Preliimary Diagnosis

After a week of requests for info, my oncologist finally called last night and chatted with me for quite some time. She was reading some the pathology report to me. Flow cytometry testing of the biopsy did not find any B cells that were consistent with Indolent Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. Since my blood tests indicated that there is no apparent involvement with major organs and I'm showing Lymphoma symptoms, she suggested waiting 4 months to see what happens. I believe that it was a major act of luck that my swollen lymph nodes where discovered as a byproduct of being tested for something totally unrelated. I don't think that there is much data on early, stage I or II Lymphoma. I'd guess that most people who are diagnosed have come in with raging symptoms and are already in stage II or IV. I reminded the oncologist that the radiologist who performed the biopsy had indicated that it might have been an invaled sample and had suggested doing a second biopsy. I also told the oncologist that I had a dvd of all of my PET scans and would take a look at the images. As she started to reread the PET scan results and the biopsy summary from the radiologist, she kind of did a 180 and agreed to schedule the second biopsy for next week, when we'll be in Albuquerque for Roberta's GammaKnife procedure.
If the first biopsy was not valid, then the Flow Cytometry results could be invalid. If I do have a cancer then one option for early treatment might be targeted radiation treatement like CyberKnife. However, those treatments have a tumor size restriction. The largest tumors (swollen lymph nodes) in my clusters are already 3 cm. So, in one phone call we went from do nothing for 4 months to come in for the second biopsy next week! I have been reading "The Patient from Hell", by Schneider. I am trying to be very informed and proactive in my treatment. I respect the medical industry and all that they are doing, but I feel that everyone needs to be pro-active if they want the best care.