In the beginning...

This adventure started in March with a cough that wouldn't end. And a worried boyfriend. Hours of endless coughing and not catching my breath.. Begging me to go to the ER. Of course, I refused. It's just a cough and I had it for years. Bronchitis, I said... I get it every year. No need to worry. But I made a promise to him to go to the doctor or make an appointment the next day.

Well Monday rolls around and it's busy.. really busy so I forget until about 4pm and I make a doctor's appointment for the next afternoon. Cough still there, as usual.. and not going away.

I get to the doctor appointment. He listens to my breathing and then I point out the swollen thing on my neck. He touches it and the look on his face changes. The appointment/exam immediatley stops and he grabs 'a senior doctor'. The senior doc comes in with a smile. looks at the lump and his face changes from happy to super concerned. The next words out of his mouth are 'collapsing lung and ER'. So I am told to go immediatly to the ER.

So we get to the ER and they tell me, looks like your lung is not collapsing. But we think you have pnemonia. You'll be in the hospital for a week or so but we're going to do a chest scan to make sure. Chest scan done. Doc comes in...

He pulls up a chair next to my bed and says the words '15cm mass in chest'. We got you in for a pulmonary specialist in the am. You will go there.

Next morning go to specialist who draws my lung for me... shows me how full of 'mass' my left lung is. It's scary. I finally cry. Gets me in immediately for a broncosopy. Result come back quickly. I have very angry tissue so they need to do a biospy... NEXT DAY. RIGHT AWAY. QUICK QUICK.

Chest biopsy gets done next afternoon. Within 3 hours of my biopsy I am hearing the words.. Lymphoma, Hodgkins, Oncologist, quickly need to seek treatment, wrapping around your wind pipe...

SOOOOOO I go to the oncologist THE NEXT DAY.. orders a pet scan. ok no problem. NEXT DAY. Have pet scan.. STAGE 4. SHIT. SHIT SHIT SHIT. Cry more don't panic.

Back to oncologist, results mean time for bone marrow scan and need to get a port in.. Chemo is MONDAY. 3 days.

Wednesday: Bone Marrow check (story for another time)
Thursday: Port inset (this is where the stick the chemo in me)
Friday: Day off with no doctor appointments!
Monday: Chemo

So what I learned
1) Never EVER worry when the doctor doesn't call you right away with test results. Worry when they call you right away
2) I could have died if I waited much longer to see the doctor
3) I have an amazing group of friends (Another blog another day)
4) I am a fighter

This is all for now. I will write more later.

Stay tuned for more: Adventures with Chemo Girl *heroic pose*