So it has been a while since I updated this blog. Life back home in Hawaii has been great! I am enjoying being back in the sunshine with my family and friends. The waves on the South Shore are finally starting to pick up so after work surf sessions are becoming more regular!So why I am back on here??? To be quite honest I never really intended to update this thing ever again, it was more of a tool for me to vent my frustrations and feelings while I went through treatment rather than a blog of my life. Which leads me to some unfortunate news. In May I went up to Arizona for a routine check up and scan, while there they discovered that one of my lymph nodes under my left armpit was swollen so a biopsy was done. Unfortunately the biopsy came back as reccurrent Hodgkins Disease. After talking it over with Dr. Reeder in Arizona it was determined that radation treatment could be done here in Hawaii as it was basic enough that the Mayo Clinic didn't feel I needed to have it done there.
So, last week I went in for my initial meeting with Dr. Pang (my radialogist here in Hawaii) and they ran some scans on me so that they could calibrate the exact area that they were going to treat. Apparently those scans are now showing a significant size increase in the lymph nodes since my sans in Arizona last month. The lympnode has gone from one 2 millimeter node to four nodes that are totaling almost 5 millimeters. What this means is that the cancer is getting bigger but thankfully it is still localized to under the left armpit. They also discovered that they have already radiated the area that I am having treated so they may have to cut the radiation short and begin chemotherapy at some point. The reason for this is because too much radiation to one area can cause nerve damage which could lead to paralysis. At this point I am going to just continue with the treatment schedule as is but there could be changes in the schedule once they review all the scans and look at progress of the current treatment cycle.
Thanks for the continued support and don't worry I will be fine!
(The picture above is of my friends Michelle and Leimomi punching me out just like I am going to do to this cancer!!!)
4 comments:
You get 'em Alika! I heard from Aaron about the lump and I am so glad you started posting again. I think about you and that darn cancer often and it helps to know how you are doing. I'm glad you are still believing and enjoying life! As always, let me know if there is anything you need, specific prayers, whatever. I am praying for you anyway:) Chelsea
Dear Alika, this is Chelsea's Mom!(Aaron's mother-in-law). I'm so sorry you have to go through more battle! However,I'm glad you are letting us know so we can battle with you in prayer! Count on it!!!!!Love, Marsha
Alika, it's been awhile, but not long enough & hopefully shorter that you are back on this blog. I just about deleted it...as we gotta delete this disease. We're happy that you're home, not happy about the news, but if there is a silver lining...at least you're home doing treatments & hoping to keep it that way. We'll be checking up on your progress & are so proud of you.
Geps
Alika,
Just checking in to see how the treatments are going? Hope to hear from you soon. Also wanted to thank you for teaching emma the buffalo chicken sandwich dance. She's been practicing. :)
God Bless
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