Author: Michael

So some news: it has been 20 years since I was diagnosed with mantle cell lymphoma and almost 18 since I walked out of Penn lymphoma-free post chemo. So it was time to do something I had not done since just before my diagnosis: Get a damn physical (and not from my oncologist). I have to be honest. I’ve been putting this off for years. For all I knew my once pretty low cholesterol had skyrocketed and I was one bucket of movie theater popcorn away from a major coronary event. Or my single kidney (you may recall that I found out I had a single kidney at my first full body CT scan in 2005) decided to quit from all the Nerds candy I love to eat. Well, I’ve got news. First, my platelets were at 224 today, a Mike Yudell post-chemo/post-lymphoma record! And all my other labs were totally normal. No high cholesterol. No elevated or depressed levels of anything. So life has gone on. Hard to believe what I and our family went through. So grateful to just be here. To get to do amazing things with my family and at work. To hold my beautiful wife’s hand every day. And to see my two incredible daughters growing up. As always, thanks to Steve Schuster and the amazing care team at Penn for saving my life all those years ago.

Hi everyone, in the middle of the madness and sadness of the past few days, wanted to share some good news. In April of 2007, I walked out of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania after a brutal year of chemo for mantle cell lymphoma. And this week, almost 17 years later, I had my biennial check up (graduated to that at the last visit), and got the all clear. For all of you who were there for us so many years ago and gave us support and the strength to get through, thank you. Sending love and gratitude.

On March 21 I had my 15 year check up with Steve Schuster at Penn, where I got the all clear. When I was diagnosed now 17 years ago the literature was pretty grim. But Schuster told me I should be ok (he was right!) and I am grateful every day that I am. Love to all those who were there for us for what is now truly back in the day. Getting older is a gift, and so is having amazing family and great friends to share this crazy journey with.

In the midst of COVID, I had my 14 year check up back in February. Always great to see Schuster and the amazing team at Penn. Got the all clear. Amazing that lymphoma is now so long ago. Good health to all during these difficult times!

Very happy to report that my annual check up went perfectly two weeks ago and that this year is 13 years post-chemo and 15 years post-diagnosis. Wishing good health and durable remissions to all the MCL and lymphoma patients and survivors out there!!!

Was reminded by a kind visitor to the blog today to post an update, which I have not done in almost two years (sorry!). All is well here, and 2020 will be my 15th year as a mantle cell survivor (13 years post-chemo).

I still go for annual check ups, which all this time later still elicit some anxiety, but in general are ok.

Wishing anyone checking my blog to learn more about my story surviving MCL good health in the new year. Happy holidays everyone!!! Happy New Year!

 

 

This past Wednesday, after waiting for more than two hours, having driven my blood pressure up and popping a low fever (a bad case of white coat syndrome I sometimes get in these moments), I saw my doctor at Penn and got a clean bill of health. As my younger daughter sweetly told me to write, this is my 10th year of not having cancer. There it is. So many emotions. The remission is durable and life has gone on. When I was diagnosed with MCL 6 weeks after I got married, and when I was in treatment during the year my older daughter was born, the literature was grim and we didn’t quite know what lay ahead. Yet here we are. A few months after I finished treatment 10 years ago a paper came out suggesting that this, 10 years later with nothing blocking the future, would be the case. What a beautiful thing when statistics meets life in this way. It’s good to be here.

Just a quick note to let everyone who is still paying attention out there know (yea, you, in the green shirt in Wisconsin) that all is well here, that I had my 9 year check up in April, and that I got the all clear once again. Yay!!!

For the first time in many years, I was nervous (more like a bit panicked) in the weeks leading up to the visit. But all was perfect. And life goes on, as it has for more than nine years now.

I had my every-nine-month checkup this morning.

All clear.

On the one hand, hard to believe that all of that happened. Lymphoma gets smaller and smaller in the rear view.

On the other hand, though the risk of relapse is smaller and smaller, in my quiet moments, there is still fear.

Some photos from lymphoma memory lane… Hard to believe.

Also, come walk with us at the Lymphoma Walk this Saturday…

http://lrf.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.team&teamID=5431

And one of us all now.

Last Monday I visited Penn for my bi-annual check up. My usually M.O. is to delay the visit for a few weeks. Which I did. For almost two months. Which turned up the anxiety level for the visit. It needn’t had. I got the all clear from Schuster. My counts were robust–my platelets the highest they’d been in the almost 7 years since chemo finished weighing in at 183!!!

This visit turned into my seven year post-chemo visit because Schuster graduated me from an every six-month visit for a check up to an every nine-month visit. We’ll see if my anxiety level can withstand the new timeframe. I think it will.

But this is really great news and we couldn’t be happier.