diagnosed with lymphoma

[shoe]

Ratface all the best to you and a word of advice. 13 years ago I received a very bad prognosis that did not provide me a long life. I experienced a terror I never hope to revisit that went on for months and months. In the end, all the fear, all the tears, all the turmoil, was for NOTHING! Do not waste your tears on "ifs". I am a big believer in prayer and I will say a rosary for you tomorrow. Whatever or Whoever is your source of power, hold on to. God speed.

 

[bubba]

Ratface, first hugs to you. My ex-brother-in-law was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease, went through the treatment for that, and then 2-3 years later, was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. He had the treatment, and that's probably been at least 10 years ago. Although we aren't in touch anymore, according to my nephew (child of x-bil), he is doing fine. Shoe nailed it up-thread - don't waste tears on "ifs". Lots of prayers coming your way. Stay strong and check in when you can.

 

[Amethyst]

Best of luck, Ratface dear. You have people who love you. You'll be around for years yet, to hoist refrigerators over your head for their delight. Let us know what happens.

 

[ratface]

Updating on the biopsy. First I was surprised to find that the doctor was a specialist in orontology(spelling) or more commnly known as an ear, eye and nose doctor. Seemed very knowledgeable and for this stage of things I'm going with it. Primary doctors office failed to send the results of the MRI to this doctor. I was a little ticked about that since I had called and spoken to the nurse and she said she would take care of it. Anyway I had the CD of the image but they never got it openned. Doctor didn't seem to think it was important. Checked my throat and voicebox and tonsils. Right tonsil is a little inflamed, everything else is nomal. First thing he said was it could be a lot of things and not all of them are horrible. Inserted a thin tube through my nose which brought tears to my eyes but was over quickly. Said he would use it to peer into the mouth cavity. Came out much easier than it went in. I have to stop watching 'HOUSE' because they do that stuff all the time. He then gave me a local on the enlarged node and immediately started digging in there with a rather large hollow needle extracting a couple vials of clear/bloody fluid. I have to call for results tomorrow, Friday afternoon. Very ambivalent about this call. Next he said that whatever it is dosen't belong there and has to come out. Surgery is scheduled for the 13th of July. I am finally leaving today to get my chores done at the rural home. DW will come up tomorrow. At this point a diagnosis of lymphoma would be a blessing. Hoping for a result of something other than cancer but that is probably denial. The risk here is that the point of origin is somewhere other than the node. I'll update next Thursday since I don't have internet access at the rural place.

SHOE, Terror describes my thought process exactly although I get your point, perhaps not being idle will help.

REWAHOO The doctor echoed your sentiments about "not assuming the worst" Too often we focus on the doom and gloom.

AMETHYST You made me laugh about hoisting refrigerators, thks.

VINCENTE Don't get lost in all this, How did your Echograph go and I can certainly empathize with what you must be going through. Hope the news is good to you. No fainting please.

 

[Amethyst]

First I was surprised to find that the doctor was a specialist in orontology(spelling) or more commnly known as an ear, eye and nose doctor. .

The term is Otorhinolaryngologist. So-called, because it sounds like sneezing, gargling and nose-blowing all at once!

He then gave me a local on the enlarged node and immediately started digging in there with a rather large hollow needle extracting a couple vials of clear/bloody fluid. At this point a diagnosis of lymphoma would be a blessing.

You poor thing! That's like saying you're so worn out from work that jail would seem like a vacation! I hope you get the results promptly.

 

[REWahoo]

The term is Otorhinolaryngologist. So-called, because it sounds like sneezing, gargling and nose-blowing all at once!

Yep. We lived across the street from one of those guys when my kids were young. They called him the snot doctor.

 

[redduck]

Wishing you all the very best of news regarding the biopsy.

 

[Meadbh]

Ditto! And best of luck with the surgery too.

 

[SarahW]

Ratface--my very best wishes to you and your family; I'm sure they are feeling the same helpless fears that you are feeling. Take care and keep your chin up; if the lymphoma is diagnosed then surely you are up for the fight! Here's hoping for a positive outcome. God bless.

 

[freebird5825]

Yep. We lived across the street from one of those guys when my kids were young. They called him the snot doctor.

Now you've done it.
Now how is Ratface going to keep a straight face next time he sees this doctor?
All that will be running through his head is "snot doctor snot doctor".

Ratface, glad to hear you got through the icky part (needle biopsy).
I personally would have fainted at the sight of something like that.
Hang tough, go through the procedures, and think positive until you have a very very good reason not to.
Think about that for a minute.
It has everything to do with the sun coming up for you to look at tomorrow.

 

[ratface]

So everyone else gets an oncologist and I get a snot doctor. Got to laugh at that one. Freebird, it was your post on the colonoscopy that inspired me to go to the doctor. I have the typical man mentality of avoidance of people in white coats. Please don't take that the wrong way as I may never have gone until something became very apparent. So a sincere than-you. Well I'm scheduled for surgery on Monday. Yesterday was the pre-operation screening which terrified me because of the chest x-ray. I smoked for several decades although I have quit for almost three years now. My otherwise 120/80 bloodpressure shot up to 175 over something. Waiting on the call today for the surgery time.

