I.B. Washincars
Car Washer Emeritus
That's not something you're going to hear every day.
Anyway, back on March 12th I had a difficult time getting out of bed, and could tell that my right arm and leg weren't working right. I went to the bathroom and while in there I'm wondering if maybe I had a stroke. I got in front of the mirror, smiled, and stuck out my tongue...all seemed good. I then tried to speak, and I talked like I had a mouthful of marbles. I woke my wife, who then sprung into action, getting an ambulance on the way (that's a whole scary story on its own). An hour or so later I'm in the hospital being run through the mill. They quickly decided that I most likely had a stroke and proceeded to run me through every piece of testing equipment in Evansville. IN. They verified that I did have a stroke and discussed the treatment options at hand. Now, here's the kicker. My CAT scan showed a mass in each lung. I have no breathing issues, never smoked, and have no symptoms at all. To say we were floored, was an understatement. They speculated it was Lymphoma, but needed a biopsy. Well, since I'm now pumped full of blood thinners for the stroke, not an option for about a week. Finally get the biopsy, and they say it appears to be Lymphoma. A few days later the oncologist calls and says they may have misdiagnosed me and need another biopsy...okay. Go off blood thinners for five days and go in for 2nd biopsy, getting a larger sample this time. They still couldn't decide for sure, so they sent it to Mayo Clinic. It took over two weeks to hear back, only to hear...inconclusive. In the meantime we had switched to a different oncologist, who agreed with everything so far, but wanted to hear the Mayo results before considering treatment. After a no decision from Mayo, oncologist said a bone marrow biopsy was in order, and should be conclusive...well, it wasn't. We asked about going to IU to get a 2nd opinion and he was all for it. After a couple visits there and them analyzing my blood and urine nine ways to Sunday, they found proteins consistent with marginal zone Lymphoma (different type than mentioned above), five months after original diagnosis. In asymptomatic patients, the best treatment for this type is watch and wait. It is very slow progressing and the 5 and 10 year survival rates are very good. They plan to do blood tests every 3 months and CAT scan every 6. Monitoring this closely, I feel they will know if something is wrong before I do.
My speech is a little off, but other than that, I'm almost 100% recovered from the stroke. Ain't it a good thing I had it?
Anyway, back on March 12th I had a difficult time getting out of bed, and could tell that my right arm and leg weren't working right. I went to the bathroom and while in there I'm wondering if maybe I had a stroke. I got in front of the mirror, smiled, and stuck out my tongue...all seemed good. I then tried to speak, and I talked like I had a mouthful of marbles. I woke my wife, who then sprung into action, getting an ambulance on the way (that's a whole scary story on its own). An hour or so later I'm in the hospital being run through the mill. They quickly decided that I most likely had a stroke and proceeded to run me through every piece of testing equipment in Evansville. IN. They verified that I did have a stroke and discussed the treatment options at hand. Now, here's the kicker. My CAT scan showed a mass in each lung. I have no breathing issues, never smoked, and have no symptoms at all. To say we were floored, was an understatement. They speculated it was Lymphoma, but needed a biopsy. Well, since I'm now pumped full of blood thinners for the stroke, not an option for about a week. Finally get the biopsy, and they say it appears to be Lymphoma. A few days later the oncologist calls and says they may have misdiagnosed me and need another biopsy...okay. Go off blood thinners for five days and go in for 2nd biopsy, getting a larger sample this time. They still couldn't decide for sure, so they sent it to Mayo Clinic. It took over two weeks to hear back, only to hear...inconclusive. In the meantime we had switched to a different oncologist, who agreed with everything so far, but wanted to hear the Mayo results before considering treatment. After a no decision from Mayo, oncologist said a bone marrow biopsy was in order, and should be conclusive...well, it wasn't. We asked about going to IU to get a 2nd opinion and he was all for it. After a couple visits there and them analyzing my blood and urine nine ways to Sunday, they found proteins consistent with marginal zone Lymphoma (different type than mentioned above), five months after original diagnosis. In asymptomatic patients, the best treatment for this type is watch and wait. It is very slow progressing and the 5 and 10 year survival rates are very good. They plan to do blood tests every 3 months and CAT scan every 6. Monitoring this closely, I feel they will know if something is wrong before I do.
My speech is a little off, but other than that, I'm almost 100% recovered from the stroke. Ain't it a good thing I had it?
