Rocco Maiolo's Ramblings and Musings

Hello Friends & Family: For some of you, this might be brand new information; for others, you are intimately aware of my journey in the last 6 months.   And then there are others who are somewhere in the middle. At the risk of being impersonal, I thought this would be the best way of getting out my most recent update regarding my lymphoma. Last week I had a biopsy of a mass in my back that showed up on a CT scan.   Contrary to what I was told, the mass turned out to be the same kind of lymphoma that I was already diagnosed with – low grade, follicular.   Since it had only grown by a few millimeters, I was given the option of keeping an eye on things and doing another CT scan in 3 months with the hope that things wouldn’t change. The doctor, however, was concerned that this mass is too close to my spine.  Option 2 was chemo.   I asked what she would recommend if I were her uncle.  She asked if I had anything against chemo. When I said no , she said she’d recommend c

(June 2, 2014) I was in a waiting room today.  Waiting for a pre-op appointment for a procedure I’m having this coming Friday – a biopsy on a soft tissue mass along my spine.  I drew this picture.  I’m not much of an artist (that’s being kind to me). I had an appointment with my family doctor this morning and this other appointment in the afternoon, so I took the day off.   But I’m working anyway.   I can’t not work because it piles up and then I have twice as much the next day. The family doctor is nice, but, admittedly, she doesn’t know much about follicular lymphoma or soft tissue masses.   She’s not an oncologist. She suggested they might want to remove my affected lymph nodes.   I told her I don’t think that’s how it works with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. She said she prays that the growth in my back is benign.   She asked how I’m doing emotionally.   And if I had people I could talk to.   Like a pastor. The answers are okay, yes and yes.   It’s amazing how pow