Health Update
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 chemo.
So the plan is 2 treatments of chemo once a month for 6 months and a
cancer drug, Rituxan, for 2 years. The side effect possibilities are nowhere
near as bad as the horror stories you hear. She, in fact, said that in
all likelihood we could vacation this summer in between treatments.
There’s also an 80% chance that I would go into remission. Also,
most people are able to work through the chemo with the odd day off here and
there. Having said all that, I am prepared for less happy possibilities. One day at a time; it's a cliché but also very true.
My first treatment is Monday, June 23.
Long story short: Doris and I are feeling strangely relieved.
We knew that Chemo would happen eventually. The fact that it’s
happening sooner means that we’re not so much in this limbo that we found
ourselves in over the last half-year.
Most importantly, I think there is a joy in life that many of us
don’t experience until that thin veil between our world and heaven becomes
translucent. I believe that’s the place
God finds us if we let Him.
Thank you to everyone who has been praying for me and supporting me
in so many ways. I’m undeservedly
privileged to be so well loved.
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