<\/span><\/a>Well, this Mommy is going to talk about some very serious stuff. \u00a0A lot of you who follow my blog are aware that my teenage son was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma on June 30, 2011. \u00a0The diagnosis was a complete shock since we had been told over and over it was nothing. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n This all started\u00a0in January of 2011, driving him home from school, he told me that he wanted to get this lump in his neck checked. We both assumed it was just a swollen gland but he was hyper aware with his aunt just having been diagnosed with breast cancer. \u00a0So we made an appointment at the ENT and we began months of going back and forth, starting antibiotics for a couple of weeks in case it was an infection, then a CAT Scan, and we were told that because it does get smaller and the way it looks on the CAT Scan that it does not appear to be anything serious. So we continued going every couple of weeks for another assessment. \u00a0The doctor was more afraid of operating because she said it could cause damage to his facial nerves, so she was trying the wait and see and based on the scan and the fact that it would sometimes shrink to almost nothing.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Winter turned to spring and she finally thought we should get a second opinion. We went to another ENT who felt the same about that scan results, she suggested some blood work to rule out Cat Scratch Fever and Mono. \u00a0 His blood work came back fine so then she sent us for a needle biopsy. \u00a0We were called with the results and they said they were normal. \u00a0At this point she thought we should have the surgery to remove the lump but that it was not a serious thing.<\/p>\n So the third week of June, Michael and I went to the hospital. \u00a0His surgery was supposed to be over in about 45 minutes but as it neared an hour and a half, a nurse came out to talk to me. \u00a0She told me that nothing was wrong but the doctor wanted me to know the reason the surgery was taking longer, was that the nodule was in a delicate area behind the salivary gland and it is requiring more time to remove because of where it is located.<\/p>\n Thirty\u00a0minutes later the doctor came out and took a seat next to me. \u00a0She emphasized that the only reason the\u00a0surgery took so long was due the delicate area she was removing the lymph node from. She said it looked fine and she did not think it was anything serious. She said we would have the pathology results in about a week. We laughed, talked about the summer,, and then I was allowed to see Michael in recovery. \u00a0He was doing well and just wanted to go home. \u00a0After about an hour or so we were released and we both left with a great sense of this ordeal finally being over.<\/p>\n A week later, when my husband woke me with the words, “Michael has Hodgkin’s Lymphoma” I knew I was still dreaming. \u00a0As the words kept repeating in my head, I soon saw I was very much awake and my husband was really here talking to me. \u00a0The doctor that operated on him, had just called. \u00a0She was shocked as can be and reassured my husband and then Michael that the prognosis is very good and she would get us right in to see an Oncologist.<\/p>\n My head was swirling, a million thoughts were running through my mind. \u00a0I was in shock and utter disbelief. \u00a0We did not have any history of this in our family, how could they have not seen anything from the CAT \u00a0Scan, needle biopsy, how could this be? \u00a0Then thoughts of Curb Your Enthusiasm,<\/em> came to my mind and Larry talking about the good Hodgkin’s.<\/p>\n We were able to get\u00a0an appointment for that afternoon and I know I was on autopilot. \u00a0Michael and I drove to the doctor’s office, it was the most beautiful afternoon, bright blue sky and brilliant sunshine. \u00a0This is not a day you find out your son has cancer. \u00a0We joked and laughed on the ride down showing us clearly that laughing and crying are more similar emotions then you would ever think. \u00a0Michael had a great attitude, he was upbeat and we even shared a laugh talking about that Curb Your Enthusiasm<\/em>\u00a0episode on the way down.<\/p>\n We saw the doctor and he explained that Michael has a very “good” Hodgkin’s and that given it was not detected with any of the testing he had, that it was caught very early. He said\u00a0our next step was some more blood work and a PET Scan. \u00a0We had to talk about the treatment options. \u00a0He said if it was stage 1, he would probably only need radiation but he may need radiation and chemo in which case we would have to talk about banking his sperm since there is a chance that the chemo could cause sterility.<\/p>\n