Timeline - How I got from there to here and whats up next week.

I have gotten a few questions about when this all kicked into gear. I guess I have been so engaged in the process that to me it seems to have happened in slow motion when in reality a lot has happened in just 14 days. So here is how this all came about.


On and off again I have been having sinus headaches. For the most part I just wrote it off to my hectic schedule, changes in seasons or colds. Over the summer I noticed a bump on the side of my neck that occurred when I started exercising again. It seemed to go down a bit and was after what I thought was another sinus infection. Then about 3-4 weeks ago I seemed to have a more protracted sinus headache and another lump appeared. That's when I decided to see the doctor.


So 2 weeks and a day ago I went to see the nurse practitioner. She looked at the sinus infection, or so we thought, and checked out the two lumps (and found a 3rd.). The next day I was off to see the Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) specialist. When I saw the ENT doctor he checked out my sinus's with a scope (not fun!) and took a biopsy of one of the lumps. From there he also ordered some blood work and a CT scan. He also mentioned the possibility of lymphoma. That was on a Friday 2 weeks ago. The CT Scan was ordered for and blood work was ordered for Monday.


On Monday I did the CT scan and the blood work and was set. I checked back during the middle of the week. and they didn't have the test results. I did some research on lymphoma and wasn't overly enthused by what I read. Then on Thursday (I week after the first visit and a week ago yesterday) the ENT doctor called and said that they needed more tests but it looked like it was Nasopharyngeal carcinoma. (Say that 3 times fast.) That is when things kicked into high gear.


Over the next3 business days, Friday, Monday and Tuesday, I had two MRI's, a CT Scan another blood test and a biopsy of the main tumor taken. The last one was on Tuesday 3 days ago. Fortunately where I live all of the tests but a few are just 5 minutes from my house. The others are just 20 minutes away at the most.


On Tuesday before the biopsy they told me that at this point they were pretty sure it was Nasopharyngeal carcinoma and it was time to meet with the medical oncologist and present my case to the tumor board that meets on Wednesdays. When I got home I had a call from the oncologists office to meet the next morning.


On Wednesday we met with the oncologist who went over the diagnosis and outlined the treatment plan. (More on that later.) This of course kicked off even more appointments.


On Thursday I met with the radiation oncologist to go over his portion of the treatment plan. At the same time we set up appointments for next week for chemotherapy education (Or Chemo U as I like to call it.), a PET scan to check for spread elsewhere, a appointment to get a plastic mesh mask made and myself scanned for the radiation treatment (more on that later as well) and a consultation appointment for the potential of getting a food tube put in if needed. (Definitely want to avoid that if possible).


All of this happened in two weeks from the time I first walked into the general practitioners office complaining about a sinus infection. It was definitely the fast track to say the least.