you take the good, you take the bad…

While the past two weeks have been full of excitement and highs for me, what with a new job and all. There’s also a really big low. My mom’s indolent non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma has transformed into the most agressive kind. This was confirmed by a lymphnode biopsy last week.

She’s been hospitalized since February 20th; one week following her second CVP+R (Cyclophosphamide, Vincristine, and Prednisone with Rituximab) treatment. The tumor on one of the lymphnodes in her neck seems to have responded well. However, a tumor on top of her left lung has grown significantly and is putting pressure on some blood vessels and drainage paths. For the past two weeks, she has been in the ICU at Grand River Hospital. Prior to that, when she was somewhat able to move around, she was on the supportive oncology floor (8th) at Grand River.

Now in the ICU, she’s on a respirator so that she can conserver her engery. She’s in a funky air-powered bed that pulses and can turn her automatically. She’s drugged most of the time and is being fed a high-protein formulation via a tube down her esophagus. Because the Lymphoma has transformed into the aggressive kind, she only has one treatment option left; CHOP+R (Cyclophosphamide, Adriamycin, Vincristine and Prednisone with Rituximab). She got this treatment last Friday. Her oncologist said that if it works, she has a few months of rehabilitation to look forward to. If it doesn’t work…well, then I won’t have a mom anymore. Her oncologist mentioned that out of the five people that she’s treated who have had aggressive non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and were in a similar state to my mom, four didn’t make it and one lived. The one who lived was 80 years-old and this was prior to the availability of Rituximab. Either way, she’s being well taken care of in ICU (Sherry the nurse rawks!). Hopefully all turns out well and this chemo concoction does the trick. We should find out if it will kick the cancer’s ass within the next week or two.

Now you’re all caught up and know why Dena and I aren’t around much as of late.