Over the past few days, my dear friend, Danielle, has released a Meal Train for us. That release has served as an announcement, of sorts. Rich was reluctant to share the news of his diagnosis until he had the full story... but this is a bit of the history of how we got to this point
So how did we get here?
It all started on November 22nd. We were getting ready to go out to dinner to celebrate our 20th anniversary when Rich dropped a small bomb on me - though we didn't know it was a bomb at the time. He casually mentioned that his bloodwork results from his annual physical were in and showed elevated liver enzymes. I jokingly replied "well that's because you're an alcoholic. Your liver finally had enough. Lay off the sauce."
Admittedly, I didn't really believe this as I was saying it. There was a time when Rich was a heavy daily drinker. Though never a drunk or out of control, he found himself on the couch, unwinding with sports and 3-4 beers each night. It was his ritual and habit. However since he tore his knee up in October 2022, he had consumed far less alcohol than we were used to seeing. Beer was still a part of our day-to-day...can't make tacos without finishing a beer first. After all, you need an empty can for the grease... But it wasn't as prevalent for the year leading up to this bloodwork.
The weeks between his initial bloodwork and the retest seemed to drag. But on 12/19, the news was back: liver enzymes were still elevated. Something was amiss. on 12/21, he went for an ultrasound of his abdominal cavity. Given the closeness to the holidays, he was warned that he wouldn't have results for a while - possibly until after Christmas.
But we had results within two hours. His liver, spleen and lymph nodes were enlarged. Something was definitely amiss.
Next step was a CT with contrast - which he had done on 12/26. Again, he was guided that we might not have results for a while because of the timing of the test. Within an hour, we had results that confirmed not only that his liver, spleen and lymph nodes were enlarged - but also found what appeared to be a mass in his liver.
He called me with the news. I drove around and cried for about an hour. I stopped by to see a friend. I called my Mom. I surrounded myself with as much delusional positivity as I could get - knowing full well that something was very, very wrong here.
When I think about the last week of 2023, I don't really remember much about what we did or didn't do. I know I worked. I know I had activities with kids. I know I went to my parents' house and my mom and I got matching tattoos. But it all feels very blurry - because everything I was doing was seen through a thick, gray cloud of worry and anxiety.
It was decided on 12/29 that he was to have a PET scan before the biopsy. We had to wait 11 days from then until the actual PET scan...and another two days before we saw a doctor to get the results.
This whole time, Rich's champion has been his primary care physician, Dr. Vincet DiPietro.Dr. DiPietro has been on top of every test, every lab result, and has reached out on Rich's behalf to more than one specialist. As we launch into this new, scary territory, I feel a sense of comfort knowing that Dr. DiPietro moved this along at a warp speed, especially since Rich didn't present with any symptoms at the time of the initial testing. It was Dr. DiPietro that first
There is still so much unknown about what comes next.
