Happy New Year. It's been awhile since I last updated by blog. Since returning to work, I've just been busy with keeping up with work-related things. It was good timing returning in December as things were a bit slow which allowed me to get into the groove of things. I was able to have a good New Year's and finally got to taste my first glass of wine since treattment! I have had a few more glasses since then and even did a trip up to Napa to buy some wine and to celebrate a friend's big 4-0 birthday.
Last Thursday, I got my bone marrow biopsy to check to see if the lymphoma was also gone from my bone marrow. The first time I had this done, it was one of the most painful things I've ever endured and I was sore the rest of the day. I don't think my oncologist gave me enough dosage (plus it didn't help that he had to do it twice because he wasn't able to grab any bone marrow the first go around) so this time around, I asked for at least double the dosage of lydocaine to numb the pain. I had a different doctor this time as my regular oncologist wasn't available. I told the doc about my last experience and told her that I wanted double or triple the dosage this time. She said that they did have extra lydocaine so that wouldn't be a problem. She then injected me twice in my pelvic area with ethe pain medication and proceeded to perform the biopsy. I must admit it wasn't bad at all the second time around. Perhaps it was because she gave me twice the normal dosage or maybe it was because she told me step-by-step what she was about to do and what kind of feeling (pain) I would be expecting. That, and the fact that she didn't have to go in twice (she was able to grab bone marrow successfully on her first try) really made the procedure not bad at all. Mind you, it was still painful but knowing what to expect (unlike my first time) at least helped me anticipate the pain. And again, maybe it was the double dosage that helped. However.....as with most of my doctor's visits, there's always something that comes up. It turned out that after she was done with the procedure, she told me that she gave me the regular dosage!! WTF?! I then asked her "but didn't you say that wouldn't be a problem as you had extra?" She replied that she did state that she had extra..and she would use it only if it was needed. Uh...that was a slight omision on her end! Who does that?! But I guess the placebo effect worked because again, it wasn't as painful this time around and my recovery time was quite fast because unlike being unable to move the rest of the day when I first had it done, I was able to walk and move around with fair ease a few hours after the procedure. Hopefully though, it'll be the last of that that I have to do for a very, very long time.
So, I am supposed to get my results on Thursday when I go to see my oncologist. However, yesterday, a nurse from nuclear medicine called me to schedule a PET scan. I was confused as my oncologist told me that I wouldn't need to get a PET scan anymore as my tumor was gone and I would only get scanned if something turned out. Of course, immediately I freaked out and thought that something must have come up in bone marrow biopsy result. I emailed my oncologist immediately after the phone call and asked him if it had to do with my bone marrow biopsy. This all happened in the morning time and so the whole day, while waiting for his reply, I was really worried. All these questions rushed through my head: What did he find in the bone marrow biopsy? What happens if the lymphoma is back? Could it be a mistake? It's most likely a mistake?
Finally, at about 530pm, I get a response back from my oncologist. He said that there was nothing to worry. The bone marrow biopsy showed no disease and the reason for the PET scan request was that he noticed that there was some
minor inflammatory signal with my last scan that I did after my 4th chemo session which he contributed to chemotherapy but he just wanted to be 100% sure. I let out a huge sigh of relief after I read his email! It was really good to know my bone marrow biopsy was all good and that my next scan would be somewhat routine (most chemo patients get scanned after treatment anyways). I don't have a problem doing a scan if it's just to confirm again that my cancer is gone!
I'm scheduled for the PET scan next Tuesday, January 26-- my birthday. Guess there could be worse things to do on my birthday! Results to be shared in my next blog posting....
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