So, the deal after the chemo is over is that you go in every two months to make sure it worked. Well, and you have an after-chemo CT scan and Gallium scan again to confirm that the chemo worked.

The first tests came back clean as a whistle. First exam came back great. Feeling fine. Second exam was fine. Then, I got health insurance! Finally! Yes! The third exam would take place in January of 2001, when the insurance company stopped worrying about pre-existing conditions. At this point, I had a really sore spot in my right groin area, right at the fold between leg and pelvis.

So, I told the doctor about it. We both agreed that I looked great (except I'm still mad that I gained all the weight back) and felt great. The bloodwork came back just fine. All my numbers were good. The doctor did a physical exam, looking for any enlarged lymph nodes.

Now, don't go panicking if you have some enlarged lymph nodes sometimes. The lymph system fights infections; it's your secondary blood system. When you get some kind of infection, say a cold or maybe the flu, your lymph nodes may normally become enlarged as they try to fight the infection. (Remember, this site is not meant to be used as a diagnostic tool -- see your doctor if you feel there may be any problem.) One of the reasons that Hodgkin's can be very difficult to diagnose is that the first lymph nodes affected are almost always in the neck. Most people who have some kind of sinus trouble, cold, flu, whatever, get swollen lymph nodes in the neck.

At any rate, the doctor didn't find any enlarged nodes. But, that area which was sore, there was a lump of what he felt was scar tissue. I had had a tennis ball-sized lymph node there way back in November of '99. Considering how incredibly stretched out of shape the lymph nodes there had been, he said he'd be surprised if I hadn't gotten any scar tissue there.

But, the pain bothered both of us. So, he scheduled me for a PET scan.

I should mention that I'm also being tested for Attention Deficit Disorder right now. I can't focus very well, I'm hyper a lot and have many of the symptoms of adult ADD.

A PET scan is torture for someone who can't sit still for five minutes. (Ask my students about it sometime. I'm always pacing in class or fidgeting with something in my hands while we discuss or while we're working.) A PET scan basically is an IV injection of stuff into your bloodstream. Then you have to sit in a dark room, perfectly still for thirty to forty minutes before the test can even start. No movement at all. Perfectly still. No fidgeting. They wouldn't even let me read my book!

An excruciating half hour later, they put me in a wheelchair (horrors!) and wheeled me all through the hospital until we finally came to the PET scan door. Then I was told to get up and walk outside to a semi-truck trailer!

The test is still very new. In this area, it travels from hospital to hospital. Tuesday is the only day it's in my town. At any rate, I climbed the stairs into the trailer and got into the machine. Then I had to lay still for another forty-five minutes to an hour while the scan ran.

Talk about utter boredom. I thought the test would kill me WAY before the Hodgkin's.

Test results and more tests >