Another rare update! Good news too!

Well folks, things are looking up for me. My last rad treatment was in August and I am damn glad to be done with that crap!

What I didn't mention before were the side effects of my treatment. The radiation to that area of my neck (lower jaw, upper neck area) caused me some sores in my mouth, which made eating certain foods painful. On top of that, a while into the treatments, I lost pretty much all of my sense of taste. (Don't worry, all sense of taste has returned! It took about a month and a half, but I am about 95% back to normal. Dr Pepper and Coke still don't taste 100% right to me, but I am so happy to be able to taste again, I don't care!)

So imagine being clamped to a table with a hard plastic mask for 15 minutes a day for 15 treatments, not being able to taste the food that hurts to eat, and hoping like hell this works!

The good news is, after my last visit to the Dr in September, things seem ok. A physical exam by the oncologist didn't reveal any more swelled lymph nodes. I have another visit coming up Dec 18th. I think I'll ask if they believe another PET scan is needed to look for any more cancer cells. Although since this is a very slow growing type of cancer, it may not be needed. We shall see!

PS thanks for all the encouraging comments, they are appreciated!

Posted by dkarp1 @ 5:26 pm EDT | Permalink | 8 Comments

Not a blogger, am I? Important update, however.

Well, folks, nothing like wating for something important to blog about. I'll get right to the point, but please read all the way through before you get too concerned.

Back in May, my wife noticed a lump under my chin, kind of in the area between the front of the neck and back of the chin. A quick trip to the family doctor told me it was a swollen lymph node. This can be caused by a few things- infection or cancer. Maybe some more, I don't remember any past those two.

The family doctor sent me to a surgeon for evaluation. He was pretty sure it wasn't cancer. He thought it was some sort of long drawn out name, basically an infection in some sort of tube in my neck that caused the lymph nodes there to overreact. So they came out and got sent off for testing, just to make sure it wasn't cancer.

About 3 weeks later, the results did show lymphoma (cancer). Needless to say, we were a bit frightened. I am only 35 yrs old. Somewhat unusual for someone my age.Didn't know what type yet. (didn't find out till later there are less aggressive types of lymphoma).

A referral to an oncologist soon followed, and that is where I found out that I have a non-hodgkins lymphoma. Specifically I have what's called follicular lymphoma, along with another type, called marginal lymphoma. (Also found out that Iowa and /or Nebraska are the 2 leading states for occurance of more than one type of lymphoma.)

After some more testing (bone marrow test (OUCH) cat scan, PET scan, we were releived to find no other cancer in any other part of me. It is confined to 2 small areas in my chin/neck.

TREATMENT

Since this is not an aggressive form of cancer, there is some debate among doctors about what treatment is recommended (if any!) My oncologist said this is a very slow growing type of cancer, I could be fine for years before any symptoms show up. However, my wife and I decided I should  go through with the radiation treatments, to get this nipped now and not have to worry aobut it in the future.

Luckily, my rad treatments are low dosage. About 1/2 the dose used for other types of head/neck cancers. I am currently over halfway through my 15 treatments. And I can't wait to be done! They don't take long, only 15 minutes per treatment at the most. The part that I don't like is the hard plastic mask they have to use to clamp my head to the table. This is to insure I am lined up exactly the same each time and so I can't move during treatment.

I may post pictures of it if I decide to keep it, but I'm not sure about that yet.

This is a general overview of my situation so far, if you want to know anything specific I will do my best to let you know.  I guess to sum it all up, this is not the worst form of cancer to have. I could be a lot worse off, and we were fortunate that a lymp node in a visible area started swelling first-we caught it early.

PS to my clans-this is the main reason I haven't been online much lately...have to get to bed early for the 7:30 AM procedure, and I do get a little fatigued from the treatments.

 

 

Posted by dkarp1 @ 4:33 pm EDT | Permalink | 10 Comments

3 months passed already?

Wow, just checked my blog and noticed it's been about 3 months since my last entry. Having a wife, child, and full time job really occupy my time. And I love it that way.  They are the best things that ever happened to me. Maybe one of these days I'll get some pictures up.

Kid news-our son, now 8 months old, has 2 teeth! Gotta be careful, he likes to use them.  And he doesn't comprehend what causing pain to others means.

Even better-my son loves to play with my 360 controller. Sometimes he'll sit on my lap while I'm playing a game and he "helps" me. So that will be my new excuse as to why I get slaughtered in online play!

Not much else to report-oh yeah Halo 3 is awesome! Even though I seem to have peaked at level 18 in Lone Wolves, I enjoy it way more than H2. WAY more. Bungie has done a great job balancing weapons this time around.

Posted by dkarp1 @ 5:55 pm EDT | Permalink | 0 Comments

Rare update!

Well,  like I wrote in my first entry, we have a baby boy, now 5 months old. So that's one of the reasons I don't update this very often. That, and I don't have too much to say.

Like most of us here, I am eagerly awaiting Halo 3. Although it seems Bungie was unable to add clan functions for some reason. Sounds like lots of finger pointing is going on, kinda like the Epic vs Microsoft friends in ranked matches debacle. Will be interesting to see what happens.

See you next time!

Posted by dkarp1 @ 10:18 am EDT | Permalink | 2 Comments

2old2pwn (and 2old2drive)member!

Looks like I am a member of clan 2old2pwn, I have access to the forum! Seems like a great bunch of people to game with. I expressed interest in the clan's recruitment thread and was invited to join some games on thursday night (clan night) in Halo 2. Needless to say, I had a great time and after some conversations was invited to join.

I look forward to H2 and H3 full version with this group- no worrying about team-killing, screaming, whining, button glitching, superjumping  timmies!

Random thought about the H2 button glitches (bxr, double shot, etc.) If my reflexes were good enough to do them, I wouldn't need them in the first place. Catch 22!

That's all for now.
Dale

Posted by dkarp1 @ 2:05 pm EDT | Permalink | 2 Comments