- 5,058
- 288
- Joined
- Sep 17, 2003
On May 22nd of this year, I graduated from George Mason University. I was ecstatic. I would be able to start another chapter of my life. I would be able to start working for real. I would be able to move out west and follow my girlfriend of 7 years. She got a head start out there because she graduated in December 2010. I would be able to help my parents and brothers financially. All of which I had worked for in college would finally come to fruition.
Then, around June 2nd, I finally went to my doctor to get an x-ray. I went to my best friend's house (NT'er IRON MIKE) and we just kicked it. I got a text from one of my parents' friends that said something along the lines of "We are praying for you and your family and we know everything will be all right." I kind of got nervous, so I asked my mom what the hell that was about. She told me, "Oh it was missent. It was supposed to be for somebody else." That night I finally came home at around 11pm and went on NT, FB, Twitter.. the usual. My dad comes into the computer room and says "Did your mom tell you the results?" I replied, "No, she's asleep already." My dad then said, "Well, there's a lump on your x-rays. Just pray okay?" Then he walks away real awkwardly. I just sat in this very chair I'm sitting in right now in a daze.. dizzy and confused and more worried than I had ever been my entire life.
A couple days pass and I get a PET scan. A couple more days pass and I end up going to about 4 doctors in a single day. They pretty much passed me around to more and more specialists. The first doctor straight up told me, "I know we just met, and I hate to tell you this way, but it looks like you have a tumor and some sort of cancer." For those of you who have seen the movie 50/50, everything he said after that became a blur and I blocked out everything thereafter. I went to another specialist who did chest surgeries.. he went on to tell me that he couldn't operate on me because the tumor was directly on top of some important artery that would be too risky to operate on. At this point my father and mother are teary eyed as I sat there emotion less. Thoughts like "I let my family down" and "I let my girlfriend down" and "I probably have less than a year to live" and "What if I got checked up sooner?" ran through my head. It all started to make sense why I was so damn tired all the time, why I coughed nonstop, and why I would get winded just going up one flight of stairs. We saw another doctor and pretty much said we need to do something about this NOW. After a couple of more days I had a biopsy to see exactly what was wrong with me. I got my first biopsy, but the tissue turned up to be insufficient and they couldn't determine what it was from that. I was then scheduled for another biopsy, and that turned out to be a good sample. We finally found out it was Hodgkins lymphoma. I then went to get a pulmonary function test and found out that my right lung was not working and my left lung was only working at about 18% along with my heart being pushed to the left by the tumor.. Eventually, I went to a chemotherapy class to learn the do's, don'ts, and side effects. Then, I started chemotheraphy in the beginning of July and was scheduled for a 6 month cycle. A month ago, I did another pulmonary function test and it showed that my lungs were now operating at 84-88%.
For the last 6 months, every 2 weeks I have had my blood drawn for labs, had a chemotherapy session, and been injected with a Neulasta shot. It has been a wild ride with a lot of pain, soreness, confusion, peaks, valleys, fear, happiness, joy, sadness, and laughter. I wouldn't have been able to do it without my family, my friends, and even the strangers here on NT who have offered me support throughout this whole thing.
I will know for sure how I'm doing in 2 weeks when I get my final PET scan, but I've been feeling great for the past month. I've gained back about 30 pounds. I was normally 175 pounds, but I went all the way down to 135 at my illest point. I am now 165 pounds, eating well, exercising, and I most of my hair!
Anyway, NT... thanks for taking the time to read this thread and to share this joyous time with me.
Then, around June 2nd, I finally went to my doctor to get an x-ray. I went to my best friend's house (NT'er IRON MIKE) and we just kicked it. I got a text from one of my parents' friends that said something along the lines of "We are praying for you and your family and we know everything will be all right." I kind of got nervous, so I asked my mom what the hell that was about. She told me, "Oh it was missent. It was supposed to be for somebody else." That night I finally came home at around 11pm and went on NT, FB, Twitter.. the usual. My dad comes into the computer room and says "Did your mom tell you the results?" I replied, "No, she's asleep already." My dad then said, "Well, there's a lump on your x-rays. Just pray okay?" Then he walks away real awkwardly. I just sat in this very chair I'm sitting in right now in a daze.. dizzy and confused and more worried than I had ever been my entire life.
A couple days pass and I get a PET scan. A couple more days pass and I end up going to about 4 doctors in a single day. They pretty much passed me around to more and more specialists. The first doctor straight up told me, "I know we just met, and I hate to tell you this way, but it looks like you have a tumor and some sort of cancer." For those of you who have seen the movie 50/50, everything he said after that became a blur and I blocked out everything thereafter. I went to another specialist who did chest surgeries.. he went on to tell me that he couldn't operate on me because the tumor was directly on top of some important artery that would be too risky to operate on. At this point my father and mother are teary eyed as I sat there emotion less. Thoughts like "I let my family down" and "I let my girlfriend down" and "I probably have less than a year to live" and "What if I got checked up sooner?" ran through my head. It all started to make sense why I was so damn tired all the time, why I coughed nonstop, and why I would get winded just going up one flight of stairs. We saw another doctor and pretty much said we need to do something about this NOW. After a couple of more days I had a biopsy to see exactly what was wrong with me. I got my first biopsy, but the tissue turned up to be insufficient and they couldn't determine what it was from that. I was then scheduled for another biopsy, and that turned out to be a good sample. We finally found out it was Hodgkins lymphoma. I then went to get a pulmonary function test and found out that my right lung was not working and my left lung was only working at about 18% along with my heart being pushed to the left by the tumor.. Eventually, I went to a chemotherapy class to learn the do's, don'ts, and side effects. Then, I started chemotheraphy in the beginning of July and was scheduled for a 6 month cycle. A month ago, I did another pulmonary function test and it showed that my lungs were now operating at 84-88%.
For the last 6 months, every 2 weeks I have had my blood drawn for labs, had a chemotherapy session, and been injected with a Neulasta shot. It has been a wild ride with a lot of pain, soreness, confusion, peaks, valleys, fear, happiness, joy, sadness, and laughter. I wouldn't have been able to do it without my family, my friends, and even the strangers here on NT who have offered me support throughout this whole thing.
I will know for sure how I'm doing in 2 weeks when I get my final PET scan, but I've been feeling great for the past month. I've gained back about 30 pounds. I was normally 175 pounds, but I went all the way down to 135 at my illest point. I am now 165 pounds, eating well, exercising, and I most of my hair!
Anyway, NT... thanks for taking the time to read this thread and to share this joyous time with me.
