Well, as usual things change.

On Monday I had noticed a slight swelling and tenderness in a lymph under my jaw. By Tuesday it was a little worse. On Wednesday morning it was still swollen and sore. I put a hot cloth on it for a while and it seemed to help.

However, I wasn't scheduled to start treatment until the 16th and 17th. I thought if it continued to swell it might be a problem to wait for a week so I phoned the clinic. I told the Nurse what the problem was and she would get back to me.

I had a small job to finish so I was out until 11:30. When I got in I had a message from the nurse telling me the Oncologist wanted to see me that day and I would start treatment the next.

So I hustled my butt and headed off to Milestone where my sister lives. We headed off to the clinic.

During the discussions with the Oncologist we talked about the treatment that I would start in the morning. I posted that treatment last time.

Now, when I had my initial consultation with him last week, he had told me he wanted to get a second opinion from the pathologist at the cancer clinic before he finalized the treatment. While we where talking he went to talk to the pathologist to see what his diagnosis was.

When he came back he told me that the patholgist had determined that what I had was not actually non-hogkins lymphoma. What he determined was that I had was

Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma /   Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

So my treatment has changed. Instead of having to do a 6 hour session with IV drip for chemo every three weeks, I would be taking fludarabine  tablets at home. The treatment consists of 80 mg a day for 5 days repeated every 30 days. This will involve less travel time and be much easier. I will also be taking a daily dose of Allopurinol  which helps prevent uric acid build up which could affect the kidneys. And I will take Nu-Cotrimox DS to ward off infection.

They will monitor the treatment with blood tests which I have to do every week. I do this treatment for 6 months. 24 Needles. OUCH!

I'm not sure if one type of cancer can be said to be any better than another but this is supposed to be a lesser form and slow growing. The treatment is less intense I believe. Not everyone is affected by side effects from the treatment so I won't know how I will be for a few days. I'm generally in good health so I don't think it will be to bad.

I will start treatment tonight so we'll see.