Diagnosis

Just before Thanksgiving in 2016, I found the dreaded lump in my breast. I immediately got it checked out, and I had a lumpectomy, lymph biopsy followed by a month of radiation. I beat it in two months. I thought I was a badass bitch. My energy returned, but then a few months later I started feeling lousy. I had vague symptoms, exhaustion, achy joints, difficulty getting out of bed in the morning, and was getting lots of small infections. I thought I might have Lupus. My blood tests looked normal.

In February 2018 I had to get a root canal. A gland in my neck was swollen, and I thought it was related to my infected tooth. I was put on antibiotics by my dentist which did nothing. I made an appointment for my root canal, and in that week the lump in my neck continued to swell. My oral surgeon was alarmed and convinced it was not related to my infected tooth. Because of my breast cancer diagnosis, he advised I get it checked out. That began a frustrating month of many tests and waiting. In the meantime, the growth in my neck was expanding very rapidly. I thought this could not be cancer; nothing grows this fast. I had an enormous goiter like bulge on my neck. of course I was obsessively googling, and before I got my official diagnosis, I had determined I had Lymphoma. I was right, but what I did not anticipate was getting a diagnosis of an extremely rare and aggressive form of Lymphoma called Peripheral T cell Lymphoma. Additional tests showed that in a few short months the disease had spread all over my body through my lymph system. I had an advanced stage. I was eager to start treatment and start fighting back. The party this disease was having was over. Time to clean up the beer cans and ashtrays and get the hell out!