Well, I had chemo #7 today.  As a lot of people know, I went in to it thinking that I would only have 1 more chemo after this one since my doctor has been suggesting that since May.  Sadly, I was inorrect.  My doctor said that he presented my case to the Methodist Hospital Lymphoma Board and they all agreed that I should continue having chemo until the tumor stops responding completely, which could take up to 8 months (so I could possibly have 9 more- It could stop responding sooner than that, in which case I would have less than that).  I know I posted last time that it looked like my chest tumor had already stoped responding, however, at closer inspection, it turns out that it did shrink in size by 20%.  I'm just sad because I was so looking forward to being done and now it turns out that I may not even be half done.  The good news is that it seems the doctor who looked at my pathology in Dallas incorrectly diagnosed me as having the most agressive kind of Hodgkins when I really have a less agressive kind.  Also, radiation has a lot more internal side-effects that chemo does, even though it is less painful for me, so I think in the long run I will be glad I had less radiaion and more chemo.  Although I am upset, I would rather have more chemo now than start radiation and find out when the radiation is done that it is not gone and have to start chemo all over again.  All I can do is go day by day, continue to trust God that I am not suffering in vain, and know that one day this will be over.  As my old High School VP used to say: "Its a great day to be alive!"

Hello everyone!  I am done with #6...it wasn't too bad.  I was more tired than I have been before and the side effects stuck around an extra day or two, but nothing I can't deal with at this point.  Curtis is in Houston and will be here until I have #7.  We are just hanging around, eating a lot of ice cream, and watching a lot of movies.  I did have some excitement today: I got a puppy!!!  Check the picture page for some pics! 

I had Chemo #6 today.  So far everything is going as usual...just tired and blah feeling.  I also got to talk to my doctor.

First he said that my white and red count were both very low this week so I have to have both blood cell boosting shots when I get my pump disconnected.  I asked him about my 3rd x-ray and he said there wasn't much of a difference between the 2nd and 3rd.  I also asked if he had made a decision about how many more treatments I would have.  He said that there have been recent medical reports saying that  "bulky patients" (that would be me because of the big bulky tumor in my chest) respond better to a combo of chemo and radiation.  He said as soon as it seems like the tumor in my chest is no longer responding to the chemo very well, he is going to switch me to radiation.  After my next chemo I am going to have another CAT scan and maybe even a PET scan and, hopefully, I'll only have one more chemo and start up on radiation.  (That one more chemo thing isn't for sure- it's my hope and guess since the 3rd x-ray already showed the chest tumor not really responding as much)

I will post when I find out more.  I'm going to spend the rest of the week sitting around and watching unlimited movies from blockbuster for $25/month!

#5 was better than #4.  I didn't have that white blood cell booster shot this time and I think that had a lot to do with it.  I may have to have it next time though.    Curtis came to visit for a few days and some of my family from Atlanta also came for a few days so I have had some nice distractions.  Now I'm just going to relax and get ready for #6!