When Robert Rood first started feeling a swelling in his groin that was painful at night, he thought he might have a hernia. He mentioned it at his physical with his MedStar Montgomery Medical Center primary care provider, Christopher Mays, MD, who scheduled Robert for a sonogram and blood work right away. The imaging showed a growth in his lymph nodes, so Dr. Mays referred Robert to Nora Sudarsan, DO, a hematologist and medical oncologist at MedStar Montgomery for a biopsy.
The biopsy confirmed that Robert had diffuse large B cell lymphoma, a type of blood cancer.
“I’m glad Dr. Mays was so proactive,” says Robert. “It only took about a week from my appointment with him to get my diagnosis. Dr. Sudarsan was wonderful. She was incredibly professional from a clinical standpoint, and from a personal point of view, she was caring and engaging. I would recommend her to anyone. She gave my wife and me all the time we needed to ask questions about my treatment options. She clearly explained every step of the process so we were able to start treatment with peace of mind, knowing that I was getting the best care for my cancer.”
Robert underwent six chemotherapy treatments as well as three radiation treatments to the lower back.
“Every single person in the infusion center was fabulous. They were all friendly, informative, always on time, and they even sat with me during my infusions because COVID restrictions meant my wife couldn’t come with me. When I was there, I didn’t feel like a patient, I felt like a friend. I can’t sing their praises enough.”
Until his fifth chemo treatment, Robert was able to walk 2.5 miles a day. “I think staying active helped with my recovery,” he explains.
Robert is now nearly three years post-treatment and is doing very well. He has follow-up CT and PET scans every six months, and they show that his cancer, which was very fast-growing when he was diagnosed, is now very slow growing and under control.
“When he was first diagnosed, Mr. Rood’s lymphoma was an indolent type, which is chronic and incurable, called follicular lymphoma. Some of it transformed into an aggressive and curable lymphoma called diffuse large B cell lymphoma,” explains Dr. Sudarsan. “Treatment cured his aggressive lymphoma, but he still has some of the indolent lymphoma present, which is controlled and not active. Since indolent lymphomas are chronic diseases and not curable, he does not require further treatment at this time and we are monitoring to ensure his cancer does not become more active again with time.”
He’s back to his active lifestyle and even put in a new lawn at his house, tilling the ground, carting new topsoil, and repaving and regrading his entire backyard, all on his own.
“I put my trust in my doctors and they ensured I quickly got the care I needed to get the upper hand on my cancer,” Robert says.