<p>A lot has happened in the past month, so it’s about time I posted an update. I finished chemo on April 28th and everything has been going good since then. I still didn’t have much side effects besides the initial day of feeling crappy. Since I’m over a month out from my last round my hair is also now beginning to grow back which is exciting. I know have a full head of peach fuzzy instead of looking weird with my patches of hair that it was before. My after chemo PET scan was on May 21st and I was hoping for great news but, as life would have it, I got thrown another curve ball. I still have a residual tumor left in my knee, not anywhere the size it was when I started treatment in January but still present. However, a little side note is that the week before the scan I got sick with what I thought was influenza though it was never confirmed. Then when I was meeting with my doctor I was informed that my lung lit up kinda like a Christmas tree on the scan. He wasn’t concerned that it was my cancer spreading since I had been sick the week before and apparently inflammation/infection looks the same as cancer on a PET scan. However, he wanted to play it safe so on May 24th I was back at Mayo for a lung biopsy. It wasn’t the worst procedure I’ve had since this journey started, but was a little sore in the lung for a few days. That following Friday I was diagnosed with a fungal infection in my lungs. Ironic how I somehow managed to grow a fungus while being treated for cancer. They still don’t know what type of fungus it is which means they don’t know how they want to treat it but I did have to have a lumbar puncture to make sure that it hadn’t spread to my blood and brain which would change treatment. I came to Mayo today for the lumbar puncture and a consult with radiation oncology. The treatment plan for my knee is radiation since that is the standard plan for a residual lymphoma tumor. The plan they came up with is 20 days of radiation on my knee. I’m in the process of getting treatment set up in Ames since that is where I am at this summer with my job, so hopefully I can get that new process started this week. I’m also hopeful that I will get information back this week from my lumbar puncture that means I can start anti-fungal drugs soon as well for treating the fungal infection. Will most likely be on those meds for 6&#43; months to ensure they can clear the infection from my lungs. I also spoke with my original hematology doctor since I will need another PET scan in a couple months to see if this new plan will work to officially get rid of my cancer. I was hoping for an easy summer of just working on the research project I’m apart of this summer, but can’t always get what we wish for. Thankfully I have a great support system between my family, friends, and bosses that is making this all easier to handle. Hopefully I’ll also be able to update soon when radiation treatment starts and I get a treatment plan for this fungal infection. </p>

Miranda Painter

Update: June 7, 2021 – by Miranda Painter