Recap. Painless lump. Transient, itchy rash. Breathless. Scan. Biopsy.
The escalator increased it’s speed and an appointment to see an haematologist flew in. A face-to-face appointment was issued and, despite Covid, I was invited to attend. Meanwhile I had sneaked a look at husbands medical record on the GP patient portal and there were the result of his Computerised tomography, CT, scan. Yep, there it was , the lump in his axilla. Hmm. The 9cm one in his abdomen, pressing against the major arteries supplying his lower limb came as a surprise to me, and an even bigger one to husband. He had been totally unaware of anything alien lurking in his abdomen, especially an intruder bigger than a grapefruit. It did explain the difference in leg colour though. There was a mention of the pancreas but all seemed not too bad really.
The waiting in the scheme of things was very short, but I have to say it seemed like an eternity. Information but no explanations, we had no idea where it was going. Our friend had Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma (NHL) 14 years ago and she had ‘Watch and Wait’ for a year. NHL is a weird old beasty. It can be several different types (see below) It can be quick or slow. The GP said that if you have to have cancer then it’s the one to have. Our friend had a round of chemotherapy and has been well ever since so it all seemed quite positive really. Husband was told by the GP that it was Follicular Lymphoma. That was the same version as friend had. All good.
We made the decision not to share any of this with the family, how can you share something which is still gradually revealing itself to you? We were finding it difficult to sit on our hands, not read too much, not anticipate and not get ourselves tied up in knots. Why inflict that on others?
A Midwife's Muse 
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