Chevy's Lymphoma fight - round 2: 2020
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This fundraiser is for my 19 year old son, Chevy. He is one of the hardest working people that I know. He is working so hard to get through school to become a nurse.
Chevy had been coughing for nearly a month when I finally convinced him to go see our doctor at their urgent care. Being a nurse myself, I know that anything that long needs to be addressed. When he was diagnosed with what they thought was walking pneumonia on February 5th, they did a chest x-ray to ensure that it wasn't a different kind of pneumonia. A telephone call on February 8th changed our perspective. The doctor wanted him to get a CT scan of his chest as soon as he could as the chest x-ray showed mediastinal widening (widening in his chest near his lungs). Now being a nurse is a blessing and a curse some times. Those of us in the medical field know a lot of things sometimes. Of course, this Mom was very worried as it could be an infection or worst case scenario, Lymphoma.
On Saturday, February 9th, Chevy showed me the lymph nodes in his neck area. They were pretty angry! He was encouraged to make the CT scan as soon as possible to figure out what in the world was making them so big!
By Monday, February 11th, those same lymph nodes tripled in size! After begging and pleading, he was finally convinced to go the ER after classes on Tuesday the 12th. He is a very motivated student and there was no way he was leaving class or missing it on Tuesday. A mother's worry is something fierce. It consumes your every thought until things can be figured out.
On Tuesday, February 12th, we visited Medical Center of the Rockies. He was having so much trouble catching his breath, was coughing so badly and was beyond exhausted. Labs were drawn, his CT scan of his chest was completed and the kindest hospitalist came in and had to do one of his most difficult tasks. Notifying a 19 year old that he likely had cancer and that he would be admitted and an oncologist would be in to talk to him. Thankfully we both had an idea that this would likely be the outcome. Chevy was admitted to the hospital. That night we got a little bit more information on what was happening. His cough was being cause by enlarged lymph nodes in his chest that were pushing his trachea over. His labs were a mess and he had lymph nodes that were enlarged that he didn't even know about.
On Wednesday, February 13th, we were able to speak with the hospital's oncologist and the hospitalist. The oncologist advised that he had all the symptoms of classic Hodgkin's lymphoma and that he would be having a biopsy of one of the lymph nodes in his neck area. After much discussion, it was determined that he would be put under anesthesia and a lymph node removed. There were some scary moments when the anesthesiologist advised that normal procedure could not be followed as his trachea was curved and could potentially collapse when he was intubated. After many hours of waiting, he finally went in for the surgery at 5 pm. They were able to remove only half of the lymph node as it was bigger than they originally thought and it was too close to arteries and nerves that run under the clavicle. Chevy had a difficult time coming off of anesthesia that night. He vomited multiple times and I'm not sure that I have ever seen him that grey/yellowish color before. Overnight he was able to get most of it out of his system and by the next day, he was feeling much better.
On Thursday the 14th, he was discharged from the hospital with an awesome new scar on his chest and a new patient appointment with an oncologist.
The waiting period between the 14th and today was a little rough. The lymph nodes got a lot bigger during this time period and Chevy has just been worn out.
Today, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma, likely stage 3 pending a bone marrow biopsy. He will need to have a port placed in his chest, a echocardiogram (ultrasound of his heart) and will then start chemotherapy every other week for 6-8 months depending on how the cancer responds to treatment. He has so many things happening in the next week! Combining all of this with mid terms for school, he is feeling a bit overwhelmed!
He will now have some personal experience in the medical world as a patient that will benefit him in the future. He is not one to ask for any help and neither am I. We are confronted with significant medical expenses. Chevy's life is worth more than any medical treatment costs could amount to. So here we are, asking for some help to manage our normal lives and save Chevy's. The bills have not all rolled in yet but even with insurance, we will have many things to fund including:
-ER visit
-CT scan
-blood work
-2 days inpatient at the hospital
-Surgery and anesthesia
-Surgical Biopsy and resulting
-PET scan ($1500 out of pocket each time)
-Echocardiogram
-Surgery to place a port and anesthesia
-Bone marrow biopsy, anesthesia and resulting
-Chemotherapy every other week for 6-8 months+
-blood work every other week for 6-8 months+
-Another PET scan in 2 months
-Many doctor visits between consults and regular follow ups
-I'm sure that there are many more things to come!!
