On September 13th 2010 I was diagnosed with Stage IV Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.
I was 28 years old.
Over the course of my treatment I underwent just over 6 months of ABVD chemotherapy (every 2 weeks) and afterward did 3 weeks of radiation therapy. During that time I blogged 5 days a week in order to keep my friends and family updated and did my best to present and honest and thorough account of my experiences.
This blog is an archive of those original posts.
BUT it’s more than that. This new blog is still a work in progress. And it’s actually two blogs in one!
During this next year I will be updating and expanding on those original posts. On the one year anniversary (or there abouts) of each post I will be adding additional comments and thoughts. Basically a “What I said then” and a “What I think now”
Why do this? Well, I don’t know. There are parts of me that think maybe I shouldn’t be dwelling on the past, but then again, it’s REALLY easy for me to compartmentalize the whole experience. Already, now a year later, I look back through these posts and I look at these pictures and I can’t believe it happened. Its almost like it didn’t, like it all happened to another person, and I’m sure in many ways I was another person.
My hope is that this project of reflection will become a part of the healing process, so I do it for me. But I also do it for anyone who, like me, would often plug my fears and anxieties into Google, searching for answers.
If you’re here because you searched for something related to Hodgkins Lymphoma, remember, Hodgkins is one of more curable forms of cancer. Not JUST treatable, but CURABLE. If you came here through searches for other cancers and your prognosis is different… well, just remember that you can’t believe everything you read on the internet.
About Me:
I am an actor living with my wife, dog, and two cats in Seattle. My wife (Christine, or Stine) has many posts throughout the blog as well, mostly on those days that I had chemo =)
Some things about the blog and my diagnosis:
Originally at my first appointment the doctor suspected it was non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and the early posts reflect that. Shortly thereafter the lymph-node biopsy returned a diagnosis of Hodgkin’s.
You’ll also note that it was originally thought that I was Stage II (with multiple tumors, above the diaphragm). But after my chemo treatments were complete, the Radiation Oncologist noted that there were many more areas of concern that he could see when comparing my original PT Scan with my “clean” PT Scan which was done after chemo. They were areas of early tumor growth that weren’t apparent in the “before” tests, but became apparent when you compared them to my “after” tests. It was his opinion that I had true Stage IV disease.
Enjoy