"...we don't like to talk numbers and stages."

Many of the informative internet pages (someone said don't do any research it will only scare you) give the general stat as 5-50% which means roughly that half of those who receive treatment survive 5 years. "Can I get that in writing doctor, that's a better guarantee than I had before I came in here." The other half... and if you did not elect to receive or did not receive the right treatment in time, that becomes much shorter. In my case apparently by the time one finds a mass such as the affected lymph I noticed then it has likely already spread throughout the system and is indeed in the marrow, which the bone marrow biopsy confirmed, it is stage 4. It is not considered curable but can be survived by reaching complete remission (CR). It accounts for 5% of non-hodgkins lymphomas, it is called Mantle Cell Lymphoma or MCL. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/08/Mantle_cell_lymphoma_-_intermed_mag.jpg/400px-Mantle_cell_lymphoma_-_intermed_mag.jpg 

So the main question I have had to ask myself is how do I feel about that. Some people think my dark humor is in poor taste, however at this point like I said "taste is irrelevant." 

So can I get that 5 years in writing? Only I can make them the best or worst years of my life. My life? That is of course another story all by itself....