My name is Chrissy and I live in the United States. I love my hubby/caretaker and we enjoy car shows, boating, and our animals.
I was diagnosed stage 3 at the age of 39.
In 2018/2019 I kept having kidney stones and when I was in the ER, they kept scanning me. The first time I had the stones they said I had something on my spleen. Fast forward 8 months later I had stones for the second time, but this time after they scanned me, they said the spot has now more than tripled in size with a solid mass inside my spleen. By this point, my spleen was also enlarged, and I was having side pains and issues eating. I was terrified, especially after Googling, but my strength came when my hubby helped me through and found the best surgeon and oncologist near our home in NY.
After many gruelling tests and scans, I then had my spleen removed to find out exactly what the mass was. After 5 days I came home to recoup and follow up with my surgeon. My hubby and I waited for the doctor to come in and I heard whispering outside the exam room, several times the doctors came in, looked at the chart and my results and then left the room. The next time they came in we knew it wasn’t good – the biopsy came back B cell follicular lymphoma. I felt dizzy and collapsed in the hallway crying. Thank goodness for my hubby and his family for their support. And thank goodness for my kidney stones or else I wouldn’t have known about it until it was too late.
My biggest headache and issue with FL has been working with my insurance carrier and their third-party company to get PET scans approved. During the most difficult phase of my life, the last thing we needed was added stress and aggravation from the insurance company.
A couple of words of advice I would like to offer others is;
