My biggest scare yet!

So i have just been through my biggest scare yet. I heard the words "You have possibly relapsed", it was words I had never wanted to hear, it was daunting, it was scary actually it was terrifying.

This is how it went: 

Saturday 30th January: I was sitting watching television and my hand landed on a lump in my neck, it was just under my ear, near my jaw. My initial reaction was fear. I waited a few days to see if it would go down or disappear it didn't.

Wednesday 3rd February: I called my Drs receptionist and she contacted my Oncologist, he requested I have a CT scan of the neck that day.

Friday 5th February: The day I got the results, they weren't what I wanted to hear. 5 nodes in my neck had all increased in size since my last CT, 2 of them had not been previously seen. 1 of those 2 was the one I could feel. He began to tell me that I had possibly relapsed, told me about what would happen if I had. Treatment would involve more chemotherapy, radiation and a stem cell transplant. He immediately booked me in for more scans - a PET and a CT of the abdomen. 

In between these 2 appointments I felt that the lumps in my neck had slightly decreased in size just by feel.

Friday 12th February: I had my PET scan and CT of the abdomen today. I saw my Oncologist the same day to get the results. Whilst sitting in the waiting room I had a voice mail message from the ENT clinic at the RAH saying they had a referral for me to see a specialist on the Monday. My heart sank, I figured this meant it was bad news and that my cancer had returned, especially since I had been booked in the next business day! He had taken everyone else in before me and then it was my turn. I was so nervous and felt sick. He began by telling me that he still didn't have a clear answer, I took this as a good sign. He went on to explain that the PET scan showed that the 2 new nodes were "lighting up" on the scan but the other 3 showed nothing. He said that the CT of my abdomen showed no new lumps. I told him that I believed that the lump I could feel had got smaller since I saw him last, he had a feel and agreed. Due to the fact that they didn't feel any bigger he was happy for me to make the decision as to wether I wanted to cancel the ENT appointment that he had made for me on the Monday and have another CT of the neck in 2 weeks. The ENT appointment had been booked for me to meet with a specialist to organise surgery to remove the node to test it for cancer. We all agreed to cancel it and rescan. 

Saturday 27th February: I arrived at Bensons Radiology to have my CT of the neck. As always there was a problem. They didn't have my forms to do the scan, they either hadn't been faxed over or they had misplaced them. Being a Saturday I knew it would be hard for them to organise some new ones, but they gave the RAH a call to see if they could. My oncologist wasn't working but they talked to another Dr that could send over the referral. When it came through it didn't have a Drs signature on it, so they needed to call them back to get another faxed through. The 2nd one came and they didn't write on it that it needed to be bulk billed and also had on there I was getting my neck, chest and abdomen scanned which was incorrect. In the end I ended up giving them my Oncologists mobile number so they could call him directly at home. He assured them it was just my neck to be scanned and told them to bulk bill it, they were happy with this. An hour after I was supposed to have my appointment I finally had my scan. For my last 2 neck CT's I have told them that I don't want the injection of contrast, my Oncologist is happy for me to do this providing they get clear enough pictures. 

I was due to get my results on Friday 11th March, but being the great Oncologist he is my Dr read the results early and texted me them on the 2nd of March to say that the CT showed all nodes to have slightly decreased in size and due to this he was happy to wait and rescan in 3 months time! 

And that brings me to today! I can't feel the lump at all anymore so hopefully it was just some infection my body was fighting. 

I will update when I have my next scan.

Xx