Staging is so Tedious
By dorannmwin
@dorannmwin (36392)
United States
May 9, 2011 11:09pm CST
I told everyone recently that my husband had been diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. What I didn't know at that time was a lot of the details of his disease. The vast majority of last week was spent with a lot of diagnostic tests to determine the stage of his disease. He had to have a total of seven tests done that first told us that he had the Hodgkin's Lymphoma and then determined what stage the disease was at and whether the rest of his body was healthy enough to tolerate the chemotherapy that he is going to need for treatment.
After all of that testing, we know know that his is a stage IIB patient. This means that the cancer is in two areas of his body (being his neck and underarm) and that he does show symptoms (mostly night sweats in his case).
With that said, he is going to have a port-a-cath placement either Wednesday or Thursday of this week and he is going to have his first treatment on Friday.
So, besides staging of cancer, have you ever been through anything in your life that is so very tedious? If you have, would you care to share about your experiences?
I posted this in cancer because that was what I had to share, but I would love to hear of any tedious thing that you've been through in your life.
1 person likes this
8 responses
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
10 May 11
Well at least the staging is over with now and he just needs treatments and whatever and can get on with his life.
My mother has end stage renal failure. She learned about it probably 6 years ago. She's been on dialysis ever since. Dialysis is no fun!
For the past few years she's been on what she calls P.D... I'm not sure exactly what type of dialysis it is, but it's the kind she can do herself at home. They ship her bags straight to her and she had a catheder placed in her stomach to hook the bags up to to flush her liquids. She had to do this 4-5 times a day and it took about an hour to do each time. That's pretty tedious.
Well last week she got an infection in her catheter so can no longer do the P.D. Now she must go into the doctor's office every other day to do what she calls Hemo-Dialysis. This must be done every other day in the doctor's office and it takes 4-5 hours each time. This is made worse by the fact that she can't drive due to being legally blind so transportation to and from isn't easy and usually takes at least an extra hour each way. Then she does not feel well when she gets home from this so she spends the rest of the day sleeping.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
16 May 11
If I'm not mistaken, P.D. is peritoneal dialysis. However, I could be mistaken on that, I'm trying to draw memory from when I worked at the hospital. I worked on a med-surg floor, but many of our patients were kidney patients.
You are definitely right that her in-office treatments for dialysis are something that is very tedious. In fact, I really had to take the time to count my blessings over the weekend because we did spend the vast majority of the day Friday at the hospital for his first chemo treatment, but he only has to go once every other week. There were people in there that have to go in once or twice a week and that would really be terrible.
@bounce58 (17380)
• Canada
12 May 11
Sorry to hear about you all going through this difficult time.
I've never had to go through anything like this, and I'm too 'chicken' to get myself checked because I am definitely sure there is something wrong with me...
But anyway, I guess knowing is a big deal. I think it could help you gather your thoughts (and fears) and move on.
Prayers to you and your family.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
17 May 11
Tom knew for a while that there was something wrong with him as well. However, his first doctor thought that he was simply addicted to pain medication. It wasn't until he had to change primary care providers. The initial thought was that he had an autoimmune disorder because of test results that he had that were not normal, but a lymphectomy proved that to be wrong. It was a long road to go down, but honestly the only thing that is different is that we know what is wrong with him and that way we can go through proper treatment.
@cher913 (25781)
• Canada
10 May 11
blessings to you both! i have had severe asthma forever (only as an adult, not a child - it has to do with the city i live in i believe - i grew up in the country and moved to the city when i was a teen due to my dads job transfer) that being said, i get a ton of lung infections and i hate having so many dr appts! that is what is tedious to me.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
17 May 11
It really is all of the doctor's appointments and all of the testing that has to be done before treatment can even begin that was really wearing us out. In one day there was a total of three tests, two tests a week before that and a final test a week later. These tests are really expensive as well, we got the statement from the hospital today for the tests that they did on the second and they billed insurance 14,000 for those three tests.
@dawnald (85137)
• Shingle Springs, California
10 May 11
Best of luck for him, I hope he gets through it well, and gets totally rid of it.
I can't think of anything all that tedious that I've been through. Maybe a long drive...
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
17 May 11
Long drives are definitely something that becomes very tedious. The majority of the drives that I make are no longer than a couple of hours, but there have been times that I've drive further and it really becomes too much for me.
@wongchoiyee (7413)
• Malaysia
10 May 11
I don't know much about cancer. I heard that the radiation treatment is very painful. I hope your hubby get well soon after operation and ongoing treatment. And the tedious thing I been through is getting on off depression for 2 years already rather than all the time at the beginning. Maybe this is the sign of recover? I hope you can get through this finally soon. ~I PRAY FOR YOU AND YOUR FAMILY~
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
17 May 11
I also keep you and your struggle with depression in my thoughts and prayers as well.
I honestly don't want anyone to think that I am looking for sympathy because I'm not. This is, however, unlike anything that I've ever been through before in my life and thus it really is something that I am struggling with. However, I know that my faith will get me and our entire family through.
@cynthiann (18612)
• Jamaica
10 May 11
I think that laying on my back in bed for 7 months when pregnant to avoid a miscarriage was pretty tedious. But as I had had three miscarriages I would have done anything to keep the baby! n a third world country where TV did not come on until 4pm and then it was only children's shows was awful. Also the fact that I was in town because of threatened miscarriage (had to be near hospital) and my husband was living hours away on the farm so he only came in on a Friday to a Monday morning. apart from a few GF's who visited me and I had a housekeeper to came in 5 days a week , there was no one to talk to. I really missed my family in the U.K.
I wish your husband a full recovery and hope that he gets through it all without too much discomfort. Blessings
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
17 May 11
I honestly can say that I couldn't imagine having been in the situation that you were in during that pregnancy. I was lucky with both of my pregnancies that I didn't experience any complications. However, I have been in the position from time to time where I didn't have anyone to talk to and that really does always make things worse than they were to start with.
@soulist (2985)
• United States
25 May 11
The diagnosis itsef was rough for me. it took them a week before they could figure out what was wrong, but they knew almost right away. THe only test they did to find the stage was bone marrow biopsy which I pray I never have to do again. I was stage IIB as well. SO I have words of hope, it is curable, I was cured in about8 months or so. If he eats something before chemo and nibbles during it, he may not get sick, thats what I did and I didn't get sick, but I don't suggest going on an empty stomach.
@much2say (57760)
• Los Angeles, California
28 May 11
Sorry I am chiming into this so late! I hope your husband is doing well with the treatments thus far - I have you and your family in my thoughts!
Let's see - dealing with gestational diabetes when I was pregnant with my son was tedious. Many women end up having to take insulin - simply because diet and exercise alone isn't enough to keep the glucose readings low enough. But I wanted to avoid the whole insulin thing - so I really stuck with a strict diet and exercise regiment - and that was HARD. I can see why it'd actually have been easier to take the insulin and literally just eat what I wanted - hee hee. I had to go through classes, going to see the dietician every 2 weeks and then once a week in the end - not to mention getting monitored weekly. I had to keep a journal of what I ate at every meal and snacks - on top of what my glucose readings were (pricking my finger 4 times a day). So the second pregnancy seemed more like a chore (I wish it felt more "romantic" like the first one) - and I'm so glad those days are over and that baby son is out and healthy!!
