Quick Update

Just a quick update! 

Friday 4th September I saw my oncologist to get my results back from my scan. All nodes that had previously had cancer in them came back stable, however a new node has shown up at double the size to last years scan. This node is located in my right inguinal region. I previously had no cancer in this region. My oncologist asked me to get an ultrasound on it ASAP. I managed to get in somewhere on the following Monday 7th at 11am. By 12pm he had let me know the results, he said it looked reactive to something rather then lymphomatous, he was happy to watch and wait and get it re checked in 3 months (Dec). I guess if it is still there then they will biopsy it. 

All other blood work came back ok, except my vitamin d was low... again! I will see my oncologist again December 4th! Will update more after that.

xx

Scanxiety...

I can't believe its been a year since I had my last CT scan and nearly 2 years since I found out I was in remission. 

I despise CT scans so so much! The whole scan takes only 5-10 minutes but I still hate them. I have to fast for 2 hours before my scan, which normally means no breakfast as I try and get a 9am appointment. Instead I get to drink the Barium Sulfate drink. It actually doesn't taste that bad. It looks like milk but certainly doesn't taste like it. I have to drink 1 cup every 20 minutes over an hour. Once finished I get taken in for the scan. I lie down in the CT scanner, get a cannula put in and a drip connected. They do a few test runs and get the scanner lined up. Once they are happy with the position they inject the first lot of dye. This is the part that I hate. It gives you a warm flush that you can feel throughout your whole body and it makes you feel like you have peed yourself (true fact)! Once that scan is finished they administer more dye to scan my neck. Then the scan is over! I have to hang around for another 10 minutes to make sure I don't have a reaction to the dye and then I am good to go.

Breakfast 

The delicious liquid

This brings me to today.. I now have to wait until this Friday to get the results back from the scan. It feels like forever away. My anxiety is at an all time high.

Below is a quote that I love and helps me through the harder times. 

I will be back to update at the end of the week. My blog is still getting hits so I presume there are still a few of you that read it.

xxx

First 2015 update

Would you believe it's been 9 months since I last posted an update? I have come here many times to post one but haven't had a lot to write about, today I do however have something to fill you in on! 

Friday 10th July I was driving home from work and felt a lump in my left elbow crease, like anyone else who has been through something similar to me, I immediately began to panic. As soon as I got home I started googling to see if I could figure out what it was, this time Google didn't help me. I stressed about it over the weekend. Tuesday I mentioned it to the Pharmacist at work and he told me to book in with my dr ASAP as with my history one can never be too cautious.

I called my GP but could not get an appointment for 2 weeks, I knew I couldn't wait that long so I called and made an appointment with my oncologist for that Friday (17th July). Friday morning came and I felt so incredibly sick with stress that I was making myself vomit. I had convinced myself that I now had a secondary cancer. 

1:20pm I arrived at the hospital, I had to wait about 20 minutes to see my oncologist. He had another oncologist with him as it was a "slow day" in the Youth Cancer Clinic. I explained what I had felt and then they both had a feel. Their suspicions were either a blood clot from the PICC line I had in that arm or an inflamed lymphnode. If it was a lymphnode it would need to be removed and biopsied ASAP. He also mentioned that he had never heard of anyone getting cancer in their elbow after having Hodgkins and that it would be incredibly rare if it was. 

They checked me out to see if there were any other lumps they could feel but they couldn't. My blood results also didn't show anything suspicious. It was recommended I have an ultrasound to see what was going on. 

After a few calls they managed to get me in somewhere that same day. 

4:00pm I went and had my ultrasound. The girl that was doing it stopped half way through and said she wanted to get the dr to have a look. I was now starting to worry!! They both came back and the dr was looking at it and said what she thought it was. I asked her if she thought it was cancer and she said no. She was pretty certain it was a ganglion cyst, which are rare on the elbow, they normally occur in the wrist. They normally just leave them if they aren't causing any problems and sometimes they can go away by themselves. 

In other news, my hair is growing back nicely! I have finally got it to a style and length that I am happy with. 

Relay For Life 2015

In May I participated in my 3rd Cancer Council Relay For Life. My team and I raised just over $22,000, this brings our total to over $45,000 in 3 years! 

Quinzi's Sisters From Other Misters Relay For Life Team

I have my next checkup CT scan at the end of August. This will take me to the 2 years in remission. We are pretty confident that this scan wont show anything bad. This will hopefully be my last CT scan for a very long time.

Until then xx