Thursday, October 22, 2009

A Lymphoma By Any Other Name (And Yesterday's Appt.)

Hadn't gotten to digging into this yet and found this yesterday while I was looking for something else.

"Both Hodgkin lymphoma (formerly known as Hodgkin's disease) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (also known as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma) are lymphomas, a type of cancer that originates in a subset of white blood cells called lymphocytes. Lymphocytes are an important part of your immune system. The main difference between Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma is in the specific lymphocyte each involves.

A doctor can tell the difference between Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma by examining the cancer cells under a microscope. If in examining the cells, the doctor detects the presence of a specific type of abnormal cell called a Reed-Sternberg cell, the lymphoma is classified as Hodgkin. If the Reed-Sternberg cell is not present, the lymphoma is classified as non-Hodgkin.

The distinction is important because the treatment for each type can be very different." - Ruben Mesa, M.D. / http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/lymphoma/AN01209

From yesterday....white counts continue to march back up to normal levels (where they currently reside, i.e. in the normal levels). Platelets rebounded and aren't yet to normal ranges, but someday. The Nurse Practitioner examined my spleen (how they are able to apply pressure to your abdominal area and determine whether or not the spleen is enlarged, amazes me), and told me that my spleen was significantly smaller than last time she checked. It still has some slight enlargement, but she said that may be normal for the rest of my life due to it being one of the organs that the cancer "visited" last year when I was diagnosed. I also pointed out to the Nurse Practitioner that I had a bit of a cough that I thought was from lack of humidity in the air these days and it was drying out my throat. She did listen to my lungs and determined there was no fluid accumulating in them (good sign) and then sent me for a chest x-ray just to be sure. If I was beyond day 100, she may not have sent me for a chest x-ray, but I appreciate her caution.

No matter who you are, with the whole flu thing going on, err on the side of caution.

One thing about the senses, when I finished with the chest x-ray, I stopped into a bathroom on the way out, and while washing my hands I discovered the hospital hadn't changed their liquid soap supplier since last year. The scent of the soap took me back a year and the recall of it conjured up a memory I wasn't too wild about. However, it was still a BIG day as you will read in the next post.

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