Overall, October was a good month for Rianne. Her spirits are high and she has been feeling decent for the past two weeks or so. She fought to get over a cold that she caught and fought for 10 days, but lately she has been doing well. Still – it’s day to day and we are aware of that!
2 weeks ago we returned to Coos Bay for a follow-up appointment with the Radiation Oncologist. It went well and he was confident that the radiation was successful. Rianne asked him to look at a new lump that she discovered on her leg. He checked it and told her that it was very likely NOT a new tumor. She wasn’t buying it! Nor should she! Keep in mind that she was told that a lump on her head was “nothing” and worrying would only make it worse……that lump grew into a cancerous tumor and changed her life! She pleaded with the Radiation Oncologist to take a look at it through an MRI or CT Scan. At first he resisted, but when her tears began to flow and her words began to come with difficulty, he agreed to have it looked at.
We left the Radiation Center and went up to Bay Area Hospital to have an ultrasound done on the lump. The technician did all she could to find a mass on the monitor, but nothing showed up. That was good news to hear, as Rianne was stressing about it since it surfaced a month or so ago. When she found it, she was told to use hot compresses on it, which didn’t seem to do much for it at first. Apparently the compresses did work enough to help shrink it enough for it to NOT show up on the ultrasound!
Our next stop was North Bend Medical Center for a blood draw and discussion with Rianne’s oncologist. Her blood was drawn by her favorite nurse, Teresa, who is always gentle with her Port and enjoyable to talk to. After the blood was drawn, we met with Susan, the oncology practicioner, who has been great to work with. Rianne feels very comfortable with her and relates to her well. We’ve been anxious to hear about the results of the CT Scan from earlier this month and Susan went over them with us. It wasn’t exactly what Rianne expected to hear!
The CT Scan found no lymphoma……but it did discover an enlarged spleen with a lesion on it that was stable, some fluid around her heart, a mild hernia in her belly, a small cyst on her right ovary, and mild diverticulosis in her large intestine. The new findings weren’t what she wanted to hear and caused her some immediate concern. Susan, however, assured her that the new symptoms would be watched closely and that she could improve them with proper diet and exercise. We left the meeting with Susan very relieved that no further lymphoma was discovered.
But she isn’t out of the woods yet!
Rianne will still need to go through another PET Scan and Brain MRI. We are especially anxious about the Brain MRI, as it will tell us if the entire tumor beneath her skull has disappeared or not. Both the Oncologist and the Radiation Oncologist feel confident that it is gone, but we won’t rest until all of the tests are final!
It sure has been an exhausting 7 months to say the least. Rianne has been working at Curry County Title lately and has been averaging about 5 or more hours a day. She is exhausted when she’s ready to go home, sleeps well and returns to work another day. Her weekends have been spent resting – which is exactly what she needs!
We hope you are all well. We’re in the season to give thanks – and we are sure thankful for your love, support, friendship and prayers. We hope that you all are healthy and happy during this season!
