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some early reflections
Jul. 26th, 2004 09:47 pmTo be honest, some days are better than others. I still have no pain or discomfort, but I do feel kind of lethargic and some days I get a little bit depressed. Nothing severe, just naturally downed feelings arising from the knowledge that I have a serious illness.
Owing to the rarity and aggressiveness of my suspected subtype, I've also become a bit more sober about the seriousness of this. It is possible, though hopefully unlikely, that I could die from this. The specialist did admit, when probed, that if the lymphoma doesn't respond to the treatments, it is possible to die from it.
This is obviously the case with all cancer, but since there is so relatively little data on my subtype, it's impossible to predict how many people will and won't have a positive outcome. My approach remains unchanged, though: I'm proceeding as though I'll be one of the lucky ones who will respond to the treatments.
B also found some indications as to the prevalence of this subtype. This subtype accounts for roughly 15% of all non-Hodgkin's lymphomas, and mine is the fourth most common out of five total categories within this subtype. I don't know how many people have non-Hodgkin's lymphoma though, so I can't estimate how many people in total have this specific subtype.
I also tried to find out exactly how it is that people die from lymphoma, but the doctor and my wife kind of refrained from answering. They told me I was putting the cart before the horse, but I genuinely wanted to know. I'll probe harder for an answer at some later point if it becomes more relevant.
Heh -- it's obvious that the researcher in me will never die. I'm genuinely interested in these kinds of details, even at this strange and stressful time.
Owing to the rarity and aggressiveness of my suspected subtype, I've also become a bit more sober about the seriousness of this. It is possible, though hopefully unlikely, that I could die from this. The specialist did admit, when probed, that if the lymphoma doesn't respond to the treatments, it is possible to die from it.
This is obviously the case with all cancer, but since there is so relatively little data on my subtype, it's impossible to predict how many people will and won't have a positive outcome. My approach remains unchanged, though: I'm proceeding as though I'll be one of the lucky ones who will respond to the treatments.
B also found some indications as to the prevalence of this subtype. This subtype accounts for roughly 15% of all non-Hodgkin's lymphomas, and mine is the fourth most common out of five total categories within this subtype. I don't know how many people have non-Hodgkin's lymphoma though, so I can't estimate how many people in total have this specific subtype.
I also tried to find out exactly how it is that people die from lymphoma, but the doctor and my wife kind of refrained from answering. They told me I was putting the cart before the horse, but I genuinely wanted to know. I'll probe harder for an answer at some later point if it becomes more relevant.
Heh -- it's obvious that the researcher in me will never die. I'm genuinely interested in these kinds of details, even at this strange and stressful time.
