Lymphoma

On May 12th we were camping at Rend Lake IL and getting ready to go to Brown County State Park in Indiana. Carol looked at me and asked what that lump was between my neck and shoulder. I said, "what lump". Then I looked in the mirror in disbelief. No idea it was there. Carol said it was the size of a baked potato. 

So we packed up the camper and came home. Went to urgent care and they sent me to a ENT doctor. He did a biopsy and sent it off. He said we will know in a few days. It took 2 weeks but the verdict was Lymphoma. Then off to a oncologist. Every doctor asked me the same questions. Have I recently lost weight, am I having night sweats, feeling sluggish, etc. Not me. I felt fine, no problems. I had just put 41 miles on my bike the two days we were at Rend Lake. 

I haven't been to a doctor for years but in the last two months I've seen plenty. I had a CAT scan, PET scan, Bone marrow biopsy, Echocardiogram, Tissue biopsy, a chemo class, a port installed. 

I have to have 6 chemo treatments three weeks apart. Then some radiation. They say I'll be good when I'm finished. But I was good before they started. 

The first chemo was 8 hours long on June 27 and I did great. No major problems and we were able to go camping for 5 days before the second chemo. The lump decreased in size after a few days of the first chemo. 

Today was chemo number 2. So far so good. Hopefully all the treatments will go good.
They said I would lose my hair with the chemo. I never had much hair but I did have a big beard. 
Carol cut everything off, so now I feel odd. I've had a beard for a long time. They say that it will grow back when I'm done.

Update as of September 2, 2016

I have now gone through 4 chemo treatments out of the six needed. After the third treatment the Doc wanted to do a PET scan to see how the progress was going. I took a cell phone picture of the screen. 

It's a little hard to see exactly what is going on but the slide taken on June 10 was before chemo started. It shows the lump on my neck is very large and it is lit up. The slide taken on August 17 after 3 chemo treatments shows that the lump is a lot smaller and not as bright. We are encouraged that things are progressing in the right direction. 
I've been happy with the way things have been going. I have had a few problems with jittery feeling from the steroids and they tell me my immune system is not good due to the chemo is killing good stuff besides the bad stuff. 
    But the 10 days to a week before the next treatment we have been able to get out and do some camping and bike riding. 

Hope to be camping and bike riding next week with my wonderful wife: