Muga Scan

Well today it's off for a Muga Scan. There is a history of heart problems with my father so we have to be extra careful with the chemo. All this and it only took my father 2 weeks to return a phone call for heart history so I could start chemo confident it wouldn't kill me by inducing heart failure.

"It's Bad News, but it's Good News"

In the words of my PCP...



Bad News...Cancer

Good News...Lymphoma



I now have 25 minutes to get to the Hematologist's office for a consult. This is good. Tell a hyper red-head she has cancer then put her behind the wheel of her cruiser to whisk off to another unexpected appt. Pedestrians Beware!



Dr. Guzley (my Hemo) says I'm stage 3 Lymphoma but will need a biopsy to confirm what kind. I'm still yellow, but the good news is my Bilirubin is SLOWLY going down, only 7.3 now.

Got Barium?

Yummy! Lemon flavored barium, my favorite. After choking down 2 liters of this stuff, it's off to CT my Abdomen and Pelvis.



1 hour after I left the Imaging Center my Doctor called me personally (you know that's never good). Something looks odd with my Lymoh Nodes on the CT. Lucky me, I get to drink 2 more liters of Lemon Barium on Tuesday (holiday weekend) and have IV Enhancement to CT my Abdomen and Chest.

Labs are back

Well all Hepatitis labs came back Negative. My Liver labs however are way out of whack!

Bilirubin 10.7 (normal is .2-1.3)

Alkaline Phosphate 652 (normal 20-125)

AST 162 (normal 2-35)

ALT 218 (normal 2-40)



YIKES!!! The lab had to re-run the blood to verify because they were so high they thought it was a mistake.

Hepatitis What?!

Well after one look at me, my Doctor and his nurse have taken to calling me the Banana. They do however promise to get me back to being a Peach. It's definitely not Carotene. Time for labs!



They suspect it's Hepatitis, so if it is, it has to be Hep A. I don't sleep with men that sleep with other men (unless there's something my husband isn't telling me), I haven't had a transfusion and I don't use dirty needles (only sterile needles for my drug use:-)!



Now I'm quarantined for a week with daytime TV!!

Projectile Vomiting

After reliving the famous "Pea Soup" scene from the exorcist this weekend, I Email my Dr again and make an appt for Tuesday.

They call me Mellow Yellow...

Well the Jaundice is very pronounced. I Emailed my Doctor and he thinks it is Carotene from the vitamins I have been taking. I tell him that the vitamins I take don't even have Carotene, but he says wait a week and call him if it's not better by next Friday.

Are my contacts dirty?...

I looked in the mirror this morning and noticed that I look like a summer squash! I have morphed into a yellowish looking special effects project.

Maybe I need a shrink??

Follow Up with Allergist. Itching has been somewhat relieved, but is still there. For now, nothing else to do. All labs are still normal.



I'm starting to think I'm developing some weird Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, maybe I need to see a shrink.

Possible Cause of my Hodgkin's Disease...

For the last 8 years I have dealt with numerous afflictions ranging from fatigue to pain. My Doctor's were always saying I had a weak immune system, but couldn't figure out why. For those of you familiar with the movie "A Civil Action" starring John Travolta(for more information, go to our Links page), you may be surprised to know that I spent some of my formidable years prior to age 5 in the same neighborhood where all the kids were dying from predominantly Acute Lymphatic leukemia. Had I stayed, many of these kids would have been my classmates and friends. My husband and I did some research on the chemicals involved with the lawsuit and did find research to support that early exposure to these chemicals can manifest in symptoms in the late teen and early adulthood years. While this is not the cause of the Hodgkin's Disease, no one knows what causes it, the suppressed immune system for so many years is a contributing factor.