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Classes are really taking it out of me. I'm graduating in the spring, but I occasionally wonder if I'll survive that long. (Pro tip: I'm not in any actual danger of dying.) I'm more than a little bit frustrated with my graduation requirements, and how many of them I have left. I'll spare you the details, but I end up having to take 18 credits in my final semester, whereas the intention is that a student will take 15 credits for 8 semesters and graduate right on schedule. I can't remember a 15 credit semester.

I turned 22 last weekend. It was relatively uneventful. I hung out quietly with friends. I always intend to get rested on weekends, but I never end up doing it. Oh well.

I finished my course of radiation. That means that I'm officially considered to be in remission, or whatever. The area is still a little pink, but that should clear up within a couple days. I'm still really sleepy a lot. I'm gonna have to talk to someone about that if it keeps up through the end of the week. It's way too early in the semester for it to be this hard to go to class, even an 8am.

Speaking of early in the semester, I'm back at Virginia Tech for what will hopefully be my last year. My schedule looks like hell, but at least I'm done by 5:30. I'll post a copy if I ever get around to making one, or else I won't.

The beginning of the semester is really expensive, and the fall more so than the spring. It makes me sad. I think I'll start working again on Monday. I ♥ my campus job.

I haven't kept up with the status of the cancer thing lately. I didn't have any new info for a while, and then I got busy dealing with the new information. When it rains, it pours, eh? I'm not sure what I said before, so I'm just gonna go over everything I know right now.

The lymph node removed from my left elbow had primary cutaneous anaplastic large cell lymphoma. It is a cancer of lymph cells that exist in the skin, not of the skin cells themselves. It's not the most aggressive of cancers and we did catch it very early, so the prognosis is extremely good. I'll be doing 4 weeks of radiation therapy to be sure that no cancer cells remain in the area of the biopsy. Beyond that, I'll be watching it closely and seeing the oncologist in January for a follow-up.

I also have a related condition called lymphomatoid papulosis. The jury is out as to precisely how it works on a cellular level, but it is similar to lymphoma except that it poses little threat to my health. There are only two problems with it. The first is that it causes small lesions on my arms and legs, each of which has a small chance to metastasize into a malignant lymphoma. The second is that while there are treatments, it's currently incurable. I can only monitor it and take care of any malignancies that develop as a result.

The radiation has been scheduled so that I can go back to school on schedule, though without much time to settle in. My first appointment is this afternoon. Hopefully life can go back to relative normalcy now.

Ten points if you can give the playwright, play, act, and scene that the title refers to. Points cannot actually be redeemed for anything.

I promised that I'd do an update by today, and seeing as today is drawing to a close, I figured I should do it! The good news is that my bone marrow sample came back negative. That means that the cancer has not spread into the marrow, which would be exceedingly bad. When I think about how bad things could be, I feel afraid. I feel so lucky to be in in the situation I'm in, all things considered.

The oncologist also mentioned a slim outside chance that the lymphoma diagnosis was a false positive. That would be incredibly relieving, but also terribly frustrating. I've lost my whole summer to this. Don't get me wrong, I would rather they tell me that I don't have cancer. I'm also glad that we're going to all the effort of being sure. I just wish the whole thing hadn't happened at all. I guess that kinda goes without saying

I'm pretty bored a lot of times. If you're in the Greater Rochester or Finger Lakes regions of New York (and I guess I could go as far as Syracuse) I'm looking for something to do.

Thirteen is the number of days that have passed since I was diagnosed with lymphoma. It feels like forever.

I lied to Kristine and told her that I wouldn't be playing SPF this week. I'm sure she'll forgive me though, seeing that I'm now playing.

My Back

Wednesday I visited the oncologist and had a marrow sample taken. It is the worst pain I have ever experienced in my life. I'm actually looking for a woman who has both given birth and had marrow taken to compare them for me.

I should also note that this is the most unflattering picture of myself that I have ever allowed to be on the internet. To properly show off my bandage, my pants were at the exact level which makes my ass look worst. I may have to show you a better one eventually (if you're lucky).

I'm seeing an oncologist because three weeks ago today, I had a biopsy done on my left elbow (pictures to follow when I'm on a better connection). 7 June 2007 I recieved a call from my doctor informing me that I have lymphoma. I'm going to do a whole writeup of the past few weeks eventually, but right now I'm at Relay for Life trying to build up some karma for the months to come.

I'm doing just fine, and the prognosis is good.

My roommate of the past ten months just moved out. A few observations:

• I don't have much in the way of furniture outside my bedroom.
• The carpets could probably stand a cleaning.
• I don't have to wear clothes at home anymore
• It's going to be really quiet.
• My puppy is gone

I need to sleep a little more.

I just got back from the best Wal*Mart run ever. The original plan had been that Alex and I would run out, grab something fast, and go back to our respective residences. Well, McDonald's was the only thing open, but they were doing a "system change-over" or something, so they couldn't give us any food. I decided that Christiansburg must have something open, so we went.

Not much was open in Christiansburg. Walgreen's was open, so we stopped there on Alex's suggestion. At Walgreen's we decided that cereal was a good idea, but buying cereal at a drugstore is silly. We went over to Wal*Mart next door and bought cereal, and I got milk, and two bowls and some spoons. On the way home I ate a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch (while I was driving). It was delicious. This all occurred between 3:30 and 4:30 in the morning.

The moral of the story? It's hard to drink milk out of a cereal bowl while you're driving.