In The Beginning... (The Backstory Leading up to the Diagnosis)

So where did it all begin...

In May 2015 Mike started having sporadic days where he felt "off". He was tired and his muscles ached. He would have one or two days like this, and then have a good week. He described it like those first days when you're coming down with the flu. He was just so fatigued. He has always said that he wakes up, he can tell if he's going to have a good day or a bad day. The mornings have been the hardest for him since May. At this time, he went to the doctor and they did some tests, but there was nothing too concerning in the results. He did have an elevated sed rate, which would be from an inflammation.

The summer went on and Mike continued to have his up & down days. I honestly thought he was just depressed. It had been a very rainy spring and planting season had taken a toll on him. We had just bought a house. Our dog had died. All of these things seemed to me, to be reasons for him to feel a little down.

As the fall season was approaching, he was starting to have more bad days. He had more blood work done, but still, nothing alarming showed up. He told himself to "suck it up" and work hard to get through Harvest. He was having bad muscle aches, he was always tired, and he was getting bad night sweats and chills almost daily now. He was taking ibuprofen frequently to get through the day.

When Harvest was over,(October) it was like he crashed. He had a few good days where he was still able to go out and work in the field, but mostly, he slept late in the mornings, napped throughout the day, and then went to bed early at night. Right around Halloween Mike told me to feel a lump in the hollow of his collar bone. I knew it was a lymph node and it was bigger than it should be. I know there are reasons healthy people can get enlarged lymph nodes, but it concerned me. Within the next couple days, he started noticing more popping up in his neck. I did what any curious person does, and I googled it. I read a list of signs and symptoms of lymphoma and my jaw hit the floor. I showed it to Mike and I remember saying to him, "Honey, I am 100% sure you have lymphoma." No, I am not advocating for googling symptoms!!!!! (In fact, I highly discourage it)

On Wednesday, November 11, I called a family friend who's a physician's assistant and cried to him that I was scared for Mike's health. I told him all of the symptoms. I begged him to help. He told me to come into the hospital that Friday and he would run every test he could think of on him. He agreed that it sounded like lymphoma.

Friday, Nov 13th

We went to the Horton Hospital to get bloodwork done. Mike passed out during this process and also had some breathing trouble, so they did a CT Chest. I knew right away when they asked us to stay there until a Radiologist read it, that it wasn't good. Over and hour passed and they hadn't heard from the Radiologist in Topeka yet. I decided I was desperate enough to use my old "job perks" as a former x-ray tech in Topeka, and call the Radiologist myself. I am so glad I did. I talked to Dr. Owen about everything going on with Mike. When he pulled up his CT, he said, "Oh no. He is very sick." He also agreed that it looked like lymphoma and he was going to recommend an excisional lymph node biopsy.

Monday, Nov 16th

We met with Dr. Hamilton in Topeka. He felt Mike's neck, as there were several enlarged lymph nodes at this time. He told us that he was sure it was lymphoma. He was confident that he just needed to get a couple nodes out for the pathologist to be able to determine if it was Hodgkin's or Non-Hodgkins and start chemotherapy. We were shocked that it was just laid out there like that. We were also very relieved to have an answer.

Monday Nov 23rd

Biopsy day. Mike was so nervous about them cutting into his neck. When the surgeon came out to tell me how it went, he again said, "It definitely looks like a lymphoma to me. Now we just need to figure out what kind it is so he can get started on chemo." My heart sunk. I was just told my husband has lymphoma.

Wednesday, Nov 25th, Day before Thanksgiving

I took a chance and called the doctor's office to see if they had results before Thanksgiving. When the nurse called me back and said, "There were no signs of cancerous cells." I bout dropped the phone. I cried and called Mike right away. Neither of us could believe it. We had such mixed emotions though. We were so thankful and happy that it wasn't cancer. We were also scared, frustrated, curious, shocked. If it wasn't lymphoma, then what was it?

The rest of November and December was a blur of going to different doctors (Infectious Disease, Rheumatologist). He had more and more blood drawn. He had another CT of his abdomen. No one had answers for us, so I applied to get seen at the Mayo Clinic. They called back right before Christmas to say we were accepted, but our appointment wouldn't be until February 24th, 2016.

Mike's friend kept telling us that he was confident in the Mayo Clinic. He told us that if we went up there as a "checker" (You wait and check to see if they have an opening.) that he would surely get in early. Mike was feeling terrible, and decided he felt so bad that he was willing to sit and wait to be seen.

Sunday, Jan 3, 2016

We packed our bags, left the kids with Mike's parents, and made the 6 hour drive to Rochester, Minnesota. Mike got very sick that night. (Looking back, we think it was an anxiety attack) We went to the ER, and they reassured us that we were in the right place to solve this mystery. We went back to the hotel and tried to sleep until morning so we could get to the clinic.

Monday, Jan 4 2016

We waited throughout the morning, and at 1:00, we got called back!!! We were IN!!!

After that, the ball started rolling. They were amazing. We saw our "primary" Internal Mediciine doctor. Her name is Marcella Scalcini and she is amazing. We just love her. Through the next 8 days, we saw several doctors, but also did a LOT of blood tests.

Tuesday Jan 12

Mike had a second excisional lymph node biopsy done from his armpit. After 9 long days away from home, we finally got to go home and wait for all of the results. We were exhausted.