Kim's Hodgkin's Lymphoma Blog

3 1/2 years ago....

Kim — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 10:34:00 -0600

Has it only been 3 1/2 years?? It seems like it was a lifetime ago. Besides the barrage of doctors I see on a regular basis to make sure I remain cancer-free, it really has become an issue of the past. I didn't believe it could happen.

I love that I still get comments on here- one every few months- from people who just found out they or someone they love has hodgkins or are being treated for hodgkins. I remember going to message boards and forums while I was sick to see how other people were handling the disease, see how many relapsed, etc. It was terrifying because nearly everyone had a story of relapse, or developing another kind of cancer. I relayed this to my mom and she told me that the only people who post on those types of things are people who have continuing issues; the people who go into remission and stay healthy don't need to keep posting.

I hope this serves as proof to others that you CAN be healthy again and life CAN be normal again...you just have to stay strong until you get there.

2 1/2 years down, and doing fine!

Kim — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 20:30:00 -0500

It has been around 2 1/2 years since I was diagnosed, 1 1/2 years in remission, and I am doing great. My hair is shoulder length, I've lost all of my chemo weight plus some, and checkups have been clean and stable.
I do have scar tissue in my chest, very close to my heart. I also have scarring in my lungs from one of my chemo drugs- my doctor says I'll never run a marathon- small price to pay.
My year of treatment seems almost like a dream. But I love telling people "I'm a cancer survivor."

Check Ups #2 and #3

Kim — Mon, 08 Aug 2005 00:44:00 -0500

I haven't posted in a while. But only because things have been going so well!

My 2nd checkup, which was at the end of May, consisted of my doc feeling for any swollen lymph nodes. Nothing suspicious so I was told to come back 2 months later for a PET scan.

I had my PET scan 3 weeks ago- no cancerous lymph nodes in sight! It seems all of that chemo paid off!

I start graduate school in a few weeks. I don't go back for another checkup for 3 more months. And I'll be 23 in 2 1/2 weeks!

Oh, and I posted a new pic of my friend Debbie and I in San Francisco last weekend so everyone could see my new hair!

Check-Up #1

Kim — Wed, 06 Apr 2005 00:13:00 -0500

I went back to the doctor for my 6 week check-up on Monday. My catscan looked just like the one I had right before radiation. Most likely the mass that is left in my chest is just scar tissue. So far so good!

I go back again in 2 months, but no catscan. Just to make sure I am feeling well and improving from the chemo and radiation.

My hair is like an inch and a half long! Dark and straight. I'm really looking forward to bangs, although I do get more compliments on my hair now than I ever did when it was long. I still wish it was long... but I'm happy to have anything.

Back In Dallas

Kim — Thu, 17 Mar 2005 11:11:00 -0600

Hello everyone! I have been back in Dallas for almost 2 weeks now and it is so great to be back. I was homesick for a while, but that is getting better. Now that I am all moved in I am just hanging around and looking for a part-time job. I am going to post some pictures of me and my friends at my "I kicked cancer's ass" party.

Hooray!

Kim — Thu, 03 Mar 2005 00:48:00 -0600

My biopsy results came back yesterday and everything is normal! Hooray for non-cancerous thyroid cysts!

I am leaving for Dallas tomorrow (or today seeing as it is after midnight) and I move into my new apartment on Friday. Wow, I remember when I thought I would be having treatment forever! Time flies (whether you are having fun or not, I guess).

My first check-up is in 6 weeks. I will have a catscan just to check for any tumor growth.

Good and Bad Update

Kim — Tue, 22 Feb 2005 16:10:00 -0600

I am going to be done with my treatment for Hodgkin's Lymphoma in 2 days! The radiation machine was broken on Monday, so I will have my very last radiation on Thursday.

As per the title of this article, I have some good and bad news. Well, the bad isn't really bad yet. It turns out that I have a cyst on my thyroid gland. A doctor noticed it over a year ago when I had the ultrasound that diagnosed my lymphoma. I just had another ultrasound last week and my doctor confirmed it. I have to have a needle biopsy of the cyst to make sure it isn't cancerous. My doctor says the chances are minimal (95% of thyroid cysts are non-cancerous and I have no symptoms) but we have to check to make sure. I'm having the biopsy done on Thursday; I'm not too excited about the procedure.

