Its the day I ve been chasing, the 1st meeting with the Specialist, Dr XYZ came highly recommended by everyone I know, so I'm feeling good about seeing him, turns out he is the Head Of Department at SCGH Haematology Care Centre, my appointment is 9:15am,
Its 6:30am, I would be lying if I said I wasn't disconcerted, by disconcerted I mean frightened of what is coming, unsure of how to process the information and a whole bunch of other stuff. The good news is Jacqui is coming with me so we will go together, she will listen and hear things I wont, she will do what she does best, see through to the heart of the matter and hopefully she will get some comfort also.
We get ourselves organised which includes getting Emma ready for school, the earliest we can drop her off is just after 8am so we will need to hustle to get to SCGH by 9:15, I hate being late and we are always late and Im regularly the reason we are late - Juxtapositions. We drop Emma off and drop into the Muzz Buzz grab a coffee and hit the traffic, there is no quick way of getting through the city this time of day. We arrive at SCGH at exactly 9:15 still looking for a car park its a disaster there with all the works going on. Long story short we find a good car park and find the clinic and I present myself a bit late as usual. I have to fill out some forms and wait a while for my turn, as I do this I look around the waiting room and see a number people in varying states of health, most of the men bald and most of the women either wearing wigs or scarfs, their overriding appearance is exhausted. I think to myself, what will I look like in a month or two?
Forms are filled in, mindless banter with Jacqui well under way and then my name is called, I jump up take a look at the man I'm about to trust my life with. I shake his hand say "G'Day I'm John, this is Jacqui", Dr XYZ returns the handshake firmly, smiles and says Hi I'm Dr Gavin XYZ. I take a look at Dr Gavin XYZ, he looks almost ordinary, like any average bloke, there was no cape, no Lycra Suit no, cool mask, just a thin mid 40's well dressed man who is graying.
Perfect, hes exactly what I want, hes calm, confident, quietly spoken, yep I like him.
"Well Gavin, its OK if I call you Gavin? What happens now?"
My new best mate Gavin agreed to let me call him Gavin (not that he had a choice), led us into his rooms and began to lay it all out for me.
"Well John, its alright if I call you John? You have Suspected Hodgkins Lymphoma"
OK he didn't say that, you got to admit though, that would have been funny, if he'd said that, good thing is I wanted the best Haematologist in town not the best comedian. So this is how the conversation really went.
"John through the work of your doctor you have a diagnosis of Suspected Hodgkins Lymphoma, your GP had a number of very important tests done which have given us information that points us strongly to Hodgkins, from here we need to do more tests to fully investigate the histology of what you have, once we know that we will set our treatment plan". "Gavin, what do you mean suspected, I thought it was confirmed, I thought I was here because I had Cancer".
Lets be honest this is not how I expected this conversation to go, I was all wired into having Cancer, I was prepared for all that was going to entail, I was ready to start treatment TODAY and now this guys putting doubt back in my mind. Gavin could see I was looking confused and worried so he cleared it all up.
"Fundamentally your GP has covered all the basics, we know you have all the elements of Hodgkins Lymphoma, you had a chest X-Ray where a large mass was found, as a result of that you had a neck and chest CT Scan which clearly showed significant masses in the lymph nodes in your chest and neck. Your GP then ordered a Fine Needle Aspiration which showed your Lymph contained cells that are suspected to be Hodkins Lymphoma and finally you had a lower Abdominal CT Scan which shows no visible signs of lumps below your diaphragm. We now need to do a number of further test to fully confirm the initial diagnosis and to go through a process called staging. The secret to the success in fighting Hodgkins Lymphoma is this process, the more precise we do this next phase the better your chances of a cure, because of this process we are achieving a better than 90% cure rate so you will need to be patient and go through the process however long it takes, are you OK with that?"
"Gavin lets do that it sounds sensible"
"Good John, then we need to do 3 more tests"
- A Lymphectomy to remove a Lymph Node from your neck, this Node will be fully dissected to confirm Hodgkins and assess progress
- A PET Scan, which is a sophisticated scan like a CT Scan that will discover any cancerous cells in your body, this is required to establish exactly where in your body the cancer is active.
- A Bone Marrow Biopsy, we need to eliminate the possibility that the cancer is in your Bone Marrow.
Q. How long will these further tests take?
A. I would think 2 to 3 weeks
Q. WIll I need surgery?
A. Yes for the Lymph Node removal.
Q. Whats involved with the Bone Marrow Biopsy
A. We take a sample of your Bone Marrow usually from your hip and also a sample of the bone from the same site, this is done with quite a large needle.
Q. Will it be painful?
A. I wont lie to you John, its not a pleasant procedure however we are very good at it and will minimize the discomfort as much as we can, whats important to remember is its a very important step
Q. What will the treatment plan be?
A. Well if you present as an early stage, it is likely we will do Chemotherapy followed by Radiation Therapy
Q. Chemo? How long will that take?
A. The treatment will last for four months after which we will probably do the Radiation Therapy ?
Q. Probably Radiation Therapy?
A. Yes we will consult with the radiologists once your testing is complete to discuss your treatment, it is possible, however unlikely, that they may choose another path.
Q. Will I be able to continue working?
A. The therapy will be fortnightly, you will be able to function in your work however you will find there will be times when you wont be able to cope, I would suggest you take each session as it comes.
Q. Fortnightly?
A. Once a fortnight you will be administered a Chemotherapy treatment we call ABVD, it takes 7 days for the therapy to process in your body and we give you 7 days to recover so we can begin treatment again, it is likely there will be at least 8 sessions hence the 4 months.
Q. What are the side affects, will I loose my hair?
A. There is a significant number of side effects you can expect, Nausea, Extreme Lethargy, Hair Loss just to name a few, we will give you lots of information about what will happen and what you should expect.
Q. Right lets get to it then, whats next?
A. Ill write up instructions for the tests required and have the bookings made on your behalf, I have made a booking for you to come back to see me on the 30th May, we should have all the results back by then and we can move forward, do you have any further questions?
Q. 30th May, bloody hell that's 3 weeks away?
A. John trust me we need to take these steps and we need to do it thoroughly, now is not the time to rush.
So that was that, Gavin sees us out we make our way to reception, a lovely young man takes my information, he makes an appointment for me immediately for the PET Scan on Friday 11th May and for the Bone Marrow on Friday 18th May. He informs me he will pass the details on to the Surgeon who will do the Lymph procedure and that the surgeons rooms will contact me with a date and time.
Its now 11.30 and I've had my first appointment, I'm a bit closer to knowing whats going to happen next, the Crazy Bastard is reasonably in check because it has dates and times to cling to which only leaves one thing left to do, get some lunch and go to work.
