Well... here we go again. For any of my friends and family that were not aware, unfortunately I recently found out that my cancer has returned. When I went in for my normal follow up with my oncologist in Nov., I mentioned that I'd been having occasional twinges of pain (not really pain though, something just felt a little off) so he ordered a CT scan just to be safe. My blood work was all normal and I felt fine otherwise. Well... the CT scan showed a suspicious lymph node, so then it was time for a PET scan. The PET scan lit up in two areas, both in the mediastinum again (one 2 cm, one 4 cm). So the next step was another biopsy to confirm that it was Hodgkins again. I had a CT guided needle biopsy done on Dec 9th, which went well aside from the small pneumothorax I ended up with due to the location of the mass right next to my lung. Results of the biopsy confirmed the recurrence.
In the meantime between scans and biopsies I was told that treatment would be different this time around. Due to the recurrence time and location it was determined that I would not receive any radiation this time. The recommended treatment would be high dose chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant. I was sent to Roswell in Buffalo for a consult since it is the closest place to me that does SCT's. I met with a bunch of great people, including my new oncologist. It was explained to me that I would need to go through chemo at home first to get the cancer knocked back, and then once I have a negative PET scan I can return to Roswell to start the rest of my treatment. That treatment consists of injections to boost my stem cells (I don't have to use a donor since my bone marrow biopsy was negative), and then a few days of collection. I'll essentially be hooked up to a machine that will draw my blood out through a central line, then go through a centrifuge to extract the stem cells, and then be pumped back into me. Then at some point following that, I'll be admitted to Roswell to start 8 days of high dose chemo. Basically they are going to nuke me. This chemo will kill everything, which is why they collect my stem cells in advance. After the chemo they will re-transfuse them back into me, with the hopes that they jump start my body into reproducing healthy cells. In case you're interested in more details... high dose chemo and sct for Hodgkin disease.
It's going to be a long road to recovery, but I'll get through it. It may be a bit more challenging chasing after my soon to be crawling almost 7 month old son, but I'm blessed to have wonderful family and friends for support. And I'm also very blessed and lucky to have my little guy, because the treatment I'm going to get will almost guarantee that he will not have any siblings in the future. For anyone reading this that may not know my history, I was lucky enough to get pregnant about 4 months after finishing chemo the first time around, and had my beautiful baby boy Dagen on May 23rd of this year. I'm not sure how often I'll post on my new "blog", but I'll try to at least keep up on a regular basis. I've gone far enough for now... I'll post a little bit about how my first week of treatment has gone a little bit later, as I have yet another Dr appt to get to. :)
I will continue to keep you in my prayers. -Patrick Gates
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for this Blog! It is great being able to read it as you lay it out. - Rich Rawson
ReplyDeleteSo sorry you have to go through this again, you are always in my Prayers and I ask God to help you through all this everyday. Please stay strong We love you. auntie m
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