Nashville or Bust

Good News.

When we went into Monday — with all of its crazy tests and chemo treatment — we had anticipated having results of some of those tests (primarily the bone marrow biopsy) back by Thursday. As Thursday ticked away with all of its anticipation, we came to the conclusion that we would not have any results. We’d hang in this mist of “yeah, it’s NHL but we don’t really know what type and how bad it is” for another week or so. It was maddening on many levels and as I was discussing Kris, Dave’s sister, it is the way it is. Patience. Patient. A dichotomy. We’d have to find a way to stifle all our mind-boggling questions until October 25 when we were face to face with the doctor again.

But weird things happen. As Kris and I were standing in the kitchen, railing on how not knowing can literally drive people insane, the phone rang. It was a telemarketer trying to sell magazines. (I was polite.) No sooner had I hung up, the phone rang again. Kris thought it was the crazy telemarketer calling back and she was itching to tell the telemarketer a thing or two. I was tempted to let the phone ring, but fatigue had the best of me and Dave was sleeping, so I answered. And I’m glad I did. It was Dave’s oncologist. The bone marrow biopsy was back and he had reviewed it after his last appointment. And then he said it: “Well, Dave is a little low on iron… but he has no lymphoma in his marrow.”

NO LYMPHOMA IN HIS MARROW!

The timing was all very bizarre. And it took a bit for Dave to process as he came out of his foggy sleep state. But it was good news. No, great news. I actually said “Yippee” out loud. There’s still more to find out and that will come in the next few days. But this was a huge weight off of everyone’s shoulders.

As for the patient himself, he is still quite fatigued from Monday’s chemo. He’s felt a little queasy and a little unstable but he’s learning to take it slow. He doesn’t like to take his evening dose of Prednisone (five bitter pills) but it is a temporary thing. He’s re-discovered Jell-O… it helps to get the stuff down and it makes him happy. As he said the other night, “It doesn’t matter how old you get, Jell-O is still fun to eat.”

So with this, we go into the weekend. We’ve wallowed enough. We are taking more control. It is not stage four. Thank God. Thank the Universe. Thank Life.

October 15, 2010 - Posted by daveandjacqui | Dave