Thanks once again for the continued thoughts and prayers. Here is the latest update. Yesterday (Thursday) we went to see Dr. Sudesh, my ophthalmologist. He removed the stitches in my eye, which luckily was a painless process, and answered as many of our questions as he could, but really most of our questions needed to be directed to oncology. He was pleased with the healing progress, as my eye is SO much better than a week ago. The swelling has gone WAY down, and it feels way less irritated now. We booked a follow up appointment about 6 weeks out, so that he can check on me after I have received treatment for the lymphoma.
This morning we went to meet with a second oncologist at Kaiser, Dr. Vempaty. I liked her much more than the first oncologist we saw, as she seemed much more experienced and knowledgeable, and just easier to communicate with. We should be able to see her from now on. We met with her for close to 45 minutes and learned some new information. My full pathology reports are now in, and my diagnosis is Low Grade B Cell Lymphoma, stage 4A. Earlier in the week the first oncologist, Dr. Zhu, had called me to tell me that the results of my bone marrow biopsy were back and that it was clear, however, this morning Dr. Vempaty told me that the results from another test came in and as it turns out, they did discover a small percentage of lymphoma cells in my bone marrow. This was very disappointing to hear, however, it sounds like it really doesn't make a difference in regards to treatment. Dr. Vempaty told us that she, too, recommended treatment with Rituxan alone, with the goal being that we want to balance attacking the lymphoma with my quality of life, meaning sparing me the harsh side effects of chemotherapy. She said that we cannot "cure" this type of lymphoma, but we can lessen its impact. She told us, the chance of shrinking the tumor with Rituxan alone is 60%, with a 25% chance complete remission. If I do not respond to the Rituxan, then we can escalate the treatment to a combination of Rituxan and chemo (R-CVP which is less aggressive, or R-CHOP, which is more aggressive). I asked her if we went for the chemo right away if the chances of affecting the tumor would be higher, and she said yes, it would, but it didn't really matter because the goal was not necessarily to completely eradicate it, but to control it so that it is not impacting me. She also said that this isn't like some cancers where you need to hit them as aggressively as possible the first time around. She said that we can start with the least invasive treatment to see how the cancer reacts, and progress to more aggressive treatments if the initial ones are not effective. The idea being, to prevent putting me through chemo if it wasn't absolutely necessary.
After leaving our appointment, we went downstairs to request all of my records to take with us for obtaining a second opinion outside of Kaiser. I was able to obtain a contact through a good friend of my dad's to Dr. Ronald Levy, who is head of the oncology department at Stanford. I spoke with him on the phone, and he said that, assuming my diagnosis was correct, he agreed with the course of treatment the Kaiser doctors were proposing for me. As soon as I obtain my records, I will get them to him so he can review them and let me know if he agrees with their diagnosis. Once I hear back from him, and assuming he agrees, I will schedule my first treatment at Kaiser, so hopefully that will be the week after next.
I am still feeling like my prognosis is good, and that I have many options for my course of treatment, though I must admit, today was harder for me for some reason. My emotions are like a roller coaster. I've been on such a high from all of the love and encouragement I've been receiving from all of you, but today I had a bit of a downturn. It's just really sinking in now what all of this entails, and it's hitting me how scary and serious this is, and how I really can't believe that this is happening to me, and how I really, really wish I wasn't going through all of this. I think about before all this came about, how great things were going in my life with everything: my family, my job, my friends, my travel etc. All of a sudden, the rug has been yanked out from under me and i just feel like I am spinning in space. Still, deep in my heart I know that I am strong. I will pull through this. I believe so truly that God has a plan for me (that includes me sticking around here on earth for a long time to come), and I have faith that everything will be alright in the end, and I will be all the stronger for it. It just isn't easy.
I know I probably sound like a broken record here, so forgive me if I keep repeating myself, but I again want to thank you for your continued support, through your prayers, in your messages to me, your positive thoughts and vibes, and your love. I am so blessed, and SO grateful. Truly, truly grateful and indebted to you. I can't imagine walking this walk alone. I am a very lucky girl.
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