The biopsy: Here is what I know, I never got the oppurtunity to speak to the doctor and was given the result by the nurse. I did not pursue it since my DW commented that this was a good sign. The nurse said that the result was indecisive/non malingnant. I asked her if this meant it was benign and she it did. I asked what the indecisive meant. She said it meant they don't know why the node is enlarged.

The Interpretation section reads as follows, " Right cervical node, few lymphocytes with no evidence of non-hodgkins lymphoproliferative disorder.

Comments section: "Immunophenotypie analysis of the lymph node by flow cytometry shows few lymphocytes with no B-cell monoclonality and no T-cell aberrant antigenic expression. Correlation with histopathologic findings recommended. They tested for 28 different antibodies like CD2, CD3 etc.

I'm off to the internet to find out what some of these things mean. Is having few lymphocytes a good thing? What are histopathologic findings.

Specimen consisted of a .2cm pc of soft tissue.

My assumption is that these are positive findings. The nurse stated that the doctor still wanted me to go ahead with the surgery as he stated earlier " There is something there that shouldn't be there" What I need to find out is if all the antibody tests covered all types of cancer or did they just concentrate on the lymphomas? The biopsy of the removed node I'm supposing will be much more definitive. Keep the prayers comming it seems to be working. Will update after Monday's surgery. Off to see Tom Jones tomorrow with DW, that should perk me up!

 

[freebird5825]

So everyone else gets an oncologist and I get a snot doctor. Got to laugh at that one. Freebird, it was your post on the colonoscopy that inspired me to go to the doctor. I have the typical man mentality of avoidance of people in white coats. Please don't take that the wrong way as I may never have gone until something became very apparent. So a sincere than-you.

...Will update after Monday's surgery. Off to see Tom Jones tomorrow with DW, that should perk me up!

<hospital intercom> Paging Dr. Snot...Dr. Snot...



YW. Made my day!

My attitude is: I really like and trust my doctors. It was that long list of "turn 50" tests that got me squeamish.
And I passed all with flying colors. Priceless.
The logical side of my engineer brain tells me that going for tests to rule out possible things is so much better than not going at all, and losing the advantage of early detection if something is wrong. I have no idea what my father's medical history is (messy divorce when I was a teenager), so my docs are w*rking with half a blank sheet as far as family history goes. So they send me for pretty much all screening tests as age dictates.

So glad the tests came back as they did. Good luck with the surgery.
Focus on the sun rising every day to help you keep perspective.

Tom Jones - woooooooooo. Sounds like fun for DW.

 

[shoe]

Ratface this seems like great news! Please come back as soon as you can after surgery and let us know. Praying for you!

 

[wolfbay]

Ratface- About two years ago we were about to go on vacation when I felt a lump on my arm.MD said it was probably not malignant but they did a biopsy and the frozen section came back " malignant"and probably a lymphoma.I had to wait two weeks for the final biopsy so I can imagine what you've been through.It turned out it was not malignant and was cat scratch disease.You can contract it even if you don't have a cat.They should probably rule this out.It can be treated easily with antibiotics.Good luck.

 

[Alan]

Ratface, good luck on Monday, it all sounds very encouraging.

 

[DangerMouse]

Good luck and hopefully your next post on this subject will be to tell us everything is ok.

 

[Bestwifeever]

That is quite complex for a non-medical person to read/understand, but it sounds like you are getting much better news than you were fearing. I hope you can relax a little now (I imagine you have not been able to put the worst-case-scenario out of your mind since your initial visit). Also sounds like a good thing to snip that sucker out of there. Keep us posted!

 

[WhoDaresWins]

Yes, it does sound encouraging and good luck on Monday. Tom Jones! I used to love him. And Englebert Humperdinck, too. Hope you and the DW got to relax a little on a much-needed night out together.

 

[Midpack]

It's serious and you must have it looked after. However, my sister had lymphoma about 20 years ago. It took about 2 years for her to get through it, and she still has regular checks to make sure it's in remission, but otherwise it hasn't impacted her life at all since. And I am sure treatment has advanced considerably in 20 years, best of luck.

 

[vicente solano]

We have a saying that goes something like God squeezes but doesn´t strangle. Hang in and be patient. You´ll overcome whatever comes your way. Best wishes.

 

[ratface]

Updating on the surgery and biopsy. Not very good news I'm afraid. Surgery was yesterday on the node. Doctor said it was about the size of an egg. Never new it was there. Now the good news bad news, I don't have lymphoma. I have squamous cell carcinoma. This means that the lymph node is not the primary site. Fear here (on my part) is that it is in the lungs. Pet scan scheduled for Thursday. Oncologist scheduled for Friday.

 

[haha]

Tough knock, Ratface. Be of good heart, many good things can happen. I will pray for you.

Ha

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

Sorry to hear about the malignancy.

That kind of tumor often arises from the tissues of the head and neck, the lungs, esophagus, and even skin. Sometimes the primary site is never identified, though you have treatment options in any case.

Best wishes for a great outcome.

 

[bbbamI]

Hang in there sugah. Knowledge is power; try not to worry too much until you know exactly what is going on. From there, do what you have to do to get well. Please keep us updated....

 

[REWahoo]

Ratface, sorry to hear of your diagnosis. Hang in there, keep the faith and please keep us posted on your progress at beating this thing.