First visit to Oncologist....AND THE WORST PAIN OF MY LIFE!

Had my first appointment with the Oncologist (Dr Kindwall-Keller) on Tuesday 5/19. Very sweet lady, obviously seems to be very knowledgeable. She told me that based upon my PET Scan and CAT Scan that she only sees cancerous lymph nodes above the sternum, which is what we were hoping for. There are a few on the left side of my neck (where the biopsy was taken), a few in the front part of my neck and a few in my chest. Because all the cancer is above the sternum and my Hodgkins symptoms are very minor right now, Dr. Kindwall Keller has staged my cancer at 2A. She did however still need to take a bone marrow biopsy to make sure that hasn't been affected....she told me based upon how Hodgkins travels, my symptoms and my blood cell count, there's less than a 1% chance of my bone marrow being affected. She needed to do it because its standard procedure, and she mentioned some technical stuff about stem cell for future reference if needed. Still, I'm prayin daily that these tests come back negative!

It was now time for the bone marrow biopsy, I had heard that this wasn't the most pleasant procedure in the world, but wasn't expecting what was to come! Susan mentioned that she wanted to be in the room with me.......needless to say, I had my doubts about how she was going to handle it! First step - Dr gave me valium (this was the first time I ever took this drug.....psh, it sucked! No effect whatsoever!). Second step - she applied a local anaesthetic (talk about a complete waste). Mind you, I was laying on my stomach so she could inject the "needle" into the lower part of my back, just above my butt. Third step - "needle" injection. Yea right, the needle was more like an industrial corkscrew....felt like an elephant was sitting on my back pounding his foot into my back. During this process the Dr told me "Mike you have some of the strongest bones I've ever seen". Thanks Doc, so this means you can't get into my bone to get the marrow......I thought this was never gonna happen. She eventually got in and literally sucked out the marrow (weirdest feeling ever).

Oh yea, can't forget to mention that as all this was going on, my dear, sweet girlfriend was holding my hand and rubbing my head to try and relax and comfort me (while not looking at the procedure). Halfway through this process I hear Susan say "um, I dont feel well". The Doc then says, "sweetheart, you're as white as a ghost". I'm thinking, "great, my girlfriends gonna pass out on me!" She almost did, luckily the Dr assistant grabbed a chair for Susan to sit in. Now its me, with this damn "corkscrew" in my back, rubbing my girlfriends head asking if she's OK! Atleast it brought some light to the situation!