Part 2 of catching up!

So…Non- Hodgkins Lymphoma. I’m told if you’re going to get cancer, this is a “good” one to get. Uh…yeah, okay…no. But in actuality, it is, because it is usually controllable for many years. It is NOT curable, but it’s controllable. It’s now early May and Shao is coming home soon! Knowing that she is studying and taking finals, I decided to wait until she got home to break the news. 

Usually, when NHL is diagnosed, doctors take a “wait and watch” stance. But in my case, Dr. Levy (my hematologist/oncologist)and I felt that we had already been doing that, over the past two or more years, we just hadn’t realized it til now. The prescribed treatment was six rounds of chemotherapy, over the next several months. I originally pushed to wait until school was done, so I could continue working as long as possible. Having lived with it unknowingly for so long, I was not feeling an urgency to get treatment immediately. I had bills to pay, and nothing to fall back on, financially. My family quickly nixed that and assured me that they would help me with whatever I needed. So I gave notice at work and that was that!

ShaoXi came home just a few days or maybe a week after the diagnosis. 3 days after she arrived, her boyfriend Alexander flew up to meet me. He was very sweet and VERY nervous. I liked him right away, but definitely had reservations about the fact that he had just graduated and was flying back to Australia, and Shao had 3 more years of college ahead. Th day after he came, Shao’s best friend Krista, my “other daughter”, came over to meet Zander. I decided that this was a good time to break the news. Oh, boy, my girl was furious that I had waited to tell her. It took her awhile before she was willing to talk to me, but having Krista and Zander there helped, for sure. 

Once we got over that hump, things moved quickly. I had an out patient procedure to place a port, we spent lots of fun time showing Zander around, and then the time came to send him home. Oh, I had one very sad girl! But I was so thankful that she was there, and able to help me get through several rounds of chemotherapy before heading back to Mississippi for her sophomore year. Chemo wasn’t too horrible. The chemotherapy I had did not make me lose my hair, so that was a blessing. It did make me very tired, and not very hungry. I would have chemo two days in a row, then a shot on the third day to boost my blood’s ability to make new red blood cells. The ickiness hit around day four, and lasted through the weekend. Then I had two weeks off, then repeat. Since the chemo lowered my immune system, I did struggle with diverticulitis after my second round. Oh, yeah…I had been diagnosed with diverticulosis back in maybe 2011 or 2012…can’t remember. The diverticulitis attack caused me to have to wait an extra week between rounds 2 and 3. Not a big deal, just an annoying delay. I spent most of my time resting. I would get up for a few hours, eat a little, then back to sleep for a few hours. That was my summer. Poor Shao, not much fun for her. But she was working, hanging out with her friends, and so I didn’t worry too much about her. It was so nice just having her home! 

Okay, part three in the near future!

Blessings, Nancy

 Holy cannoli! My last post I said I was the worst blogger…this proves it! What a blast to see what I posted so many years ago! THIRTEEN YEARS AGO!!!! Yikes! How do you come back from THAT?!?!?

Ummm…guess I’ll try. Let’s see…last few posts I mentioned ShaoXi was a Senior in HS, and we were looking at colleges. We did indeed make the trip down to Belhaven University in Jackson, MS. While it was the school farthest from home, I felt like it was the right place for my girl. I said nothing, as I wanted it to be her decision. Ultimately she was accepted at 3 colleges, but Belhaven offered the most scholarships. But, beyond that, Shao decided that she truly was meant to go to Belhaven. So in August of 2014 I drove her down and got her settled in. My best friend, Kim, flew down from Pennsylvania to drive back home with me, so I wasn’t alone. Best friends are the best! 

Thus began my life as an empty nester. Oh, it was hard! I couldn’t wait for December! I kind of forget, but I think she flew home. A few times over the four years of college she carpooled with classmates, so it’s a bit foggy! Christmas break was way too short for my liking, but that’s no surprise! One big surprise was that she had a boyfriend! I wasn’t really surprised, I knew about him before she came home. The biggest surprise? He was from Australia! And a Senior, getting ready to graduate in five more months. Long distance relationships are tough enough, but that was REALLY gonna be long distance! 

I also mentioned in previous blogs that I was not feeling well. Once Shao left to go back to school life went on as usual. For the last eighteen months I had been seeing a plethora of different doctors. I had been diagnosed with kidney disease, due to my former doctor prescribing WAY too much ibuprofen to treat constant pain. So there’s that. It doesn’t really affect me much, but I do have to be careful to keep hydrated, and it is of concern if I need to have tests done with contrast dye, like CAT scans or MRIs. 

I had been struggling for years with low iron/anemia, so had a hematologist on board. I adore him, such a great doctor! We were perplexed by the persistence of the anemia, as I had had a few iron infusions which did nothing for me. That winter of 2015 I had some new symptoms, beyond the paralyzing fatigue. I was seeing Dr. Levy every few months by then. March/April 2015 rolled around and I went to my bimonthly appointment. To my shock, and likely his, he said, “Oh, you have some enlarged lymph nodes in your neck!” One biopsy and month later, we finally figured out why I had been feeling unwell for so long. I was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. 

Okay this is getting so long! Stick around, I PROMISE that I won’t make you wait 13 years for part two!

Blessings, Nancy