Bullet Points on my Recent Health Journeys

-I started getting healthy a couple of years ago.  I quit smoking in 2024. ( I know many of you don’t know I was a smoker, but yep, that was me).  Ironically, I quit smoking in solidarity with a close friend that was going through his own battle with cancer.

-In 2025 in the process of deciding if I wanted to do Bariatric Surgery, I started losing weight.  I decided to do the gastric sleeve surgery.  Surgery was December 2, 2025.  No complications, pretty quick healing, diet is complicated but going well.

-Bloodwork before the surgery was very normal.

-After some more weight loss, I started working out, mostly Yoga and Zumba.
-Important note, my yoga instructor is 75 years old and comes to class using a walker.  

So things were looking up, I was losing weight and more active than I had been in years. I was feeling very strong.

 

-I got a couple of inflamed lymph nodes behind my ears.  But they shrunk and went away so I just filed it away. 

-Started doing Yoga 2 times per week and Zumba 3x per week.  Lots of energy

 

-Around Feb 20th, I noticed swollen lymph nodes in my neck.  Very swollen.  Dr. Google said, maybe I had an infection or “cat scratch fever”.  My cats scratch me pretty often, so, maybe?

- On Feb 26th, I went to convenient care to get looked at because I thought maybe I had the mumps?  They tested me for covid, flu, mono, strep, and did a CBC.  All tests were negative.  They also believed I was fighting a viral infection and just had to wait it out.

-Convenient Care contacted me about a low white blood cell count on the CBC.  I went in and re-retested, still got a low white blood cell count.

- I noticed a swollen lump in my armpit.

-Hematology reviewed my blood test and also thinks its an “infection” and to follow up with my primary.

 

The earliest I could get in to see my primary care provider was late March.  My lymph nodes did not shrink and continued to swell (slightly).  I couldn’t really tell at this point if they were growing, but I know they were not shrinking.

-I called and requested to be on a cancellation list.  Then I called to see any available provider.  I was getting nervous.

-Still Dr. Google said that the signs of lymphoma included: fever, fatigue, night sweats, vomiting, rapid weight loss, body rashes.  I had none of these symptoms and still felt very physically healthy.  I continued going to Yoga and Zumba, without issue.

-Around the 2nd week of March, I wasn’t exactly fatigued, but Zumba kicked my ass.  I could barely make it through a class that I was completing successfully a few weeks ago.