My Rediagnosis

Hello!

So this is my first time blogging and I'm still trying to figure things out so please be patient with me. I will start off with a formal introduction my name is Jennifer, I am 22 years old and I am currently a Hodgkin's lymphoma cancer patient and as the title states this is my rediagnosis story.

To start off from the beginning of my wonderful story I was initially diagnosed in June 2013, just 3 months after my 21st birthday (talk about a buzz kill huh?), with Stage 2 Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. I can even be more specific and tell you the specific kind: Diffused Large B-Cell lymphoma, talk about memory. I had a lymph node in my neck by my clavicle that was protruding the skin and was experiencing all the symptoms of cancer (night sweats, loss of weight unintentionally, anemia due to the weight loss and the growing lymph node). The way that I found out is I was admitted into the ER because I was coughing up blood and they performed all kinds of tests and scans and through my chest x-ray scan they could see there was a tumor that looked to be either in my lung or on top of it. With a CT scan underway it resulted that the tumor was on top of my lung and was measuring 16cm, there were actually 2 separate tumors that were starting to overlap one another. This then created a biopsy to be scheduled to determine whether the tumor was benign or malign, now we all know the result no need for me to say.

I was admitted into the hospital, at that time it was called MD Anderson Cancer Center here in Orlando. My stay lasted 9 days of which I underwent chemo, my regimen was called R-CHOP, I had my power port placed in and given all the instructions and handouts that come with a cancer diagnosis. For the next 6 months I received chemo every 3 weeks and in the month of December 2013 I went in for radiation every day. Of course I lost my hair during the chemo which sucked terribly and took a huge blow on me. I was lucky enough not to experience the typical chemo side-effects. I did gain a large appetite and craved many foods due to the steroids I was given (worst thing ever invented!). By my 3rd round of chemo the tumor had shrunk significantly, more than half of it was gone. But as a precaution we still moved forward with finishing 6 rounds and a month of radiation.

Now you're wondering what happened that I was rediagnosed. As of January 2014 I was officially in remission and given the green light from my oncologist to continue my normal pre-cancer life. I started slow by going back to school and finishing my AA at my community college and then I would search for a job afterwards. Also it had been so long since I was in public places and interacting with people and with my hair growing back I was worried and nervous being around people that don't already know and understand my story. I graduated that spring and began my search for a job. By June 2014 I landed my dream desk job and  was getting my life back on track. I even started looking into getting my own place with my fiancé. Of course during all of this I was still returning for my routine checkups and scans to assure that the cancer was gone.

By July 2014 unfortunately one of my scans was not looking 'normal' and from that point on started the battle of finding out what was going on and get answers if the cancer was returning. It wasn't until November after 3 needle biopsies, 1 surgical biopsy and multiple scans it was finally determined that instead of the same cancer returning, I was actually misdiagnosed the 1st time around and this time it was now Hodgkin's lymphoma. The chemo from previously helped but only fought off a specific set of cells and the radiation did not do anything. The news to both myself and my family was not easy to take in. Right when I was getting back on track and living my life again, I was sucked back into the life of a cancer patient.

Currently since being rediagnosed my life has been on pause. I'm currently waiting to start my bone marrow transplant. I am unable to work at the time due to my counts being low because of chemo and of course for any cancer patients out there #1 rule during treatment DON'T GET SICK! (and #2 for ladies DON'T GET PREGNANT!). I am hoping to blog my journey this time around. When I was first diagnosed I didn't think of writing or blogging although the ideas were presented to me I didn't find any interest and also pure laziness didn't let me either. I am wanting now to share my story and also keep everyone updated. I feel like my everyday life should be a reality show or drama series with all the chaos and craziness that happens going through this diagnosis again. I'll try to blog at least once a day, I know I have many stories to tell and topics to touch base on.