The Timeline

Cordoba, Argentina--July 2ish, 2008
While on a trip to Cordoba with my dear friend Lauren Brown, I felt a small lump below my jaw bone, to the right. I'm not a hypochondriac at all, in fact, I'm far from it. So when I randomly felt it one day, I didn't really think anything of it.

Mendoza, Argentina--July 28ish, 2008
I woke up one morning after a long night out with my friends to an incredibly swollen and very painful bump (or rather, third cheek) on my face. It was so inflamed that my host-mom, Sylvia, took me to the emergency room that day to get it checked out. They gave me an antibiotic and an anti-inflammatory, the swelling went down a little after three or four days, but it remained a well-defined ball on the right side of my face.

Mendoza, Argentina--August 4ish, 2008
My dad came to Mendoza to visit, needless to say, he was pretty concerned at this random growth. Since he was there, and I was his un-official tour guide, I wasn't able to go to the doctor again until after he left.

Mendoza, Argentina--August 14ish to September 25ish, 2008
I went from doctor to doctor to doctor in Mendoza; I was thoroughly frustrated at the slowness of their health care system and missed the efficiency of U.S. hospitals. This should give you an idea of the pulling and tossing the doctors did to me there. The first doctor sent me to another doctor to get blood work done. So I went and had my blood drawn, the next day returned to the first doctor but after looking at the blood work results, he thought it was an abscessed tooth. He sent me to a dentist. The dentist sent me to a different doctor to get an x-ray, who then sent me to a different doctor to get a different type of x-ray. I then went back to the dentist with the x-rays, and he told me it wasn't a tooth, so he sent me to another doctor. I went to the general practitioner who told me it had to be a salivary gland, so he sent me to get get an x-ray of my kneck and lower face. I took the x-ray back to the doctor. The findings were inconclusive, so he sent me to an ear/nose/throat specialist. The specialist told me it was for sure a stopped up salivary duct, so he sent me to get a needle biopsy (which are about 30 years out of date in the U.S.) and an ultrasound of "the bump." The needle biopsy just showed a bunch of different types of white blood cells. The new specialist then sent me to a different ear/nose/throat specialist who made me have yet another needle biopsy. By this time, I had been calling my dad about everyday, venting and telling him how slow it was going and how frustrated I was. I told him I just wanted to come home to have it taken care of but at the same time I didn't want to leave early. My dad and mom made the executive decision to change my flight to New York (for the 4th of October) to go to Dallas/Fort Worth on July 27th. I went to the second specialist on the 25th just to see the results to see if they had figured anything out, but the specialist told me that the best idea would be to return to the U.S. Thankfully, my parents had made the right decision and I told him I was already going home in two days. Confusing, right??? And the worst part is, you have to pick up all of your own test results from every appointment, and bring them to other doctors to have them analyzed. It's not like in the U.S. where the doctors can fax them, email or mail them.

Dallas/Fort Worth, TX--September 28, 2008
I arrived back to my sweet home of the U.S. of A!!!

Waco, TX--September 29, 2008
I had my first consultation with Dr. Jim Tandy--an ear/nose/throat specialist and family friend from church. He sent me to Providence Hospital to have blood tests and a CT scan.

Waco, TX--September 30, 2008
Tuesday, we went back to Dr. Tandy's office to see my results. He told me it was not my salivary gland, but actually a lymph node. What had taken over two months in Argentina to figure out had taken a total of two days. Dr. Tandy scheduled me for a biopsy, not a needle biopsy like the did in Argentina, but an actual sliver biopsy where they would put me under, cut a 2 inch slit under "the bump" (yes, I have a pretty sweet scar), and take out a large enough piece to get better results. He told me that there were many things it could be, more than likely some sort of virus or infectious disease i had picked up in my travels. He did tell me that there was a slight chance that it could be lymphoma--or cancer of the lymphatic system, but the odds of this were very slight.

Waco, TX--October 1, 2008
Dr. Tandy performs the biopsy. He told my mom that the results should be back by next Wednesday at the earliest--exactly a week away. He also said that what he saw was three very large lymph nodes, which could be a sign of an infectious disease that had taken hold of them, or lymphoma. I woke up from the anastesia, groggy and sore as heck, but excited that it was over and I was headed towards an answer and a solution. As well as New York City for my sister's wedding.

New York, New York--October 3, 2008
Arrive in NYC for my sister's wedding.

New York, New York--October 8, 2008
My dad calls from Texas to tell my mom, sister and I that the biopsy report was back and that I have lymphoma.

New York, New York—October 8 to 11, 2008
We prepared for the wedding. My dad made an appointment for me with an oncologist in Waco, and at the urging of Dr. Tilson (my brother-in-laws father), he also made an appointment at M.D. Anderson in Houston.

Waco, Texas—October 14, 2008
I went to an oncologist in Waco the very next morning that I got back from New York. He told me that I had high-grade, type-B, non-Hodgkins lymphoma (aka Burkitt's Lymphoma). He told us that only 5% of all lymphoma patients are diagnosed with this particular type of lymphoma, and that because it is so uncommon (but not necessarily worse than others), it would be best for us to go to either Dallas or Houston to a bigger hospital asap. Yet again, by the grace of God, we already had an appointment in two days.

Houston, Texas—October 16, 2008
I had an appointment with Dr. McLaughlin, who is specialized in Lymphoma. He was extremely nice and a little quirky, which as you know, I myself am a bit quirky, so naturally I really liked him. After, I had blood taken for some testing, a chest CT scan, and then a pelvis and abdomen CT scan.

Houston, Texas—October 17, 2008
On Friday I had a Cardiac scan and a Bone Marrow aspiration/biopsy (a very strange and slightly painful testing).

Waco, Texas—October 17-19, 2008
After the testing, I returned home for the weekend to spend some time with my family and my two best friends from High School.

Houston, Texas—October 20, 2008
I had a renal ultrasound, resting EKG test, and a PET CT scan. I don’t expect everyone to know what the tests mean, but basically they are doing all these tests to have a base to compare my future test results with for when I am in chemo. Also, some of them will tell us if the cancer has spread.

Houston, Texas—October 21, 2008
Meeting with Dr. Anderson to get the results at 3:00 pm. We will also discuss my chemo regimen, its schedule, its effects, etc. I will definitely update as soon as I can on Tuesday evening.

I DO INTEND ON KEEPING THIS UPDATED BECAUSE I REALIZE THAT THIS IS THE EASIEST WAY TO GET THE FULL STORY OUT TO EVERYONE WITHOUT BEING ON THE PHONE OR COMPUTER ALL DAY :)
I LOVE YOU ALL AND THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART FOR YOUR CONCERN BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY YOUR CONSTANT PRAYERS. I ENJOY READING YOUR EMAILS, MESSAGES, TEXTS, ETC. THEY REALLY DO GIVE ME COURAGE AND HELP TO KEEP MY ATTITUDE POSITIVE.
THANKS AGAIN!

love,
Kendall