A New Adventure with the Heide's

Can we all agree that life is one amazing adventure after the other? Nate and I truly believe that whatever comes our way, it's an adventure. Some are challenging and some are fun. Some are painful and some are full of joy. But they are all adventures that you can learn a lot from!

Our newest adventure started about a couple months ago when Nate was checking himself out in the mirror at the gym (only a slight exaggeration-he would tell you he was "checking out his form to ensure proper lifting technique"). He noticed that there was swelling right above his collar bone. The bump didn't go away after a few days and thus Nate headed to a Dr. for the first time in almost a decade.

Dr. S, the primary care physician, said that overall, Nate was the perfect male specimen (he may not have used those words exactly, but you get the idea). The only abnormality was the enlarged lymph node on top of his collar bone. After and an X-ray that demanded further investigation via C-T scan, it was found that Nate had several swollen lymph nodes along his collar bone and in his chest.  When we were called back into the office of Dr. S for the test results, he was baffled. In fact, he said “Nate, you are a very confusing patient. On paper you look great…but you have these swollen lymph nodes I can’t figure out.” He explained that Nate’s blood work was normal, he was in great shape and experiencing no symptoms, so what was wrong?

Dr. S., confused and concerned, referred us to an oncologist named Dr. H. We were able to get in to see him the very next day. In the consultation with Dr. H, he was also baffled by Nate’s lack of symptoms and the scan results. He said the best course of action would be to remove one of the enlarged lymph nodes and have it biopsied to see if it was lymphoma as well as do a full blood panel to rule out infectious and autoimmune diseases. Therefore, our next stop was to see a surgeon, named Dr. J.

At our consult four days later with Dr. J, he was optimistic that Nate’s swollen lymph nodes should not be a concern, but that we were doing a biopsy to be on the safe side. We were so relieved at the prospect of this being “nothing.”

On Friday, July 13, after not being able to eat anything since mid-night, Nate was wheeled into a 40 minute surgery at 3:30 p.m. (he was super hungry!). Surgery went super well and we were promised results in a week.

After a weekend of recovery and a sad Monday of missing softball games due to stiches in Nate’s trap area preventing throwing and batting, we went in for a follow-up with Oncologist Dr. H. The Dr. said that the blood work came back clean (Praise God!) but the preliminary pathology reports confirming some type of lymphoma. We were shocked. Like really shocked. Plus, we wouldn’t know which kind of lymphoma for another few days, so the waiting game began again. We had a follow-up scheduled with surgeon Dr. J that Friday (7/20) to check on the incision and hopefully to get full test results. Dr. J came into the room rather surprised to see that the initial findings indicated cancer. During our visit with him, the pathologist called and gave us the diagnosis of Nodular Sclerosing Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

Though not our first choice (which of course would have been “healthy”), this was not the worst diagnosis that we could have received. This form of Hodgkin’s Lymphoma is the most common of the four types and is often completely curable with a bit ‘o treatment  (generally speaking chemo therapy and perhaps some radiation).

Today is Saturday…we got the results yesterday and this next week is going to be a bear. Nate has several tests and procedures to find out what stage his cancer is in. On Monday, he goes in for a bone marrow biopsy (yuck!) and later in the week he will have a cardio echo, pulmonary test of some-kind and a full body PET scan (it’s not just for cats, dogs and goldfish, people!). Currently, we know that Nate is in stage 2 (since there is more than one lymph node affected in two areas of his body). And as such, his treatment will most likely 4-6 months of chemo therapy.

After getting the results of the test next week and meeting with oncologist Dr. H, he will give us a set course of treatment (which we plan on getting second opinions to confirm).

Nate’s super-strong, like a super-hero, but even super-heroes get knocked off balance every once in a while. But for the most part, he’s ready to fight, kick some cancer-butt and complete part of his adventure even stronger than he was before (if you can image…).

Right now, we need prayer for:

·         Patience, flexibility and continued positive attitude through the process

·         Clear test results and communication with the Drs

·         Easy and convenient scheduling of the many, many appointments/tests/procedures coming up this week.

That’s the news. Check back for updates as our adventure continues….