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| 25 years ago, at about this time of year, while anxious over finishing my Ph.D, I had just found out that I had cancer. I did not hear too clearly what the doctor said after "cancer", but this is roughly what I remember from what he told me. I learned why he slipped up during removal of my tumor. When he opened me up he did no t see what he expected. A cyst is generally a white mass not connected to the surrounding tissues. What he saw was a mass surrounded with fatty tissue connected to the rest of me with a system of blood vessels. Cancer needs a conduit to the rest of the body. If cancer was simply uncontrolled growth, it could be cured by cutting it out. Cancer's major method of killing is spreading, called metastasis. It needs a connection to the blood and lymph system to do this. This is why cancer needs follow up treatment. If one active cancer cell survives, it is a treat. |
| The doctor informed me that I had Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma, a catch all name for all the lymphomas than the most common one called Hodgkin's Disease after the doctor who first described it. He told me my cancer had spread because there are no lymph nodes in the temple (this turned out to not be true.) The most probable method of treatment was chemo or radiation. I did not know much about cancer at all. I had a lot to learn. He reinforced the idea that Boston was a "good" place to have cancer because it was the home of the Dana Farber Comprehensive Cancer Center. I would come to know the place well. |
| He gave me a phone number of a doctor at Dana Farber, and I left his office. For the first time in a long time, I did not have a clear vision of the direction my life was taking. |
| Stay tuned for more of the story. |
| (Cancer Chronicles is a series of status updates that account the events of 25 years ago when I went through a bout with cancer. Its purposes are multi-fold: catharsis, education, information, celebration, etc. ) |
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