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Location: Nova Scotia, Canada

In Sept./05 I was diagnosed with Primary Mediastinal Large Diffuse B Cell Non Hodgkins Lymphoma. The tumour in my chest measured 10cm x 10.6cm x5cm. After I completed 6 rounds of CHOP-R chemotherapy, a CT Scan in Jan.06 showed that my tumour had decreased by well over half the original size. A Gallium Scan showed negative for cancer cells in my mass. We decided to do 2 more treatments to be sure we killed any remaining cancer. We now had to decide if I should proceed with radiation. Did the risks of radiation outweigh the benefits? My hematologist and radiation oncologist had excellent arguments for both sides of the coin. The decision was to be mine. They set up appointments for me to see doctors in Toronto and Vancouver for 2nd opinions. In Vancouver I had a PET/CT Scan (a superior machine to a Gallium Scan) to see if my tumour was active. On March 17th this scan revealed that my tumour WAS still active and had INCREASED in size from an early scan. This meant that I had Relapsed or Refractory NHL....my best chance for cure was a Stem Cell Transplant. In my blog, I will describe what I am going through before, during and after my transplant.

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

May Long Week-end Part 2

Our long week-end was very enjoyable. Denyse Julien, a good friend of mine from my Calgary days, was in Halifax working on her Level 3 Coaching course for the sport of badminton. She is now living in Montreal working as a Badminton Pro coaching at a club. She is a woman to be admired as she has competed in 3 Olympics, Commonwealth games, many many world competitions for Canada in the sport of Badminton. Most of her life has been dedicated to this sport & she is one of the most disciplined and talented atheletes I know. She is also a great person, loyal friend with a wonderful sense of humor. We visited with her on Friday and Saturday evenings as her course ran all day Friday, Saturday & Sunday. It was wonderful to see her and get caught up with things. Sue, Denyse, Andrea (my very good friend & next door neighbor) & I had a feed of Lobsters on Saturday night.....YUMMY!! Canada lost against Sweden in the Semi's....:(.

My Aunt Judy & Uncle Jim dropped by for a visit on Saturday afternoon. It was nice to see them.

Sue & I also took the dogs, Jasper & Jessie, for a wonderful walk in Point Pleasant Park on Saturday & a walk at Rainbow Haven beach on Sunday. I am trying to walk more to increase my strength & stamina. Sunday night we went up to my parents for a visit & supper....we sat out on their back deck as the wind had died down & the sun was soothing.

On Monday, I had a terrific healing therapuetic touch session in my own home by Jane Moody. She is a great lady & was generous enough to drive in from out of town to see me at home. I felt excellent after my session with her.

After Jane left, we had company pull in our driveway from Alberta. We met Brenda & Gerry in Jamaica in Dec. of 2003 while vacationing. They were vacationing in N.S. for the past week & wanted to see us. We showed them around some of our local beaches, Fisherman's Cove( a fishing village that is also a good place for tourists to visit), and other points of interest in the area. Then we went for supper at Jamieson's Restaurant nearby. We enjoyed our visit with them. They are now off to P.E.I. for a conference.

Looking forward to a good week.

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Great news Angie. We are all thinking about you. Will talk to you when I get home in July.

Pam and Judy

1:47 pm  

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