Good Visit with Dr. R

I saw Dr. R today. He thinks things are looking OK.

I'll be honest -- I was a bit concerned about this appointment. Concerned enough that Isabel and I talked this week about my maybe needing to start treatment soon, and tried to prepare ourselves for that possibility. That possibility is always there, of course, but (as Dr. R pointed out today), I tend to be pretty accurate with how I think I'm doing, and this was really the first time thast I had doubts.

There were two reasons I was feeling less confident about this appointment. First, Dr. R had me come in for this appointment after only a month. I had been on a 2-3 month schedule with him, but the last scan had him "surprised," to use his word, because of the growth of the node cluster near my hip. The scan hadn't shown anything else growing, just that one area, but it was enough to want to see me in a month, and he talked about the possibility that I'd need another scan in another month from now. The last visit with Dr. R was strange. I downplayed all of this in the blog entry, but it was all just unlike other visits. It was pushed back 30 minutes, because Dr. R was at the hospital. He wasn't as upbeat as usual. He didn't do a physical exam, and didn't order blood work. I suspected he had had a rough time at the hospital. He just seemed off that day. So all of that kind of stressed me out and had me expecting the worst.

What added to it all was the ear problem I've been having. I'm still getting odd popping in my ears, and some slight dizziness. Dr. R asks at most visits if I've been feeling dizzy, so I suspected that was maybe related to the lymphoma somehow. But it's not on any list of symptoms I've ever seen, so I didn't know what to think, but, given that it came on the heels of the "surprising" scan, I was worried. Dr. R and I talked a lot about the dizziness today. The bottom line is, he thinks it's unrelated to the lymphoma. Another patient was complaining about something similar last week, so he thinks it's just an odd virus going around. If it gets worse, I'm supposed to let him know, but he thinks it's nothing to worry too much about.

So, overall, he thinks things are looking good. The blood work was "rock solid," the physical exam was fine, and he's less owrried about things, so he wants to see me in 6-8 weeks. I asked about another scan, and he said he didn't see the need for one immediately. Maybe we'll talk about it in 6 weeks.

It was good to prepare myself this week for the possibility that things might get worse, and that possibility is always there, I know. Things might get worse in the next 6 weeks for all I know. But for now, I'll take the good news and go with it.