Friday, March 8, 2013

My Mantle Cell Lymphoma is Back

3/8/13 – After a few days of recovering from my Thoracoscopy - Video Assisted Thoracic Surgery (VATS), a fancy way of saying "my biopsy", I am still a little sore but it really isn't bad at all. With a snow storm that had dropped about a foot of snow on us I decided, maybe not all that wisely, to go out with the snow blower. I honesty do try my best to be a good patient and not drive my poor wife crazy with worry but there is something very cool about walking behind a big loud machine that throws snow into the next county. Maybe I watch a few to many episodes of “Home Improvement”.  After the driveway was clear I  was able to log into work and get a few things done that were piling up at the office. 

Here I thought my day would pass uneventful, boy was I wrong. 

Later in the afternoon I received a call from Hackensack University Medical Center that I quickly answered. It was Dr. Marks. She let me know that the pathology was consistent with what I had last time. In other words, my Mantle Cell Lymphoma is back. This didn't surprise me in the least. I am pretty sure that I had already come to that conclusion on my own. A few minutes after I hung up from Dr. Marks I received a call from the John Theurer Cancer Center. They wanted to know if I could move my appointment to Tuesday. The reason for this was that Dr. Goy is not available on Monday and he really wants to meet with me. I of course said yes.  This appointment will be on Tuesday, March 12 at 10:00AM.

So, I am officially beginning a new adventure with Mantle Cell Lymphoma. I am sure I will be inundated with much information over the next week. All I know is that I am up for this challenge. I am not bitter, nor am I angry, nor am I mad at God. I am going to take this on with grace, with a positive attitude, strong faith, and with the support of my many good friends and family.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.  
James 1:2-4

My next update will be Tuesday, March 12th

More to come…
http://mantlecell.blogspot.com/
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4 comments:

Alan said...

Rich, sorry to hear the news, however chin up - this illness has many ways of being dealt with. I don't know if you use Facebook, however there is a private MCL group which is useful. If you are interested in joining let me know and I will try and get it sorted. Good luck for Tuesday - I also have my check up 09:30 Tuesday, Brisbane time!!

March 9, 2013 at 8:44 AM
Rich Franco said...

Hey Alan,

Thank you. I will most certainly keep my chin up. And, sure, I would love to connect with a MCL Facebook group. I am sure there is plenty we could offer each other. I am by no means a Facebook expert but I think I sent you a friend request. Hopefully I found the right Alan from down under.
If you need anything else, please let me know.
Best of luck with your scans on Tuesday. I am sure you will do just great.

Thanks again and be well,
Rich

March 9, 2013 at 11:15 AM
Alan said...

I've added you to the group, this has to be approved (a formality). I find the group useful and sometimes frustrating. Use it as it suits you. There are files which discuss the latest treatments / trials etc and some very knowledgeable people. The group is "Our MCL family" - you should get some notification. NO scan for me this week, my Onc. keeps scans to a minimum - his comment was "the trick is to avoid giving you luekaemia" - I whole heartedly agree! Good luck next week, you are in good hands.

March 9, 2013 at 6:39 PM
Rich Franco said...

Alan,

Thanks again.

Rich

March 10, 2013 at 10:13 AM

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