Positive Diagnosis

I went to see the oncologist today. He received the second opinion on my biopsy from the Mayo clinic. It confirmed what they already told us. I have Stage IIb Hodgkin Lymphoma. It is stage II because I have two different spots of tumors but it is not stage III yet because both spots are above the diaphragm. The "b" part is because it has caused me to have fevers and night sweats. There are two treatment possibilities: 4 months of chemotherapy followed 3-4 weeks of radiation or just 6 months of chemotherapy. My oncologist has talked with a radiology oncologist at the Mayo clinic who feels that we can proceed with radiation. I'll meet with him in the next month or so to talk about it. The benefit to mixing in radiation is that longer chemotherapy means worse side effects. It helps to mix the two treatments for a shorter time each than to do one type of treatment for a longer period of time. When I do the radiation part of the treatment it will be everyday Monday through Friday for the 3-4 weeks. The chemotherapy will be every two weeks. I'll be spending 5-6 hours at the clinic. They'll have to test my blood, I'll meet with the doctor, and then the infusion will take 3 hours or so. Friends and family can come visit and sit with me. I have my own TV with headphones, I can bring my laptop, and I can eat while I am there. Or I can just enjoy a nice warm blanket and kick back in my nice oversized recliner. I'll be on the ABVD drug cocktail but I'll spare you the full names unless you really want them. The A drug can be tough on the heart but my heart scan came back normal. The B drug can be hard on the lungs and we haven't gotten those results back yet but I am sure they are normal. The other piece of good news was that my bone marrow was normal. They will inject anti-nausea medicine with the chemo and also give me a prescription to take home. With the advances in medicine I shouldn't have to deal with a lot of nauseousness. It may make things taste funny though so I might have different cravings. I may or may not lose my hair. I can't be out in the sun but that doesn't bother me much. With these particular drugs I shouldn't have to worry about sores in my mouth but I will be fatigued about day 6 or 7. I will be starting next Monday or Tuesday and the nurse will call us tomorrow to let us know. Friday of course is my date with the surgeon to put in my port. Thanks for everybody's support. Tara's mother got into town yesterday and it is great to have her help.