Setback?

Paid a visit to the Onc today as a follow-up to last weeks CT scan. Laurie had an appointment this morning and the plan was to meet me there. When she took off in the truck, she noticed that it didn't feel right. Her return to the barn revealed a complete flat. Trusty Nick agreed to change the tire and make sure the spare had enough air but this put me 20 minutes behind schedule. I was doing a lot of active meditation on the drive downtown as I know how late patients can wreak havoc on an office.
Checked in, started filling out the "wellness" form, gave my blood sample and completed the form only to have my name called right away; less than 5 minutes. Weighed in, BP was 132/82 and temp was normal.
The Onc entered the room and asked how I was feeling and said there was some enlargement in the mesenteric lymph system around my intestines but that the enlargement was not cause for alarm. This was a change from my last scan so we will need to schedule another scan in 2 mos for a comparison.
Needless to say, I was a bit bummed as this 2 year appointment marks a crucial milepost in the success of the treatment.
I have been worried about all the CT scans as I cannot imagine that the excessive radiation exposure is good for anybody but the other side of the coin is uncertainty. My intuition tells me that catching this sooner than later is a better strategy. We can deal with the radiation issues later...it didn't work out so bad for Spiderman.
So...here's hoping that 8 weeks from now we discover this was a normal fluctuation and the enlargement was just a temporary reaction to some other invasion.
Knock knock.

We meet again old friend

Yesterday I had a CT Scan that will mark the two year anniversary of my chemotherapy treatment for NHL. I will meet with the Onc in a week to hear the results.

I was hoping to include a picture here of the scanner but my cell camera apparently didn't get the message to "take" the picture. Maybe, just maybe, I'll never see that machine again.

I spoke to our local holistic doc and asked about the effects of all these CT scans on my system. He suggested that I take a supplement called "Methyl-B" which essentially consists of three folates that purportedly rebuild DNA that is broken down during the scanning process. So I've now added that to a list of daily vitamins I now take:

• Methyl-B - 800mcg
• CoQ10 - 100mg
• Magnesium - 400 mg (vivid dreams on this stuff)
• D3 - 6000 iu (until the sun is more plentiful)
• Omega 3 Fish Oil - 3000 mg
• Centrum

Still eating Primally and the rest of the family has jumped on board with crazy results. Sage is the lone hold-out but when I cook steaks and spaghetti squash, he eats it...he is getting benefits without fully embracing the theory. Summer, Sage and Laurie are all more consistently physically active with lacrosse, track and riding respectively but I am still churning out body weight activities between calls and my weight has really evened out after losing over 50lbs.

My total cholesterol numbers in my bloodwork is still a challenge based on conventional wisdom due to my eating habits but my ratios are quite good. Make sure you do proper research on your numbers before agreeing to take statins. Total calculated cholesterol will be the next sham.

All in all, I feel great and warmer weather is more than welcome.