Day 10 - "what the ...???"

February 17th 2011 - I was done with my antibiotics the day before. So, I started up my car and drove to see my GP. She stated that the node showed no signs of backing off, so she sent me nextdoor to a otolaryngologist. She immediately sent me for a sonography where a doctor had me lie on a table and took some pics of the node from the inside. I returned back to my otolaryngologist who did not take a second to consider possible consequences of what she was just going to say. Let me mention that the lymphatic system in the body works as a filter that contains cell (lymphocytes, leukocytes, ...) which fight any form of disease, virus, mold etc. So, the range of possible causes is very wide and might include minor viruses up to serious diseases such as leukemia, lymphoma and so forth. Well, I was calm because the blood count test had been good and I had no worries at all.

She recommended I saw a hematologist for further tests. As she was handing me the documents, she said something that changed my life in a second. I quote: "...it may be a tumor..." My knee buckled as if I'd been hit with a 10kg hammer on my head. She added a question that only underscored her unprofessionalism and utter stupidity: she asked whether I had a company with me in case I fainted. I smiled to hide my true feeling that sprung up anyway a few minutes later. Please don't get me wrong for calling the otolaryngologist unprofessional, she had no right to pull out the worst diagnosis of all. Over the next days, I was taken care of by a number of specialists from who not even one dared to mention tumor - everybody waited for the only proof and that was a biopsy. But not to skip things, I will talk about that later.

But back to my story, on the same day, I drove to a local hospital in Nitra. I thought it was the longest drive in my life as my true feelings came to light. My eyes watered. I thought, me? tumor? what? I don't encounter such things, none of my friends has ever had any such problems. They only say these things on TV. I am not concerned with this kind of issues, you know. Out of the blue, I was. I tried to calm myself that those were only preliminary tests, nothing to be counted on. So, I went to see the hematologist who did another bloodtest. She also performed a physical check whether the lymph nodes were also swollen under my armpits and around my groin. The hematologist was a very kind person who urged other specialists to examine me as soon as possible. Right after this, I walked to a neurologist who is my great uncle. I did my best to man up, really, but I am afraid I couldn't just handle all the words that were around me like tumor, cancer, you know. But we agreed that it was wise to wait and see what is really behind it. He and his wife were a great deal of support for me at the hospital. God bless you.

It was Thursday, DAY TEN. I drove back home where I was asked by my Mom what had taken me so long. My eyes had been properly loaded up by Visine to cover my red eyes (because of crying). I just didn't want to scare her. I had no idea how to explain all of what was happening.

The real merry-go-round of examinations was about to start the very next day...