Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Back from a family visit; bad news

We traveled about 3 1/2 hours to see our son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren on Saturday and returned Monday evening. As I suspected, there was a message on the answering machine from Dr. Hema's nurse. I called on Tuesday morning and she asked me to speak to the doctor. He reported that the bone marrow biopsy shows that there are lymphoma cells in the marrow sample. He said it is lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma. According to various internet resources, it is slow growing and very treatable. It can be brought to remission but generally returns. I will be having a PET scan and a visit with Dr. Hema to evaluate my treatment options. I have indicated I want the treatment to be very aggressive.

This, of course, is devastaing news. My adorable wife and I have shed some tears and, I am sure, will shed many more. We are discussing how to tell our family. Even though this is the 21st century, this is not email news.

I am concentrating my efforts on fighting the disease as hard as possible and enjoying life as much as possible. We are planning a trip next month and a cruise in October. We are plunging forward full speed!

I am still reeling from the news.....more later.

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