We returned to Dr. Vandermolen for the results of the scans and bone marrow test. Enlarged nodes were found in my neck, under both arms, in my chest, none in my groin and in 5-10% of my bone marrow. He said that he would not call that leukemia, since it was such a small percentage. I am considered Stage 4, and though this was not necessarily good news, we felt that it was the best news out of a potentially bad situation.
I’m enclosing part of an email that Blair sent out, because I thought that she did a particularly great job of explaining how he staged my cancer. It’s one you can hear and easily forget, but “seeing” the explanation is much easier. From Blair -
*stage: she is stage 4, but let me explain...
most people think of the "stage" as the life sentence. it's not... maybe with breast cancer, or
other more serious cancers, but with lymphoma the stage is the way you qualify the location
of the cancer.
stage 1: in 1 lymph node
stage 2: in more than 1 lymph node on 1 side of diaphragm {upper or lower body}
stage 3: more than 1 lymph node & on both sides of diaphragm
stage 4: more than 1 lymph node & in another organ {spleen, bone marrow, lungs, etc.}
*while my mom is stage 4, she only has cancer in some of the lymph nodes in her upper body which makes her only stage 2, but they did find about 5-10% cancer in her bone marrow {while that's not much, it automatically makes her stage 4, even though it's not in her lower body lymph nodes}.
most people think of the "stage" as the life sentence. it's not... maybe with breast cancer, or
other more serious cancers, but with lymphoma the stage is the way you qualify the location
of the cancer.
stage 1: in 1 lymph node
stage 2: in more than 1 lymph node on 1 side of diaphragm {upper or lower body}
stage 3: more than 1 lymph node & on both sides of diaphragm
stage 4: more than 1 lymph node & in another organ {spleen, bone marrow, lungs, etc.}
*while my mom is stage 4, she only has cancer in some of the lymph nodes in her upper body which makes her only stage 2, but they did find about 5-10% cancer in her bone marrow {while that's not much, it automatically makes her stage 4, even though it's not in her lower body lymph nodes}.
I have to say, that being caught in this “limbo” of not knowing what was coming was hard to handle. I felt that when we received the results, we finally had something to work with and “the plan was coming together”! I really do so much better knowing what I have to deal with and getting on with it than I do living in uncertainty. Also taking one day at a time, instead of worrying a week or month in the future just works so much better for me.
i knew that I was going to have chemo on 3 week cycles and I was busy with my calendar trying to figure out how ‘I’ was going to be available at important times for school and if Terry would be able to attend a really important industrial show in Chicago. It turned out that God had it all planned - not to worry! It’s hard to let go of things that you’re normally responsible for and school is such a part of who I am, that it was a huge concern for me. Letting this stuff go isn’t easy!
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