A long, hard road

This is something of an “emergency” blog post. That’s why it’s coming to you at an irregular time. That’s why I’m blogging from my iPhone in a hospital bed with two concerned parents next to me, and two sisters in transit to come see me.

Remember that pain in my neck? And how my mother forced me to the doctor? Who then thought it was something with thyroid and ordered a cat scan?

Well, I had that cat scan at 1:30pm today. By 2:15 my family doctor called me and told me to go straight to his office because the cat scan showed a blood clot. My mom picked me up and took me right over. It was there he said the clot was in the main jugular vein in my throat and I was to go straight to the emergency room to get heparin, a blood thinner, and another CT scan to check for more clots.

My family doctor came to the hospital shortly after and made a serious sounding phone call I could only slightly hear. After hanging up, he grabbed a chair so he could sit down when he talked to me. Any suspicions I had that something even more serious was at play were confirmed in moment.

The second CT scan showed a large mass around the main vein that goes into my heart. It’s lymphoma. In other words, cancer.

They’re taking a sample from my chest tomorrow but I won’t get results until next week. The best I can do is hope for Hodgkins Lymphoma, which has a 98% survival rate. Once I get my diagnosis, I’ll start on chemotherapy right away, then radiation.

For now, the number one concern are the blood clots (I also have a few more in my chest). I’m being moved to the cancer ward and will likely be here for a while. My doctor says I have a very long and hard road ahead of me, but for now all I can do is focus on the present. It’s too overwhelming to think of the rest. Through all of this, I know I need to keep my wits, optimism, and sense of humour.

Thank you SO SO much for your friendship and support.