back from driving trip + an update
Aug. 31st, 2004 12:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
iamomWe just logged 4,500 kilometres on a 10-day driving trip to from Halifax to Montreal, Toronto and Georgian Bay (90 minutes NW of Toronto), and we had a fantastic time. Z was a perfect traveller, amusing herself easily in the backseat with her books, toys, and Magna Doodle. She was a perfect doll the whole time.
Also visited my hematologist yesterday to review our current status. I can't remember if I made note here that my initial biopsy was deemed inconclusive by the NIH (i.e. my lymophocytes appear to be abnormal, but they cannot attribute that clearly to lymphoma). They recommended repeating the biopsy, which we've already done, and we hope to hear the results within a couple of weeks. My most recent CT shows that the mass in my nasopharynx has diminished in size without any formal treatment, but that data is not diagnostic by itself. The steroids I took may be responsible for that size reduction.
Anyway, the hematologist quite correctly would not like to begin treatment for lymphoma with such ambiguous lab results, so our plan is to repeat the CTs every 4 weeks to monitor the progress of that mass. If my 2nd biopsy is also deemed inconclusive, then for the short term, I'm going to assume that this mass is anomalous and proceed with my regular life. I'll probably get monthly CTs for a number of months and if the mass doesn't get any bigger or continues to shrink, then maybe this whole experience will just fade into the background.
If that happens, however, I may get written up in a case report and published somewhere, which would be neat. At any rate, I'm still feeling perfectly happy and healthy, so it's not difficult to maintain a positive outlook.
Also visited my hematologist yesterday to review our current status. I can't remember if I made note here that my initial biopsy was deemed inconclusive by the NIH (i.e. my lymophocytes appear to be abnormal, but they cannot attribute that clearly to lymphoma). They recommended repeating the biopsy, which we've already done, and we hope to hear the results within a couple of weeks. My most recent CT shows that the mass in my nasopharynx has diminished in size without any formal treatment, but that data is not diagnostic by itself. The steroids I took may be responsible for that size reduction.
Anyway, the hematologist quite correctly would not like to begin treatment for lymphoma with such ambiguous lab results, so our plan is to repeat the CTs every 4 weeks to monitor the progress of that mass. If my 2nd biopsy is also deemed inconclusive, then for the short term, I'm going to assume that this mass is anomalous and proceed with my regular life. I'll probably get monthly CTs for a number of months and if the mass doesn't get any bigger or continues to shrink, then maybe this whole experience will just fade into the background.
If that happens, however, I may get written up in a case report and published somewhere, which would be neat. At any rate, I'm still feeling perfectly happy and healthy, so it's not difficult to maintain a positive outlook.
