Background and Intro to Blog

This is for family and close friends. A possibly boring, detailed account of my trip with lymphoma. I'll begin with history to bring us up to this point.

Last November at my annual checkup we discovered that my stomach was painful to touch in the center. I felt okay though. I had my normal appetite, and had been eating Indian, Mexican and other cuisines with no digestive problems beyond the usual occasional minor stuff we all have. My primary care doc sent me to the surgeon who had fixed my inguinal hernia, thinking I might have the other type of hernia. He said I didn’t and recommended a CT Scan. I shined it on, thinking “I feel okay and who needs to drink radioactive chemicals.”

In mid to late December I began to have extreme diarrhea - total liquid. It was easily controllable with Pepto and I still felt fine and had normal appetite and no stomach upset. I was getting worried, though. I called my doctor and we did a test for intestinal parasites. At this same time I got advice from my Osteopath (for pinched nerve) on changing my diet. This worked well. I was able to go off Pepto and continue to have okay poops. The test, which took two long weeks, came back negative. I was feeling pretty happy and thought I might be able to ease back onto my regular diet. My stomach was still sensitive, though.

Then around February 20 I started too feel really bad. The diarrhea came back. I was feeling nauseous and weak. On the 23rd I threw up a few times and my energy level was even lower. I went to see my doctor who set me up for a CT scan - STAT - which revealed a large “mass” partially blocking my intestine. Solid matter could not pass, but there was enough of an opening for liquid to get through.

I was feeling worse, throwing up a bit. I went back to my surgeon who sent me to the hospital on Thursday, Feb 28. The mass was biopsied on Saturday, March 2. In the meantime, some time on the IV got me back on track and I was able to leave the hospital on Sunday. Today (March 6) I learned I have lymphoma. I’ll know exactly what kind in another week. No matter what kind, I’ll be getting chemotherapy. 

In the meantime I’m doing okay at home, watching what I eat and eating very slowly.

I’ll be posting about how I’m feeling mentally in the next entry.