My good news (other than almost being done with radiation) is that I got into the graduate school program I applied for (even with my chemo GRE scores!) I am going to get my masters in public health, specialize in epidemiology, and do cancer epidemiology which is using statistics to determine the causes of different cancers (in a nutshell).

So I will post the results of my thyroid biopsy later.

Ok, doing better

Kim — Thu, 17 Feb 2005 00:44:00 -0600

Wouldn't you know that everything has been fine since last weekend? Only when Curtis is here...
My throat is even feeling a lot better. It isn't raw anymore, I just can't take really big bites.
I had a chest x-ray on Monday that came out clear so I guess everything is ok. Just a one-time thing, hopefully. Well, 1 week from today I will be totally done with all treatments!! Hooray!!

Radiation...not as easy as they say

Kim — Sun, 13 Feb 2005 12:09:00 -0600

Everyone who told me that radiation would be a "walk in the park compared to chemo" owes me a candy bar (or something equally yummy). I am not having an easy time with radation- its crappiness began earlier this week.
The swallowing pain got worse all week and would be particularly painful right after treatment. I began getting a rash on Monday- my docs thought it was an allergic reaction, so they gave me zyertec (allergy medicine). Not only has it not gone away, but it is spreading. But the worst of the worst came on Friday.
I was feeling pretty aweful after my radiation on Friday, but Curtis was visiting so I was trying my best to play it off like I was doing ok. After we had lunch I was totally drained so I decided to take a nap while he watched TV. Once I woke from my nap I noticed it was kind of painful to take a deep breath. Thinking it had something to do with my sore esophagus, I ignored it. Long story short, by 8PM I thought my chest was going to explode. Even taking a substancial breath made my chest ache and moving (especial going from sitting up to laying down) sent shooting pains through my chest. Meanwhile I am searching the internet and the only thing I can find is that chest pain is an "uncommon side effect of radiation." I'm on the verge of going to the ER, but decide to try to call my radiation oncologist first. I call his nighttime number and get the methodist hospital switchboard. They page him. He doens't call. I try to call the office and the message says to call the switchboard and ask to page the radiation oncologist on-call for the night. That guy calls back and I tell him how I am feeling. He says that it sounds like the lining of my lungs has swollen due to the radiation and is rubbing on my ribcage and that is why it hurts to take a deep breath. He says to take some asprin (anti-inflammatory) and if it gets to where I'm short of breath I should go to the ER.
So I get and bed and cry from pain for about 30 minutes until I fall asleep. The next day it still hurts, but not as badly. Today it is even better, but still uncomfortable to take a deep breath.
I still have 8 radiations left, but I can't deal with that kind of pain for the next week and a half. At least this time I got a 2 day break afterwards, but if it happens on Monday I wont. I am going to talk to my doctor on Monday; I saw a lot of forum posts where people said they had a bad response to radiation so their doctor ended it early or they didn't get any at all. I dont WANT to end it early because I don't want the cancer to come back, but I really don't want to have lung damage as a result of this. I also want this rash to go away...

Ok, It has been a while...again

Kim — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 14:53:00 -0600

I have been neglecting my blog, how sad.
My scans turned out really good. There was a sign of only minimal englargement of the mass in my chest (so minimal that my doctor said it was probably only different because of the way they spliced the images). I began radiation to my chest last Tuesday, so as of today I have had 7 treatments. I will have 20 total (so they say, but I know how that goes...)
I am not having any side effects yet except a little bit of disscomfort when I swallow food (the radiation is hitting my esophogus too, so they told me that would happen).
I had my port-a-cath removed 2 weeks ago! Hooray! I was really concerned that my skin would be stretched out at the port location, but it looks normal except for a little bit of bruising (and a scar, obviously).
I am moving back to Dallas at the beginning of March. I signed an apartment lease last weekend and I can start to move in March 5.
So I am doing fantastic. My hair is getting really thick (not too curly yet) and I have begun exercising again (which hurts! I guess that is what 8 months of laying in bed does to you). I have even begun to lose some of the weight I put on during chemo.
It really hasn't hit me that this is almost over. Maybe once it is totally over it will.

