Having no relief from my internist's prescribed medication per my previous post, I arranged a visit to an Orthopedist at Hospital of Special Surgery (HSS) in New York City.
This appointment took place on Monday 1/7/19 with Dr. Ryan Lingor of HSS. Upon hearing of my back and chest pain, Dr. Lingor quickly recognized my pain to be radiating from a pinched and/or herniated disc in my spine. He ordered a full-spine MRI at HSS the very next day.
On Tuesday 1/8/19 my MRI was performed. Upon leaving the MRI room, the image technician asked a quick question to the effect of "Did you recently suffer an injury to your back?", to which I replied "no".
On Wednesday 1/9/19 around noon, Dr. Lingor called me and asked if I had a few minutes to talk. He went on to explain that my MRI revealed a tumor on my spine, and that he was referring me directly to spine oncologist Dr. Max Vaynrub at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. (My first "WTF" moment!) In a bit of a daze I finished my work day (I had a meeting to run only minutes later!).
On Thursday 1/17/19, I attended appointment with Dr. Vaynrub, who advised that per his review of my MRI and an X-ray that I actually had tumors on 3 of my vertebrae, and recommended that I be admitted to MSK hospital immediately for further diagnosis (My second "WTF!" moment). He advised this hospital visit may last up to 2 weeks. I had expected to go straight to work from the appointment on 1/17, so I had to make a sudden call to my boss to advise of the dramatic change in my schedule!
I was admitted on 1/17 as planned, and began to undergo scanning immediately. The first day included a CT scan, more X-rays, and a PET scan later in the day.
On Friday 1/18 I woke up around 7am to a room of several doctors and other staff, who advised me that the PET scan revealed tumors in my neck and groin as well (my third and final "WTF!" moment). Preliminary diagnoses were pointing towards Lymphoma, but I needed to have more scans performed, and a needle biopsy of my groin tumor later in the day.
On Saturday 1/19 I work up around 7am again to a room full of doctors and staff, who advised me that my biopsy revealed a diagnosis of Hodgkin Lymphoma (HL). This was relatively positive and "relieving" diagnosis, as HL is a highly treatable form of cancer with a very high rate of survival, in fact one of the highest of all cancers.
My diagnosis was considered Stage 4, as follows:
Stage 1: Cancer found in one area of lymph nodes.
Stage 2: Cancer found in more than one area of lymph nodes, both areas being Above, or Below, the Diaphragm.
Stage 3: Cancer found in more than one area of lymph notes, affecting lymph nodes BOTH above AND below the Diaphragm.
Stage 4: Cancer metastasized from lymph system into another organ. - MY DIAGNOSIS (in my case, the vertebrae were the "other organ").
I was told treatment would be 6 cycles of "ABVD" chemotherapy (12 treatments bi-weekly over 6 months), scheduled to begin the following Thursday 1/24.
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