On the trail of Lymphoma– (Early October, 2019)

This space has been redesignated.   I originally thought I would use it for putting down some thoughts on the state of higher education – as an addition to my consulting practice.  And some of that may still be present in my personal website.  But things have taken a turn.    In the late Spring, after we returned from San Miguel de Allende, I began to go through a series of tests for Anemia.  In the space of a couple of months – I was poked and prodded by a couple of different kinds of physicians.   I had so many blood tests that at one point in July my right vein looked like I was a heroin addict.   In addition, I had a Catscan, 2 Petscans, a Colonoscopy and Endoscopy, a MUGGA and an ultrasound and even a lymph biopsy.

My symptoms are pretty simple – I fatigue easily and doing all sorts of simple tasks is more complex than it was a year ago.

All came to the conclusion that I had developed some form of Lymphoma (there are lots of types).   At the end of September I got an infusion port installed in the anticipation that I would begin chemo-therapy.  Also at the end of September I went to the Stanford Lymphoma Clinic for an evaluation by their world class specialists.   My two days at Stanford were amazing.  The two doctors I met with and the other members of the care team were excellent.

The definition of what type of lymphoma I have influences the type of treatment I will get.  Both the Sacramento and Stanford team came down to two variations – R-CHOP (which is made up of a monoclonal antibody -Rituximab (Rituxan), three other chemicals (cyclophosphamide,doxorubicin hydrochloride and vincristine (Oncovin, Vincasar PFS) plus a steroid – prednisolone) and RB (Rituximab, Bendamustine) which is considered to be a bit more gentle.

The second Pet Scan I had at the end of September confirmed that I was a better candidate for R-CHOP.   In the next few days I will begin to get infusions – which at this point are supposed to be six sessions (one every three weeks).  At the end of the first couple of rounds they will do a recheck to see if the medicine is helping to regress my symptoms.

One of the things I am enormously grateful for at this point is a large and diffuse support network in the US and in Mexico.  It is truly gratifying to hear support from a wide range of friends and associates.   Last week, after Stanford, our daughter compiled notes and sent it to a list of more than 50 people.  I am wary of overwhelming those friends with details.   So I thought it would be a good idea to set up this URL in my site and then simply send it to all the people on the list – if you want to follow my progress – I will try to post a couple of times a week – so simply bookmark the URL and check in.   Comments are always welcome.

One other comment – one thing a disease like this offers you is a better understanding of gratitude.   My sister Nancy recently presented me with a Waterford container with a series of thoughts and prayers which she had collected from many of the friends I know.  Each was transcribed on origami paper.  I keep it near me in my office at home.