66Susie

How are you doing?

Hi 66suzie and thanks. I hope you are doing okay. My hubs has started RCHOP. It's a chemo drug regime. So far his biggest complaint is fatigue, nausea and some bone pain. He seems to feel a lot better 4 days after his treatment.

Second opinions do take some time in getting things settled out. Just be calm until the variances between the two doctors get resolved.

One thing the waiting three-months or so may do is better show a distinction between infection and cancer.

Here is a simple explanation on how a CT/PET scan works. The CT scan is quick while you hold still and hold your breath. The PET scan takes a long time to scan twenty minutes or longer. During the PET portion you are breathing and maybe moving a little.

The good part of the PET scan it is capable of showing the location of any cancer. It does this because the isotopes laced with glucose are absorbed more quickly by the cancer than the rest of the body. This shows up on the scan as fussy spots. When the CT scan is laid over the PET scan the CT scan reveals more accurately the cancers size and location.

I am not sure if inflammation/infection absorbs glucose as fast as cancer does or if it even shows up in the PET scan.

It is good to hear you are satisfied to wait for a final decision.

Hang in there.

Here are some things in your favor,

You are stage 1, I have a neighbor that has been stage 1 for ten years and never had any treatments. Hopefully this may apply to you but be prepared if it is not.

You have Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma and if your second biopsy confirms it and treatment of chemo is ordered the gold standard and primary chemo for DLBCL is R+CHOP. Meaning the treatment method has probably been determined.

Stage 1 means it is localized and found early. Know that DLBCL is treatable in all four stages. A CT/PET scan on me found three spots of stage 1 and when they tried to get a biopsy it was in a hard to get to location. I had to wait six months and then got a good biopsy. I had treatments and obtained remission. My point here is you probably have time to fully check out you second opinion without doing you harm.

If you do have to have chemo you can have them near your home as R+CHOP may be administered everywhere.

Having the second opinion results should give you more self-assurance in the next actions to take.

I am holding good thoughts for you.

Hi Susie. Welcome to What Next. There are lots of great people here. If you have any questions, please use the question tab above -- that way the entire network will have access & you'll get a quicker response. I see that you are in the early days of diagnosis -- I think this is the scariest part. You don't have a game plan set up yet; you don't have info from your doctor; you go read the internet and scare the snot out of yourself. Once you have a treatment plan in place, it should get a bit easier and less scary. I'm glad you found us but sorry for the circumstances that led you here. Wishing you all the best!

Welcome to What Next.
I do not know how I can help but I know I can someway.
You will handle the shock and fears of cancer in your own way.
One thing that help me when I was diagonsed was that I was told "I was the CEO of my body". That kinda stuck with me, it gave me impowerment over something, that many times felt I had no control over.

All in all my cancer experience has made me a better person, Dad, and husband.

I recommed the book called Cacner (50 essential things to do) by Greg Anderson. Given to me as a gift.

Santana

66Sussi, Do you have diffuse large B cell NHL

Welcome to the WhatNext family! The WhatNext family is made up of people like you who are looking for help or looking to help others. To help you along your journey the WhatNext family has put together a Beginner's Guide to Cancer that I highly recommend you check-out here: http://bit.ly/10BQKCi. Also, please do not hesitate to reach out to others or ask for help.

Wishing you the best.

David
Founder, WhatNexter

Hello and welcome, we are glad you found us. Please feel free to join in the conversations. Here is a link to our cancer dx page for your type of cancer. Take a look at it to get you started on some information. You will notice at the bottom of that page 4 of our active users who have had that journey already, you may wish to contact them for their experience and wisdom. Also, I encourage you to go to the questions page now by clicking on the questions tab at the top of the page and post what is the most pressing issue you have right now. This will introduce you to the community and get you started on the help you need right now.

https://www.whatnext.com/conditions/cancer/non-hodgkin-lymphoma-nhl

There are also subtypes listed on this page to narrow down the type of cancer to match your dx.

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Team WhatNext Community Mgr

Hang in there Susie. Things will get better.