Count your blessings
In October 2009 my boyfriend of two years was experiencing pain in his right knee. I noticed him limping and his face filled with pain as he struggled to walk or get out of bed. Stubborn and refusing to let me drive him to the doctor he pretended that everything was fine and that his knee would be ok in a few days. On Halloween night we walked around our neighborhood and took our kids trick or treating. The limping was getting worse until he finally admitted that he could no longer walk because of the pain, so we went home. I tried to get him to the hospital that night, but because he didn’t want to ruin Halloween for the kids he agreed to let me take him to the emergency room the next morning.
The next day we arrived to Northwest hospital where a doctor told us that because of the swelling it looked as if he had fluid in his knee. So he came in with a very large needle and attempted to draw fluid. But there was nothing. He prescribed my boyfriend antibiotics and told him to schedule a follow up in a couple of weeks with his primary care physician. As days went on we still did not see any improvement. The swelling was still visible and he was still in a lot of pain. Of course my boyfriend refused to go back to the doctor, I think out of fear of what it could be. But the day before Thanksgiving he woke up and could not even get out of bed. I finally convinced him that I had enough watching him in so much pain. He would literally have to pick up his leg with his hands to move it. I drove him back to the emergency room where we waited for hours for the results of all the testing that was being done. While we waited we talked about our Thanksgiving dinner, and what we were going to cook.
I will never forget the way the doctor came in to tell us the news -- it was as if we were in a scary movie. The doctor walks in as casual as can be, he looks at us as says, “You have cancer, and we may have to amputate your leg.” It was so cold, as if he was telling him he had a cold. My boyfriend was only 26 at the time with no history of cancer in his family. We sat there in shock and disbelief trying to grasp the news. I called my boyfriend’s mother to give her the news, she was about 45 minutes away but it seemed as she got there within 10 minutes. Time was still, as we sat and waited for answers. Luckily the doctor that had given us the news so unsympathetically was off-shift. The next doctor that came in was actually compassionate, and he explained that he would have to send my boyfriend in an ambulance to the Good Banner Samaritan Hospital in Phoenix and that he had to leave that night. So we prepared for the trip, and my boyfriend’s mother, brother and I followed the ambulance to Phoenix where all four of us would call home for the next 7 days.
A biopsy was done, and my boyfriend was diagnosed with Diffused Large B-Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL). Lymphoma is a cancer of lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell. Lymphocytes circulate in the body through a network referred to as lymphatic system, which included the bone marrow, spleen, thymus, and lymph nodes. The organs and vessels of the lymphatic system work together to produce and store cells that fight infection.
There are two types of lymphoma:
Non-Hodkgins lymphoma (NHL) is the most common type of lymphoma. Although there are 50 types of NHL, Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most common type, making up about 30 percent of all lymphomas. In the United States, DLBCL affects about 7 out of 100,000 people each year. It can be fatal if left untreated, but with timely and appropriate treatment approximately 60 percent of all patients can be cured.
After the 7 day stay we came home and he began his chemotherapy treatments. It broke my heart to see him sick every day. I tried my best to convince him to eat whatever he could even though it didn’t stay down for long. He lost his hair and a lot of weight. I had to learn to give him shots in his stomach to prevent blood clots. It was a long road. Towards the end of the treatments everything seemed to be going well. Chemotherapy was working and the cancer was gone. A conversation about my boyfriend and I one day having children came up with his cancer doctor. The doctor looked at us and said, “I had no idea you two were thinking of having more children, there’s a strong possibility that because of the chemotherapy treatments it’s not going to happen.” My boyfriend was filled with tears; he had a daughter and I had children of my own from a previous relationship, but we had considered having one together some day. The doctor advised us not to attempt to get pregnant for at least a year due to the chemo in his body and even advised us not to get our hopes up.
We were thankful that the cancer was gone and decided that we would continue to enjoy life and the kids we had. In June 2011, I started feeling sick, I went in for a checkup and found out I was pregnant. February 2012 I gave birth to a health 8lb baby girl. It was one of the greatest blessings after this whole ordeal, and to this day my boyfriend is still cancer free.
The next day we arrived to Northwest hospital where a doctor told us that because of the swelling it looked as if he had fluid in his knee. So he came in with a very large needle and attempted to draw fluid. But there was nothing. He prescribed my boyfriend antibiotics and told him to schedule a follow up in a couple of weeks with his primary care physician. As days went on we still did not see any improvement. The swelling was still visible and he was still in a lot of pain. Of course my boyfriend refused to go back to the doctor, I think out of fear of what it could be. But the day before Thanksgiving he woke up and could not even get out of bed. I finally convinced him that I had enough watching him in so much pain. He would literally have to pick up his leg with his hands to move it. I drove him back to the emergency room where we waited for hours for the results of all the testing that was being done. While we waited we talked about our Thanksgiving dinner, and what we were going to cook.
I will never forget the way the doctor came in to tell us the news -- it was as if we were in a scary movie. The doctor walks in as casual as can be, he looks at us as says, “You have cancer, and we may have to amputate your leg.” It was so cold, as if he was telling him he had a cold. My boyfriend was only 26 at the time with no history of cancer in his family. We sat there in shock and disbelief trying to grasp the news. I called my boyfriend’s mother to give her the news, she was about 45 minutes away but it seemed as she got there within 10 minutes. Time was still, as we sat and waited for answers. Luckily the doctor that had given us the news so unsympathetically was off-shift. The next doctor that came in was actually compassionate, and he explained that he would have to send my boyfriend in an ambulance to the Good Banner Samaritan Hospital in Phoenix and that he had to leave that night. So we prepared for the trip, and my boyfriend’s mother, brother and I followed the ambulance to Phoenix where all four of us would call home for the next 7 days.
A biopsy was done, and my boyfriend was diagnosed with Diffused Large B-Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL). Lymphoma is a cancer of lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell. Lymphocytes circulate in the body through a network referred to as lymphatic system, which included the bone marrow, spleen, thymus, and lymph nodes. The organs and vessels of the lymphatic system work together to produce and store cells that fight infection.
There are two types of lymphoma:
- Hodgkins lymphoma (HL)
- Non-Hodgkins lymphoma (NHL)
Non-Hodkgins lymphoma (NHL) is the most common type of lymphoma. Although there are 50 types of NHL, Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most common type, making up about 30 percent of all lymphomas. In the United States, DLBCL affects about 7 out of 100,000 people each year. It can be fatal if left untreated, but with timely and appropriate treatment approximately 60 percent of all patients can be cured.
After the 7 day stay we came home and he began his chemotherapy treatments. It broke my heart to see him sick every day. I tried my best to convince him to eat whatever he could even though it didn’t stay down for long. He lost his hair and a lot of weight. I had to learn to give him shots in his stomach to prevent blood clots. It was a long road. Towards the end of the treatments everything seemed to be going well. Chemotherapy was working and the cancer was gone. A conversation about my boyfriend and I one day having children came up with his cancer doctor. The doctor looked at us and said, “I had no idea you two were thinking of having more children, there’s a strong possibility that because of the chemotherapy treatments it’s not going to happen.” My boyfriend was filled with tears; he had a daughter and I had children of my own from a previous relationship, but we had considered having one together some day. The doctor advised us not to attempt to get pregnant for at least a year due to the chemo in his body and even advised us not to get our hopes up.
We were thankful that the cancer was gone and decided that we would continue to enjoy life and the kids we had. In June 2011, I started feeling sick, I went in for a checkup and found out I was pregnant. February 2012 I gave birth to a health 8lb baby girl. It was one of the greatest blessings after this whole ordeal, and to this day my boyfriend is still cancer free.