Treatment in the last 2 months

I am supposed to have 6 rounds of chemotherapy which equals to 12 chemotherapy treatments every other week meaning that I take a break every other week to give my body rest.  So I believe that is why it is called "a round" - chemo week then off week - alternating weeks.  I finished 7 treatments (since August 23rd) so next one, I will be done with 4 rounds on Nov. 30th.   In total, I may be done in late January.  The experience of this is really not easy!!!  But I am hanging in there.  Normally, patients going through this have lower blood cell counts, thus, having lower immune systems.  So I have to stay away from what my oncologist calls the 3 M's - no malls, no movies and no metros or crowds of people.  On the off weeks, I have to get injections to get my white blood cell count up and last Friday, I got my first blood transfusion to reduce my anemia.  Wow, I feel much energetic.  Last Tuesday I got chemo again and feel more tired as expected but comparatively, I feel much better than the first week of treatment which I already was anemic which is why I was not able to do anything until then.  I now look forward to type more posts - I try to do this more!

It is really wonderful having family, co-workers, and friends reminding me that Life is still good and bringing me cheers in different ways.  Thanks to all of you!!  This really has made a difference for me.

The Summer of 2010 and the Diagnosis on August 6th

I was just reading my beginning of my blog - wow, I really blurted my words out of my head because I had NO energy to type at that time so I typed FAST (alias I meowed with effort) before I went to bed to rest!!!  I made it by doing that in 3 minutes, grins!! Hope I made sense.
Anyway, every week, I get more tired since about June.  Last July, I learned that my daughter, Leah would get a leadership award on July 7th (on her birthday) at the National Association of the Deaf convention in Philadelphia.  I knew with limited energy I had, I had to go and see her get it.  Luckily, my son, Daniel was able to drive us there.  I was able to hold up well and enjoyed meeting people until the last day, I just crashed.  After coming home, I was having body pains. I had my lymph node biopsy surgery done as planned on July 30th.   I went back to work.  Without warning, I barely was able to drive then on Tuesday, I asked Daniel to drive me to work, suddenly, I became too dizzy, I gave up and went back home.  On August 6th, I got informed that I have Hodgkins Lymphoma.  I was shocked and my life changed in an instant and realize how precious Life is.  I learned that this disease is highly treatable (90%).   I was too weak to go back to work and that was the last time I was in office and did not even had chance to talk to anyone before going on medical leave which I felt was pretty cut off.  But I was feeling in a survivable mode ready to fight.  Next came a full week of tests and doctor appointments to get my ball rolling for treatment.

The Beginning of a Surprise - then called as a "Mystery Woman"

In the summer of 2009, I had ovarian cyst removed (benign) then after that, I went downhill - I had 2 things going on the same time - going through surgery that was not related to lymphoma.  Anyway, later that fall, I began to have occasional night sweats, low grade fever - just warm - not with thermometer but generally feeling very fatigued and had severe joint/bone/muscle/nerve pain attacks all over my body, especially at nights so I had to take large dose of Ibuprophen and that did the trick.  Then in November came the enlarged lymph nodes. My dr. gave me antibiotics and told me it was just a "virus".  I went to different specialists: hemotologist, ENT, and rheumotologist with no real findings.  Still I was not satisfied so I changed to a new doctor and in January, she advised me to take vitamin B12 injections, iron and other vitamins which helped a bit.  The body pain went away and my energy came back but only til few months later, I had fatigue attacks again and my enlarged nodes appeared again plus those new ones in my groin.  My doctor said in April that I am a "Mystery Woman!" because of those symptoms!!   Finally in June, she ordered the lymph node biopsy to find that I have Hodgkins lymphoma on August 6th.  What a shock - I felt my surgery of the cyst, those antibiotics, vitamin regimen delayed in finding out my diagnosis by one year.  I wish all doctors, including 2 doctors I saw would be educated simply about those symptoms because 1 in 6 people have cancer ... why can't doctors know generally about this stuff?  I am learning that I have to be more of an advocate for myself and perhaps use hospitals or clinics or practices that have good support updated systems.

Hello, Folks!

First of all, I want you to know that I am in the middle of my chemotherapy treatments to treat Hodgkins Lymphoma.  Things have been going on fast for me so I have not had the chance or have the energy to reach out every one of you to report what is happening with me.  It has been crazy but very hopeful!! So I decided that I am doing this blog so I can be in touch with you, even though, I much rather individually connect you other ways but that lately has been a challenge for me.   Whatever, all of your thoughts, prayers and hopes do help me greatly.  If you wonder what happened.  Let me go back to the beginning what began my journey as a "Hodgkins" traveler!  Please read my next post.