At the beginning of January, I developed a nasty cough. I went to my primary Doctor and from all appearances, it looked like bronchitis. My Doc prescribed an Albuterol (sp?) inhaler and we went from there. A few days later, I went back in as I was going downhill and experiencing fevers and sweats. I also had absolutely no energy. The Doc told me that 20% of the time, Bronchitis is bacterial so he prescribed an antibiotic (Doxicycline). He also gave me a sterroid pack and cough medicine with Codeine. I let the antibiotics run their course and I was still declining. One week ago today, I met with my Doc again and he ordered a chest x-ray. The x-ray didn't show anything in the lungs but he thought it was potentially A-typical Pneumonia. He had me come in for the next 3 days to get an I.V. with a heavy dose of Rocephin which is used to treat pneumonia. On Thursday, we were still no closer to fixing whatever was wrong. I was referred to an infectious disease doctor as the Doc thought it could be Tuberculosis.
We were having a difficult time getting into the Infectious Disease Doc, so my wife called a dear friend who is a Nurse Practitioner. He told her that if I was his patient, I would be in the hospital. We decided to have my Dad take me to the ER. We went to Riverton Hospital, I love that hospital! They ran several tests and decided to do a CT Scan of my chest. The tech made me do a second scan because something wasn't showing up right. I went back to my room and waited for quite some time. When the ER Doc returned, he said that there wasn't any pneumonia or TB but they found a mass in my spleen. They needed to run a second scan but had to wait until Monday. This scan would focus more on the abdomen.
The CT Scan on Monday confirmed what we thought. I have a baseball size mass in my spleen and my lymphnodes were enlarged. I have been diagnosed with Lymphoma. Although this is not what I wanted to hear, I'm so grateful for a cough that was persistent and kept me going to the doctor.
We told the kids and a few tears have been shed but overall, I'm very calm and at peace. I think we caught this early as it hasn't spread to the other organs in my body. I'm so appreciative of my friends and family. Please don't feel like you are intruding! In times like this, I've always tried to surround myself with those that I care about.
We are going to kick this cancer! I'm not worried about mortality, I feel very good and I appreciate all of the positive thoughts and prayers. I'll try to keep this updated as we progress through additional diagnosis and eventually treatment.
3 comments:
Hey Jimmy, Thanks so much for the update. It's so good to get it firsthand. Our prayers and love come to you all the way from Missouri:-) Also, you should blog more often. It's fun to read! Be sure to keep the updates (and anything else you think about) coming...........elaine aka larrie
Thanks Larrie! We sure love you and your family! I definitely plan to give updates, especially as the treatment begins. Maybe it will help someone down the road!
My sister had non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, she's fine now. If you need anything, or just have questions, I'm available.
Neil H.
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