June 15th 2010

Life is full of surprises. Most are pleasant......something to smile about. Some are not. Most do not rock your life.......some do.

Hilary had her annual check up less than a month ago. Surprise, surprise!! What's this lump in your abdomen? Didn't you notice it? Nope!!

You have a swollen spleen! Hmmmm....what's a spleen? What does it do?

Lotsa questions but it's just a swelling.

MCL is an acronym for Mantle Cell Lymphoma. Doesn't sound very nice and it probably isn't!! It's actually cancer of the B-cell in your bloodstream. There we go the dreaded "C" word!! So much for just a swelling!! A very rare cancer of the blood. Shit....before 1992 they didn't even know what it was!! Whoever "they" were.

So there or rather here we are. The first step of a journey my wife and friend has to take. I can hear her laughing on the phone just now as she tells a close friend of the surprise in her life. Bloody typical! It's hard to knock her down.

She's had some tests already including a bone marrow biopsy which enabled the hospital to arrive at a diagnosis. Shortly she has a battery of tests. A CT scan on Friday plus a Gallium scan over three days.

Once these tests are done a course of chemo will be recommended.

Tennis is finished for her for the forseeable future. Apparently the enlarged spleen is a concern. She can play golf though.

She's losing weight and not eating as the spleen is exerting pressure on her stomach. (I can still hear her laughing)

I can't sleep at night for worrying and she's lying there snoring her head off. Can you beat it??

There is no cure for MCL but it can be thrown into major remission with the proper treatment. Hil's positive attitude will bring her through it for sure. She'll have a terrific support group and our lives will go on, perhaps not as before but they will go on.

We'll keep a blog of the journey. Feel free to comment if you wish.