Saturday, April 09, 2005
Sherry's new challenge
We've had a dramatic change here in Houston. Sherry was diagnosed with a lymphoma.
Here's how it started.
She was having some trouble with indigestion and feeling "full", so the doctor treated her for GERD. That didn't solve the problem, though, so she had some more tests. In the process, she was alerted to the fact that her blood pressure was very high, and one doctor suggested a sonogram of her kidneys, among other things. That led to a CT scan of the kidney area, looking for a kidney stone, but instead they found a large mass crowding her left kidney. Her right kidney was revealed to be quite small, and with reduced function.
As a safeguard for the functioning kidney (although reduced function because of the crowding) a nephrostomy (external drain) was installed. This led to a very painful infection of the kidney, but that has been resolved with a good antibiotic.
Biopsies, more CT scans, and MRIs have (so far) exposed no additional masses. A biopsy of the mass itself shows that it is a B-cell Lymphoma, composed of large cells and follicular cells.
The plan is for Sherry to undergo chemotherapy known as CHOP-R. I don't remember the chemicals that stands for, except the R (Rituxan) is antibodies to help her body attack the mass itself.
The picture composite below is Sherry trying on different wigs, in anticipation of losing her hair.
I'll attempt to keep this fairly up to date for anyone who wants to follow our adventure.
Here's how it started.
She was having some trouble with indigestion and feeling "full", so the doctor treated her for GERD. That didn't solve the problem, though, so she had some more tests. In the process, she was alerted to the fact that her blood pressure was very high, and one doctor suggested a sonogram of her kidneys, among other things. That led to a CT scan of the kidney area, looking for a kidney stone, but instead they found a large mass crowding her left kidney. Her right kidney was revealed to be quite small, and with reduced function.
As a safeguard for the functioning kidney (although reduced function because of the crowding) a nephrostomy (external drain) was installed. This led to a very painful infection of the kidney, but that has been resolved with a good antibiotic.
Biopsies, more CT scans, and MRIs have (so far) exposed no additional masses. A biopsy of the mass itself shows that it is a B-cell Lymphoma, composed of large cells and follicular cells.
The plan is for Sherry to undergo chemotherapy known as CHOP-R. I don't remember the chemicals that stands for, except the R (Rituxan) is antibodies to help her body attack the mass itself.
The picture composite below is Sherry trying on different wigs, in anticipation of losing her hair.
I'll attempt to keep this fairly up to date for anyone who wants to follow our adventure.
