A Little Good News

I received the results of my bone marrow biopsy on Friday. Luckily for me, my bone marrow did NOT show Hodgkin's. In the past three weeks, I have gotten so much negative news, that this news just felt like such a victory, albeit a small one. With this news, I have been staged as Stage 3 B. Most of my swollen lymph nodes are in my chest and neck, however I have some cancer in the nodes just below my diaphragm in my belly, and my spleen is involved (although not enlarged which is good). Although this is still late stage, and I have some negative factors in my blood counts, the fact that no other organs are involved so far is a very good thing. I'm trying to stay as positive as possible, but the reality of starting treatment has me a bit scared. I will most likely be starting treatment the end of this coming week, and I think my biggest fear is not knowing what to expect. Everyone reacts so differently to the treatments, that you can't be sure how your body is going to respond. I'm trying to just think about getting better, and not about how I'm going to get there. I have an appointment with a doctor at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston on Monday for a second opinion on treatment, and to find out if I qualify for, or should consider, any clinical trials. After that, I'll be starting treatment.