My 37 year old husband has been sick for approx. 3 months now and
things are getting worse by the day. He started with a bad cough back
in November 07. He then developed orchitis and was put on Cipro. The
Cipro seemed to heal the coughing and took away the pain of the
orchitis. After the first course of meds was over, he developed lower
left abdominal/groin pain as well as low back pain. It was suggested
that he take another course of Cipro, which he did. The pain in his
testicle is pretty much gone but there is still discomfort. He still
has the lower abdominal pain which he characterizes as a stabbing pain
as well as the low back pain.
His cough is back with a
vengence and has become so bad that his whole chest hurts all of the
time and he has possibly cracked a rib from coughing so hard. He is
finding it increasingly hard to breathe. He says he can inhale without
a problem but when he exhales, it feels like he's choking. All of this
subsides when he is lying down. He does not cough at all while he is
sleeping.
He had an eye infection (what we thought was pink
eye approx. 1 1/2 months ago). The redness disappeared after approx. 2
weeks but all of the other issues such as excessive watering,
itchiness, crusting, etc. are still happening. He has be prescribed
several different eye medications but none of them has really helped.
He
has troubles sleeping and has terrible night sweats to the point where
the sheets and pillows are soaked. He also seems to have circulation
issues in his arms now when he sleeps. If he has his arm resting across
his chest, after about 1/2 hour, he can barely move his arm out of that
position.
He has problems hearing now especially out of his
right ear. He says he feels like his ears are plugged or need to be
popped. He hears his own voice much louder than other voices and isn't
sure how loud he is talking.
He has lost approx. 10 pounds in
the last 3 months although he used to be at the gym everyday so it may
be muscle mass. He has lost his appetite but eats anyway because he
knows he should.
He has dark yellow and cloudy urine whereas previously it was closer to clear.
In the last 2-3 days, he has developed pain in his right knee. He says it feels like someone kicked him in the knee.
Having
said all of that, he has been to doctors and has had blood tests,
ultrasounds of his left testicle and lower abdomen and a chest x-ray.
Of all the tests done everything has come back negative except for:
His
blood has come back "Epstein-Barr Reactive" "Compatible w EBV
infection, possibly reactivation or past infection. The results should
be interpreted in the context of the clinical signs & symptoms"
As for his testicle, "note is made of a moderate left varicocele"
Abdominal ultrasound ""examination of the left groin reveals the presence of a small lymph node"
An internist told him not to even think about the lymph node. It's nothing. But that's where his pain is.
The
internist also mentioned he wanted to do a CT scan for malignant
lymphoma. He hasn't had this done yet but will be doing it in the next
week or 2.
After reading the above, does this sounds like it
could be lymphoma of any kind? Burkitt's perhaps since there seems to
be a tie to Epstein-Barr? We are at a loss. Doctors keep saying it's a
virus that will go away. It just doesn't seem that way. I would love
that to be the simple answer but I'm not convinced.
My husband
is a different person these days. He's weak, always tired and just
doesn't have the energy and drive anymore. He's depressed and it's hard
to see him this way.
I apologize for such a long post but that's the big picture. Any words of wisdom?
Thanks so much for reading this far.