's so enlarged and would give them much more information. October 4th will be when I find out all results and whether or not I'm going on Chemo. That should catch everyone up to date. Some important things that I learned so far: 1) Have a great family doctor 2) Get all surgeries done at the best possible hospital, even if it means waiting a few more weeks. 3) Get the best possible care from the smartest people. They told me at Sloan that 18% of cases they receive are misdiagnosed. That means 1 out of 5 people they see either think they have cancer and don't or think they don't have cancer and do. Crazy. Sorry this was boring......

Introduction

So this is my first ever blog and even though I'd rather it be about traveling with LSU tailgates, me having cancer will have to do for now. There are a few reasons for this blog/diary. First, is so I don't have to call up everyone individually when new news comes along. It will also serve as a reminder for myself in the future to look back and see when new news came along and what that news was. But the core purpose, is so that if anyone else that any of you know ever gets Lymphoma, they can have an precise idea of exactly what to expect and not have to base it on on-line articles that may have no credibility at all. I have no clue how often I'll post, probably after every check-up (every few months) and more often whenever chemo starts. I really hope it never seems like I'm feeling sorry for myself, because I don't, or that it's a bunch of complaining...that's the last thing I want this to be about. If it's ever descriptive in a bad way, it's just so that people that get diagnosed with Lymphoma will know exactly what it's like, no bullshit. And Oprah keeps a journal so I probably should too. There will also be posts if there's ever any sort of event that Memorial Sloan-Kettering Hospital or the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society are putting on. I hope you enjoy this blog and there will be a few updates to get everyone up to speed in the next few days. And PLEASE don't get offended if I ever make light of my cancer, I'd never make light of what anyone else has gone through or may have to go through, but making jokes about it helps me greatly... that's probably perverse and demented, but for some reason it helps. Lastly, thanks for all the "Good Lucks" from everyone, it definitely means a lot and helps when you have people around that care about you.