Wait and see

I've just returned from my appointment with Dr D'Souza. I wasn't expecting to see him, thought it would be Travis again, so I was really pleased when Alwyn entered the room.

He has yet to thoroughly go over my last CT scan with a radiologist but he said that it was reassuring to see the areas in my lungs had resolved to such an extent. He wasn't too concerned about the two 1cm lymph nodes in my upper abdomen, because, as I'd mentioned earlier, they were still of a size that could be attributed to infection etc.

I told him that I was massively improved over how I was feeling two weeks ago. I have gained a couple of kilos, my cough is reducing every day and I feel well, with a lot more energy than I had when I first emailed him with my concerns.
If it weren't for the nightly fever I'd be a lot happier. He's not too worried about that either, saying it could well be linked to whatever is causing the cough and lung problems. He did of course add that it may well be Hodgkins, but that he believes a "wait and see" attitude is the best approach right now in light of my improving health.

Apparently it's not uncommon for HL patients to appear symptomatic post transplant and that not all apparent relapses actually are. So the plan now is to wait, hope that the fevers fade away and no new symptoms develop. I'll have another CT scan in a couple of months and that then will dictate where we go from here.

He did repeat what we had discussed in the past. That if I relapsed now then my options and prognosis were very limited with only palliative care available. However if I stay well for a year or so then there are other treatment options available to me such as an allogeneic transplant (someone else's stem cells).

So this all still fits in with my plans. Close the workshop, work from home and focus on keeping fit and well. Build the new house and live life to the full. Don't compromise in any way to the cancer. If it does come along for the ride, so be it, but I'm hoping it won't be able to keep up and it will be left behind in the dust :-)