The Battle of Her Life

Today my little sister, Tanya, (OK, maybe not so little) will be undergoing her first chemo treatment. Two weeks ago she was diagnosed with stage 3 Hodgkin's Lymphoma.

Back in May, my sister felt a lump on her left side of her lower neck. When she went to the doctor's office, the initial examination had revealed that there were a lot more lumps on her neck and shoulder area than the one that she found. Obviously alarming the doctor, she was sent for an ultrasound for the areas mentioned above. Unfortunately, the doctor was correct. Her left side of her neck and shoulder area was very mountainous looking. She had numerous small lumps all through out that area. Next up was a visit to the Ear, Nose and Throat specialist. After his examination, he believed that what she had was cancer so he ordered two biopsies. One was with a needle to take some tissue. This didn't provide conclusive results so he performed another biopsy to remove a section of the lump. Just by looking and feeling the lump, he was pretty sure it was cancer. The results for this biopsy did prove it to be Hodgkin's Lymphoma. After getting those results back she went in for a CT scan to find the location of the cancer. The CT scan results showed that she had the cancer throughout her body. It was found on her left side of her neck, arm pits, diaphragm, and pelvic area. So they gave her the final diagnosis...stage 3 Hodgkin's Lymphoma.

Although saddened by the diagnosis, our family (including my sister) felt a sigh of relief for two things. One being that we now know what she had. Going weeks not knowing what it was that she was fighting was exhausting. Two, this is one of the best cancers to have. Yes, we know no cancer is better than cancer but of the 200 types of Lymphoma, only 1 is untreatable, which she doesn't have, and the mortality rate is approximately 5%. This is great news. Unfortunately, with her getting chemo she is more at risk of an infection that can cause death then the cancer causing death itself. Because of this, things have to change around her.

Last week she went through multiple tests. She had a cardiac and pulmonary test to make sure her heart and lungs were ready for the chemo. She also had a bone marrow extraction done last week as well to verify whether the cancer has reached her bone marrow. If it did, she will then need a bone marrow transplant. Since the doctor believes that this started about 2 years ago and that she is stage 3, my fear is that it has reached her bone marrow. I guess we will see once the test results are returned.

So far her course of treatment involves 1 - 2 hours of chemo every two weeks and radiation. The results from the bone marrow extraction will tell us whether she will need the transplant and when. Today and tomorrow will be the start of her treatment. She will be receiving her first batch of chemo today at 2:00 pm. This is when her battle begins.

Tanya is being very positive about her current situation and she is being fully supported by all those who love her. I ask that you too, keep her in your thoughts and prayers as she fights the biggest war of her life!

Thank you!

ETA: To follow her progress with battling this cancer, you can visit www.caringbridge.com/visit/tanyamarie. You can read her story, view pictures or leave inspiring messages to her on her guestbook.

Here is my sister as she is receiving her first round of chemo.