While this is for financial funding, thoughts and prayers are so much appreciated. We also would be so appreciative of sharing of our fundraiser. This benefits our entire family in many, many ways! We cannot say thank you enough for all of the support that we have already received and for all of the support in the future. This path is not one that anyone chooses but we get out of life what we put into it. No matter what, we will fight this and support each other through this difficult process! Thank you all! #chevyslyphomafight
Much love,
Amanda
Chevy had been coughing for nearly a month when I finally convinced him to go see our doctor at their urgent care. Being a nurse myself, I know that anything that long needs to be addressed. When he was diagnosed with what they thought was walking pneumonia on February 5th, they did a chest x-ray to ensure that it wasn't a different kind of pneumonia. A telephone call on February 8th changed our perspective. The doctor wanted him to get a CT scan of his chest as soon as he could as the chest x-ray showed mediastinal widening (widening in his chest near his lungs). Now being a nurse is a blessing and a curse some times. Those of us in the medical field know a lot of things sometimes. Of course, this Mom was very worried as it could be an infection or worst case scenario, Lymphoma.
On Saturday, February 9th, Chevy showed me the lymph nodes in his neck area. They were pretty angry! He was encouraged to make the CT scan as soon as possible to figure out what in the world was making them so big!
By Monday, February 11th, those same lymph nodes tripled in size! After begging and pleading, he was finally convinced to go the ER after classes on Tuesday the 12th. He is a very motivated student and there was no way he was leaving class or missing it on Tuesday. A mother's worry is something fierce. It consumes your every thought until things can be figured out.
On Tuesday, February 12th, we visited Medical Center of the Rockies. He was having so much trouble catching his breath, was coughing so badly and was beyond exhausted. Labs were drawn, his CT scan of his chest was completed and the kindest hospitalist came in and had to do one of his most difficult tasks. Notifying a 19 year old that he likely had cancer and that he would be admitted and an oncologist would be in to talk to him. Thankfully we both had an idea that this would likely be the outcome. Chevy was admitted to the hospital. That night we got a little bit more information on what was happening. His cough was being cause by enlarged lymph nodes in his chest that were pushing his trachea over. His labs were a mess and he had lymph nodes that were enlarged that he didn't even know about.
On Wednesday, February 13th, we were able to speak with the hospital's oncologist and the hospitalist. The oncologist advised that he had all the symptoms of classic Hodgkin's lymphoma and that he would be having a biopsy of one of the lymph nodes in his neck area. After much discussion, it was determined that he would be put under anesthesia and a lymph node removed. There were some scary moments when the anesthesiologist advised that normal procedure could not be followed as his trachea was curved and could potentially collapse when he was intubated. After many hours of waiting, he finally went in for the surgery at 5 pm. They were able to remove only half of the lymph node as it was bigger than they originally thought and it was too close to arteries and nerves that run under the clavicle. Chevy had a difficult time coming off of anesthesia that night. He vomited multiple times and I'm not sure that I have ever seen him that grey/yellowish color before. Overnight he was able to get most of it out of his system and by the next day, he was feeling much better.
On Thursday the 14th, he was discharged from the hospital with an awesome new scar on his chest and a new patient appointment with an oncologist.
The waiting period between the 14th and today was a little rough. The lymph nodes got a lot bigger during this time period and Chevy has just been worn out.
Today, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma, likely stage 3 pending a bone marrow biopsy. He will need to have a port placed in his chest, a echocardiogram (ultrasound of his heart) and will then start chemotherapy every other week for 6-8 months depending on how the cancer responds to treatment. He has so many things happening in the next week! Combining all of this with mid terms for school, he is feeling a bit overwhelmed!
He will now have some personal experience in the medical world as a patient that will benefit him in the future. He is not one to ask for any help and neither am I. We are confronted with significant medical expenses. Chevy's life is worth more than any medical treatment costs could amount to. So here we are, asking for some help to manage our normal lives and save Chevy's. The bills have not all rolled in yet but even with insurance, we will have many things to fund including:
-ER visit
-CT scan
-blood work
-2 days inpatient at the hospital
-Surgery and anesthesia
-Surgical Biopsy and resulting
-PET scan ($1500 out of pocket each time)
-Echocardiogram
-Surgery to place a port and anesthesia
-Bone marrow biopsy, anesthesia and resulting
-Chemotherapy every other week for 6-8 months+
-blood work every other week for 6-8 months+
-Another PET scan in 2 months
-Many doctor visits between consults and regular follow ups
-I'm sure that there are many more things to come!!
While this is for financial funding, thoughts and prayers are so much appreciated. We also would be so appreciative of sharing of our fundraiser. This benefits our entire family in many, many ways! We cannot say thank you enough for all of the support that we have already received and for all of the support in the future. This path is not one that anyone chooses but we get out of life what we put into it. No matter what, we will fight this and support each other through this difficult process! Thank you all! #chevyslyphomafight
Much love,
Amanda
Organizer
Amanda Jarman
Organizer
Fort Collins, CO
