Lazy day

Today I worked from home. The pain in my hip was not unbearable, however I wanted to be sure that I would recover without complications.

By the end of the day I have no pain in the area around my biopsy site and do not feel anything weird when sitting down, or getting up.

Second day of tests

My second day of tests, today is Bone Marrow – followed later by the PET.

The first order of the day was inserting a cannula into my arm. As it was a requirement to fast from food and water for 12 hours, my veins were not as prominent as they should be and it took the nurse 3 goes to get the cannula work as expected. Right hand and arm slightly sore, but cannula installed on left arm after a little struggle.

Shortly after I was taken to a room with a bed whilst I waited for another Haemotologist. When he was ready to start the nurse gave me 3 (mg?) of Diazepam. All I remember is feeling the doctor prod the area a bit with his fingers, then telling the nurse to give me another 2 (mg?) of Diazepam. The next thing I remember is waking up in the hospital bed. Apparently I had slept for 1 hour in the bed after the operation 🙂

After this it was time to goto the PET area for my scan. I was still a little bit sleepy at this stage. I was given another injection through the cannula and was told to lie down and relax. I had my iPhone and listened to music and think I went back to sleep again. This was for about 45 minutes. After this rest period I then went into the PET room and sat inside the donut for 20 minutes whilst the system scanned my body.

The effects of the Diazepam had worn off by the time my PET scan was complete. My hip is a little sore when sitting down and getting up again. Walking is not affected.

First day of tests

A busy day today;

  • Provided a sample at the local Andrology Unit (uhuh…)
  • Lung test performed – basically blowing into a machine and watching a line draw on a screen
  • Heart test performed – injected with radiation and then had x-ray machines take photos of my body and circulation rate

Second opinion

Today I had another consultation with a Haemotologist at Peter Mac. I was booked in for a series of tests for next week;

  • Blood test (done today)
  • Lung function test
  • Heart function test
  • PET scan
  • Bone Marrow biopsy

A further appointment was also booked with my specialist for the following Tuesday. by next Tuesday the results of the above tests will be known and we will be able to ‘stage’ my disease and determine the treatment plan.

A second opinion of the biopsy from the lymph node in my neck will also be performed by a pathologist at Peter Mac.

First consulation

Mum arrived in Melbourne this morning, and we met at the train station on route to the initial consultation with my specialist (Haematologist). Specialist checked my body physically, no obvious signs of other enlarged lymph nodes. No other symptoms. Referred me to another specialist at the Peter Mac Cancer Institute.

I have bad news for you

Today I had an appointment with my GP to discuss the results from my ultrasound & biopsy.

The conversation started off with “I have some bad news, the results came back and they indicate that you have Hodgkin’s Lymphoma“.

My GP didn’t want to go into specifics, instead he faxed my details straight away to a leading Lymphoma specialist. I received a call from this specialist a few hours later and he agreed to see me the very next day.

I didn’t really know what to think. It’s not every day you get told you have cancer, but at the same time I felt fine and had no health concerns. I called my parents and let them know the bad news. Mum booked a flight, and is due to land in Melbourne tomorrow.