David "The Daring Little David" Puskás (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
megazero_to_superhero) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
animus_ooc2013-10-27 04:25 pm
megazero_to_superhero) wrote in animus_ooc2013-10-27 04:25 pm
Status update
Hey everyone,
Last month I posted an announcement about serious health issues complicating my participation here at Tower of Animus and in real life. I've got an update on that; it's the major reason why I suddenly stopped tagging in recent weeks, as I've had much to deal with:
I've been diagnosed with "classic nodular sclerosis" Hodgkin's Lymphoma, Stage II.
The good news is, this type of cancer is highly curable; there's something like an 80% cure rate overall. The bad news is, if the tumors resist treatment that puts me in the unlucky 20% category whose chances of survival go way down. There are salvage treatment options, and there was in recent years a new targeted therapy drug approved for people with resistant tumors, but none of these options provide the same chances of survival as initial treatment does, sadly. But perhaps if I am one of the Unlucky 20% I may yet survive long enough for medical research to provide more treatment options.
This month, I've had a bone marrow biopsy done on me, a PICC line catheter installed that goes into a vein in my arm and all the way up to my heart, and a battery of other tests. Treatment for my cancer begins tomorrow; I'll be getting six months of chemotherapy with a four-drug cocktail known as ABVD. I was disappointed that radiotherapy isn't an option for my current state; even MD Anderson, when I consulted them, said that chemo is usually given before radiotherapy when it comes to lymphomas.
Some more potential bad news, though: there's a wide range of side effects caused by chemotherapy, and no two patients develop the same problems or to the same severity. Some of these side effects can last for months or years after treatment and even be permanent; especially in the case of toxicity to the lungs and heart, nerve damage to the hands and feet, and brain damage (what's been commonly termed "chemo brain"). Many types of chemotherapy (including ABVD) cause chemo brain, which specifically impacts a patient's cognitive functions; many report difficulty in multitasking, concentrating, comprehending what they've just read, and retrieving words.
Hopefully that doesn't happen to me, but there's no telling what side effects will happen, how bad they'll get, how long they'll last, or if the treatment will even be successful until chemo starts. I'll be doing what I can to keep my brains intact, hopefully, since I've still got a full load of college this semester to worry about. My medical insurance is through the university and is dependent on my active status as a student, as is some of the financial assistance I'm receiving ... so, it looks like I'll be in for a rough ride for the rest of Animus' run, regardless.
I'm going to try and keep active here the best I can; I anticipate taking a much lighter course load for the next semester so I won't be overwhelmed while dealing with this, and it should give more freedom to tag here depending on how well I ride this out. So ... bear with me, guys. I still want to be here, and I'm going to tag whenever I can ... but there'll likely be more periods where I go silent for a week or two before I tag back, though, because of the medical and university burdens riding on me right now.
Catch you all later.
Last month I posted an announcement about serious health issues complicating my participation here at Tower of Animus and in real life. I've got an update on that; it's the major reason why I suddenly stopped tagging in recent weeks, as I've had much to deal with:
I've been diagnosed with "classic nodular sclerosis" Hodgkin's Lymphoma, Stage II.
The good news is, this type of cancer is highly curable; there's something like an 80% cure rate overall. The bad news is, if the tumors resist treatment that puts me in the unlucky 20% category whose chances of survival go way down. There are salvage treatment options, and there was in recent years a new targeted therapy drug approved for people with resistant tumors, but none of these options provide the same chances of survival as initial treatment does, sadly. But perhaps if I am one of the Unlucky 20% I may yet survive long enough for medical research to provide more treatment options.
This month, I've had a bone marrow biopsy done on me, a PICC line catheter installed that goes into a vein in my arm and all the way up to my heart, and a battery of other tests. Treatment for my cancer begins tomorrow; I'll be getting six months of chemotherapy with a four-drug cocktail known as ABVD. I was disappointed that radiotherapy isn't an option for my current state; even MD Anderson, when I consulted them, said that chemo is usually given before radiotherapy when it comes to lymphomas.
Some more potential bad news, though: there's a wide range of side effects caused by chemotherapy, and no two patients develop the same problems or to the same severity. Some of these side effects can last for months or years after treatment and even be permanent; especially in the case of toxicity to the lungs and heart, nerve damage to the hands and feet, and brain damage (what's been commonly termed "chemo brain"). Many types of chemotherapy (including ABVD) cause chemo brain, which specifically impacts a patient's cognitive functions; many report difficulty in multitasking, concentrating, comprehending what they've just read, and retrieving words.
Hopefully that doesn't happen to me, but there's no telling what side effects will happen, how bad they'll get, how long they'll last, or if the treatment will even be successful until chemo starts. I'll be doing what I can to keep my brains intact, hopefully, since I've still got a full load of college this semester to worry about. My medical insurance is through the university and is dependent on my active status as a student, as is some of the financial assistance I'm receiving ... so, it looks like I'll be in for a rough ride for the rest of Animus' run, regardless.
I'm going to try and keep active here the best I can; I anticipate taking a much lighter course load for the next semester so I won't be overwhelmed while dealing with this, and it should give more freedom to tag here depending on how well I ride this out. So ... bear with me, guys. I still want to be here, and I'm going to tag whenever I can ... but there'll likely be more periods where I go silent for a week or two before I tag back, though, because of the medical and university burdens riding on me right now.
Catch you all later.
no subject
no subject
Just gotta hope the chemo works ...
no subject
(Pop me a PM anytime if you need anything, if I haven't got AIM on.)
no subject