July 29, 2001
Update #0
Hi,
I thought I'd fill some of you in on more details leading to Jeff's Hodgkin's diagnosis.
Last January, Jeff had a cough that lasted for a few weeks. He'd go to the doctor, get some medicine, the cough would leave -- but then return. This happened 3 times when our doctor decided in May that maybe it was time for Jeff to finally see that allergist. Our big vacation was planned for June and with the possibility of beginning shots, the allergist's office suggested we just wait till July for the initial appointment.
The only thing that showed for Jeff's allergies was dust mites. Since we were considering redoing Jeff's bedroom in the near future, the doctor recommended we put in a different flooring than carpet. Jeff's breathing test was a little low so the doctor gave Jeff an inhaler to use for a couple of weeks. The retest was not scheduled until after Jeff attended that broadcast workshop at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa. The inhaler would not last through the workshop week so we went in to see the allergist for a refill. He stated Jeff should have improved anyway and suggested starting a couple of other tests to begin ruling out causes for the cough.
He wanted Jeff to have a "sweat" test done to eliminate Cystic Fibrosis. At the last minute, the doctor said to go ahead and have a chest x-ray done even though the lungs sounded clear. The allergist chose Cardinal Glennon Hospital in StL since he had done his residency there.
So, Jeff and I went there on July 26 just to have these two tests done around 10:00 AM. We were planning to go out later that day to celebrate Ken's birthday. Well, the x-ray showed enlarged nodes in the lung area. They wanted to perform a CT Scan but needed to do a dye test first to make sure Jeff wasn't allergic. After waiting an hour, they did the CT Scan and then called in a Dr. Chu. The head of the radiation area sat with Jeff while I met with Dr. Chu in a small room. His first words to me were "this is Hodgkin's - this is good". Now, I did not think cancer and good should be in the same sentence but he lead us off to the Bob Costas Center which is the outpatient cancer area of Cardinal Glennon.
By this time, it's late afternoon and Ken and Nana show up in time to meet us with the surgeon, Dr. Keller, who would perform the biopsy on a lymph node in the neck the next day. The x-rays that we see show the cause of the cough -- a 2 1/2 inch tumor outside the left lung pressing on the trachea. There was also a small tumor inside the right lung plus 3 tiny ones in the spleen. Dr. Keller said he could not give Jeff any anesthesia for fear of the trachea collapsing. So Jeff got just a local for that biopsy but a Dr. O'Connor had to also perform a bone marrow biopsy -- he warned Jeff that it would be painful but just not to move -- Jeff agreed that it was very painful.
Oh, Jeff's allergist came to see Jeff right after he was admitted on the 26th. There was a radiothon in the lobby for Children's Miracle Network. Dr. Zeffren talked to them about Jeff saying that Jeff was going to miss his broadcast workshop and could Jeff come and meet with them. So Jeff was on air discussing his day and the diagnosis. They called him a couple of days later and on air talked with Jeff again.
So late afternoon on the 27th the biopsy confirmed Dr. Chu's diagnosis of Hodgkin's Lymphoma -- Stage IV-B. Jeff had a PIC line inserted in his right arm soon afterwards to be ready for chemo to begin on Sat. the 28th.
Jeff seemed to be more upset about missing the broadcast workshop than the diagnosis. He just wanted to wait one more week to begin all the treatment but knew he needed to follow Dr. Chu's directions.
We are going to need all your prayers to help us through this scary time. The doctors and nurses are great at Cardinal Glennon and we have complete trust in them already. We know God lead us to the right place. Thanks for helping us so far.
love,
Marcia