Mike's diagnosis

Never in my wildest dreams did I think my little blog would become a medical blog.  But here we go again.

Mike's medical history includes Parkinson's and congestive heart failure (CHF).  He occasionally has fluid build up around his lungs, making him take short breaths and feeling like he's not getting enough air (even though his oxygen level is not in danger).

The evening of January 23 he asked me to take him to the emergency room.  Tests showed he is suddenly very anemic. For example, one of the measures is hemoglobin, where the normal range is about 12 to 17.  He had been at 12 for a long time, including a blood test just three months prior.  Now he was 9. 

Jan 29: Follow up with our doctor, Mike referred to special testing (scopes, fun). 
Feb 10: specialist consultation.
Feb 20: colonoscopy, endoscopy (with biopsy of stomach)
Feb 24: biopsy result, lymphoma 
Feb 26: CT scan; and we got a report his hemoglobin is down to 8.
March 4: oncology doctor consult 

[A blip in this story: I had been summoned to report for federal jury duty March 2. Ask me some other time how it went.]

Mike's daughter Dianne joined us for the oncology consult. The doctor rattled off pretty much this statement, "So you are Michael Ramsby.  You have diffuse large B-cell gastric lymphoma.  The good thing about large B cells is that they respond very rapidly to treatment. I am going to admit you and start chemotherapy tomorrow.  We still need to does some diagnostics, including echocardiogram and bone marrow aspiration, but we are going to start hydrating you in preparation for treatment. I have a girl looking for a room right now.  Any questions?"

Mik asked, "So I will be admitted tomorrow?"

No, honey, now.

The doctor left the room, and we were very quiet.  I felt like a dump truck had just come in. Dianne said she felt like she had been in a drive-by shooting.