It has been a while...

Kim — Wed, 12 Jan 2005 00:01:00 -0600

I've been enjoying life without chemo. I go back to the doctor in less than a week and I have been checking for any lumps in my neck every day and so far I haven't felt anything (not that I have any training in these things...)
I am not nervous about my scans and I am not sure I am going to get nervous about them. I feel like even if some growth shows up the radiation will take care of it.
All of my hair has started to grow back. I love having eyelashes again (well, eyelash stumps). It is really strange having hair...I saw a girl I knew during college who didn't know I had been sick and she said she thought I had just cut my hair really short. My eyebrows look aweful! I have a 5 o'clock shadow where my eyebrows should be. And they are coming in really thick!
I will post after my scans!

Great News!

Kim — Fri, 03 Dec 2004 12:10:00 -0600

Chemo is over! My catscan showed minor, minor shrinkage in my chest tumor so my doc said it was time to stop the chemo treatments. I have a 6 week break; January 17th I go back to the doctor to have a catscan and a PET scan (PET scan locates any active cancer cells) and those scans will determine how much radiation I will have (anywhere from 3-6 weeks). I couldn't be happier; what a fantastic Christmas present! I still feel yucky from the chemo I had on Tuesday but as soon as I am feeling better the celebrating will begin :)

Thank you all for your continuous thoughts and prayers; they have meant more than you know.

I'm Bad

Kim — Sun, 07 Nov 2004 23:33:00 -0600

I just realized that I kinda stopped posting to my "Treatment Updates" section a few months ago. Ooops, its just easier to update on the main page.
Anyways, the reason for the title of this article is because I have gotten really behind on my emailing and returning of phone calls. I had a rough week and was at the hospital for nearly 4 days in a row so I just want to apologize for neglecting anyone.
I am going to be in Dallas this week (I just decided about 2 hours ago) so if you read this and are in Dallas, give me a call :)
Lastly, I would like to apologize for my last post. I was in a terrible mood, to say the least; I always try to keep my posts positive, even when I need to express dissapointment, and I didn't do that in my last post. I know that there are hundreds of thousands of people with cancer who would give anything to get the kind of results I am getting with my treatment. I really have no room to complain about more chemo when it means I am getting better! So yay chemo #15 and 16!

More Chemo...

Kim — Thu, 04 Nov 2004 20:14:00 -0600

Met with the doc today. My tumor shrunk since my last catscan so I am going to have more chemo. We are sticking with the same plan as before: I will have another months worth and then I will have another catscan. He said the maximum amount of chemo I would have would be 10 months worth, so at the most I have 6 treatments left. I am pretty bummed: there is really no chance that I will be back in Dallas by January as I hoped.

Not For Me

Kim — Sat, 30 Oct 2004 17:16:00 -0500

Hi everyone. This post is not for me, but for a friend of mine. You may have read his reply to my last post telling me that he just found out that he has cancer. His name is Jamie, he is the same age as me, and up until this past week he was in Ole Miss Law School (he had to withdraw). On Thursday he found out he had a cancerous tumor next to his intestines. I do not know too many details, but I do know that he is having surgery to remove it this Wednesday. I am posting this to ask everyone to pray for him: for his safe surgery, that the cancer hasn't spread, and that once the tumor is removed he will be cured. Thanks everyone.

It Has Been a While...

Kim — Sat, 23 Oct 2004 22:47:00 -0500

Well, I havn't posted in a while. The good news is: I am still alive. The bad news is: I am still getting chemo.

Yes, you read right, my doctor decided my body hasn't had enough yummy chemo meds so I am in to month 7. We are going month by month now. After chemo #14 I will have another catscan to see if my tumor has shrunken any more. If it has, I will have more chemo- if it hasn't then I will move on to radiation.

So I am back to the same old sitting around doing nothing. I am also going to have to be under semi-house arrest for the next few months because of the flu shot shortage. It wont do me any good to have one because the chemo will kill it, but since there is a shortage more people than usual are going to get the flu and if I catch it I will have to be hospitalized. So I have to avoid human contact and wash my hands every 30 minutes.

