Thank God It's Lymphoma

Pierre-Marie called me while I was at a Middle School Music Performance and told me that he needs to go to the ER.  He had fluid in his lungs.  That was May 23rd.  That was the "pre" life where words like cancer, transplant, chemo and T Cell didn't exist.  It was a time of school, work, vacation planning and counting down the days to summer.  That was the "pre".

The "post" life came after an ER visit yielded a preliminary diagnosis of lymphoma for Pierre-Marie.  Or rather, we were told,  there were markers for lynphoma.

It was life altering and world changing and Pierre- Marie and I left the hospital reeling from the news that was handed to us in the same way someone might tell us that we need new brakes for the car or our bathroom had mold.  We left the ER knowing that there would have to be more doctor appointments and more waiting and even more fear that our lives had been changed unequivocally.

Today, we are grateful for the fact that we have a lymphoma diagnosis.  To be accurate, P-M was diagnosed with stage 4 T-Cell lymphoma.  Stage 4 lymphoma is curable, possibly.  Stage 4 lymphoma is better than a solid cancer that has reached stage 4.  Stage 4 lymphoma gave us hope.

Always thinking! 

We are back home.  In the week that we spent at the hospital, my guy was poked and prodded, reminded of the importance of community, scared and hopeful.  Days were long and nights felt short with constant interruptions.  We went from a pretty dire situation last Monday to a more hopeful one on Tuesday.  There was a bone marrow biopsy and spinal tap.  He did well with the chemo only vomiting once and he most definitely enjoyed the prednisone.   So much so that I was asking for some just so I could put up with his manic talking....

He looks the same....

As for me, I cried a lot and spent time at the hospital.  For the first time,  I pushed work to the background and apparently, they were fine though I am not sure how I feel about that.  I put on the coat of a new normal realizing that for now our old normal is a thing of the past.

At this point, the cancer has not spread to nor did it originate from the bone marrow.  This is excellent news.  We wait to hear about what the sub type is and if there are cancer cells hiding in his brain stem.  In the meantime, I have him home.  He is a bit of a pain the ass asking for all sorts of things, but I am so glad that he is here bugging me for stuff and even more glad that this is Lymphoma....

After all, everything is relative!!

And we're off!!!