The last 2 days have been so busy. Thursday I had to be at Princess Margaret Hospital at 8:30am for a PET Scan. It was quite an early morning for me waking up at 4:30 and out the door at 5:30. Princess Margaret Hospital staff explained so thoroughly to me on what a PET scan was and what I had to do to prepare for it. I fasted the night before and they injected me with radioactive sugar which in the PET scan lights up any tumours. I also had to drink a ton of water an hour before. My PET Scan can back and I'm stage 1B!!! This means I caught this super early! For those of you wondering the "B" means, for Hodgkin's lymphoma there is type A and B. It all depends on your symptoms. From what the doctors have told me, B type is a little more serious because symptoms of B are night sweats, weight loss and fevers. However I'm still at stage 1 and my lymphnodes are only affected in my right armpit!!!
While waiting for the scan at Princess Margaret. My dad and I met a really nice couple in which the wife was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins lymphoma. We had a really nice chat about my studies in Newfoundland. When I went in for my scan, my dad continued to chat with them. When I was finished, I wished the wife good luck and instead of a simple handshake my dad and the husband hugged each other. They said a handshake would not do. Yesterday I had a full day a Peterborough Hospital for my First Chemo. The next chemos are planned to be at Cobourg Hospital. I had bloodwork at 7:30am followed by a doctors appointment at 8:30am where I was told my stage. I was also told that my lymphnodes look "bulky" in the PET scan. My doctor said he would then look over my cat scan to see if they really were bulky as sometimes the PET scan can make things look larger than they are. If they are bulky it will be 6 months of chemo (12 treatments) with out radiation and if they aren't it will now be 4 months of chemo (8 treatments) with radiation after. I swear every time I walk into the doctors, there's new plan for me. At least I know for the next 4 months no matter what I'll be receiving treatment. The 4 months actually doesn't bother me too much. When the doctor first said 2 months I had a fear in the back of my mind that it wouldn't be enough and I would have it come back again. The way I look at it is that the longer my treatment is now, the less likely I will ever have to do this again. At 1pm that afternoon, I started Chemo #1 out of a possible 12. To be honest, I felt really out of place because everyone else there receiving treatment were old. I swear there was no one under the age of 50. I wasn't really nervous at all, I was more worried for my dad who kept pacing back in forth in front of me. The nurses were super nice and explained to me what drugs they were injecting. When ever my PICC line is used, they inject saline into it and I can actually taste it in my mouth. To be honest I can't remember all the names of the drugs, all I know is that it is ABVD and each letter stands for a different drug. The first 2 drugs were injected by the nurse. The third drug was pumped into me from an IV bag and only lasted about 10 minutes. The fourth and final drug was supposed to last 2 hours but having the PICC line, reduced it to 45 minutes. After words they told me to expect some tiredness or nausea the next day. I was also told some people feel nothing and so far I feel fine. Last night I wasn't feeling too good because I think I was just beat from the last 2 days. The doctor told me I'd definitely lose my hair within this month. They also said to expect some numbness and a tingly feeling in my toes and fingers. I was very happy yesterday to have people text me with their good luck messages. Any words of encouragement go such a long way. When I came home I had some gifts waiting for me as well as flowers sent from the Marine Institute. I can't believe I go to such an amazing school. Now it's still "day by day" because I still don't know when I'll feel good or bad. I just can't wait to have this over and done with but I'm happy that I had a good start to this long process.
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Author: Katie BarkerJust an average Sailor who battled Cancer and won! Archives
August 2018
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