I'll post more later!

UPDATE

Kim — Tue, 21 Sep 2004 15:40:00 -0500

I got an update from my doctor yesterday; nothing definite yet, but some good news anyway.

He said that my last 2 x-rays have showed very little change in tumor size, which is good because it is an indication that the chemo has done about all it can do. However, he cannot be sure of the size of the tumor just by looking at the x-ray so I am going to have a catscan next Wednesday (after chemo #12). Once he looks at my catscan he will be able to let me know if I am going to have more chemo or move on to radiation. I asked him for some percentages and he said 70% chance that I only have 1 more. So, yay!

If I can shrink a tumor with prayer then it should be the size of a salt grain by next Wednesday!!

New Catagory

Kim — Sun, 05 Sep 2004 22:24:00 -0500

Hello Everyone! It has been about a week since Chemo #10- I am feeling better, but still not good. Spent a lot of time sleeping last week. My internet classes also kept me pretty busy, so actually the week went really fast. Curits is visiting this coming weekend (Yay!) and I'll just be hanging around doing the usual until he gets here. I added a new page catagory out of boredom- check it out!

For your Reading Pleasure...

Kim — Sun, 29 Aug 2004 15:55:00 -0500

Hi everyone! I just got home from my Dallas vacation and I am feeling more prepared than usual for chemo tomorrow. It was so nice to get out of Houston for so long! After tomorrow I will have finished 5 months of chemo! Thats nearly half a year...I can hardly believe it! It doesn't seem like it has been that long...probably because chemo has killed some of the memory cells in my brain :)
After all the complaining I have done on here I thought it would be nice to post a list of the top 10 things I like about having cancer and/or chemo, so here I go:
10) Money saved on shampoo and conditioner
9) Excuse to not do housework
8) My mom has to let me sleep as late as I want and cannot call me lazy
7) Don't have to shave my legs
6) Macaroni and Cheese
5) Getting nice cards/webposts from family and friends
4) T-shirts and Sweatpants
3) I can freely make bets with people where the loser has to shave his or her head
2) I've seen more movies than Roger Ebert
1) Getting to say "I'm kicking cancer's ASS!"

And for those who don't know, I am now officially 22 years old. Here are a few reasons having cancer on your birthday is not as bad as you may think:
*I am now only 48 years younger than my oncologist's other patients
*I got to eat as much cake as I wanted and no one could say anything (Hey, it was the only thing that wasn't making my stomach hurt!)
Yeah, thats all I got...cancer birthdays aren't too much fun. I'll have to party extra-hard next year to make up for it.

I'll post tomorrow about chemo #10

Bad News

Kim — Tue, 20 Jul 2004 20:28:00 -0500

I got some bad news today- check the Treatment Updates page.

#6 is Over, Getting Ready For #7

Kim — Sat, 17 Jul 2004 23:46:00 -0500

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!

New Info

Kim — Tue, 06 Jul 2004 22:34:00 -0500

I had chemo #6 today and also learned some new info. Check the treatment updates page!

New Treatment Update

Kim — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 16:08:00 -0500

I learned some new stuff today- check out the Treatment Update page!

I Am SOOO Lucky!!

Kim — Tue, 01 Jun 2004 15:42:00 -0500

I just wanted to tell everyone how wonderful it makes me feel when I log on here and have little messages from all of you. They can honestly turn a bad day good.

I miss everyone in Dallas and think about you all everyday- I hope everyone is enjoying their new jobs and new appartments! I'm planning on coming up after chemo #4 (so in about 2 weeks) and I can't wait to see everyone!

I really am lucky to have such wonderful friends and family and others caring about me. Thank you all!!

New Pics in the Photo Album

Kim — Wed, 26 May 2004 15:46:00 -0500

I added some pics today as promised!

Welcome Everyone!

Kim — Tue, 25 May 2004 23:07:00 -0500

This is my new weblog that I am using to keep all of my friends and family updated on my condition, as well as share my experience with anyone interested in Hodgkin's Lymphoma.

Feel free to respond to any articles I post. I would love to hear from everyone!