I think I have lymphoma

[RobDickinson]

My brother in law went through this a couple years ago. Chemo and radio. Hit him hard but he is all clear and doing great.

hang in there!

[dave_s13]

Good luck cheif!

[robm3]

Good luck to you!

[audikentman]

Thanks for the positive vibes all. Big clump of hair in the shower this morning Thought I'd make it to my 50th birthday with my silver locks, on the plus side now I should at least make it to my 50th birthday Only 7 tablets for breakfast today and it gets a lot less after 3 days, most are anti sickness after the chemo. Then start building up for the next session. Everyone says the chemo and the radio knock it out of you more physically than the lymphoma, but the chemo and radio are making you better its the lymphoma that will kill you.

[croyde]

It's unfortunate that the cure makes you so ill. I watched my ex battle breast cancer for the past 2 years and the treatment was brutal but so far she now looks clear.

[boobles]

croyde said:

It's unfortunate that the cure makes you so ill. I watched my ex battle breast cancer for the past 2 years and the treatment was brutal but so far she now looks clear.

How very true. It seems strange that they would pump your body with "poison" (chemo)
to make you better in the long run.

[Biggles111]

audikentman said:

Thanks for the positive vibes all. Big clump of hair in the shower this morning Thought I'd make it to my 50th birthday with my silver locks, on the plus side now I should at least make it to my 50th birthday Only 7 tablets for breakfast today and it gets a lot less after 3 days, most are anti sickness after the chemo. Then start building up for the next session. Everyone says the chemo and the radio knock it out of you more physically than the lymphoma, but the chemo and radio are making you better its the lymphoma that will kill you.

Yes, the hair loss is a bit weird even for us chaps, and often not just lost from the head.

After chemo my hair came back far better than I ever had it before, so there may be an upside! I now go to the 'posh' hairdresser my wife uses, ironically the lady washing my hair commented on what lovely thick hair I had - I said I had recently had chemo and it was all new hair, it turned out she had lymphoma 12 years ago, is now well and has 2 daughters, great stuff.

[audikentman]

Cheers, booked a weeks holiday in September to give me something to aim for once the chemo etc has finished. I'm feeling confident , after the 1st session the cough and night sweats stopped, the lymph nodes on my neck shrunk, now after 2 sessions the nodes on my neck have gone. 2 down, a meeting with the consultant after 4 then another 4 to go

[br d]

audikentman said:

Cheers, booked a weeks holiday in September to give me something to aim for once the chemo etc has finished. I'm feeling confident , after the 1st session the cough and night sweats stopped, the lymph nodes on my neck shrunk, now after 2 sessions the nodes on my neck have gone. 2 down, a meeting with the consultant after 4 then another 4 to go

Well I know nothing at all about your condition audi but the nodes disappearing has to be a good sign. Keep on keeping on sir.

[audikentman]

Had my 3rd (of 8) dance with the Red devil on Tuesday, went ok until Tuesday night, couldn't sleep more than about 2 hours, my legs felt like they had fire running through them and what felt like acid in my throat on the positives all most half way hopefully and 1st Day in over 2 months I've not had to take any tablets for breakfast.

[croyde]

Still thinking of ya fella. Have you booked a holiday yet?

[audikentman]

Yes, booked a week in Turkey just after my birthday, something to relax and take my mind of the treatment, works out about a week before I go back to work, just wanted something to pull a full stop on the treatment and then look forward to 2016.

[croyde]

Great idea

[fridaypassion]

Kick its arse!

[Moominho]

My dad has just found out he has lymphoma, initially thy suspected Bowel Cancer. They have now referred him to the Haemotology department of the hospital and we are waiting to hear from them. It's a scary time for us, and as he's quite old (75) I'm very nervous that it won't be something that is possible to treat. Reading the updates on this thread has really helped, best of luck to all on here.

[audikentman]

Thanks for the wishes and good vibes everyone, getting ready for the Friday blood test then a 'good' weekend before getting ready for Tuesdays 4th (of 8) chemo blasts.
@Moominho really sorry to hear about your Dad joining the Hodgkins club we are a pretty exclusive club, only 1,700 a year in the UK, compared with 50,000 breast cancer cases, I would guess though its a better cancer than what you 1st thought it was though, they consultants all say its one that has a high treatment success rate. If you want any advice on what its like please ask. I've cut meat from my diet as it can hinder your digestive system and it also lets you eat more fruit and veggies at every meal, I bought a Nutri Ninja juicer if my mouth gets any ulcers straight after the chemo session I just blitz some stuff into a juice or smoothie to still get my vitamins in. I've tried to face this head on and fight the fker. I found this blog the other day and it could have been written by me tbh http://www.chroniclesofacancerpatient.com/

[Moominho]

audikentman said:

Thanks for the wishes and good vibes everyone, getting ready for the Friday blood test then a 'good' weekend before getting ready for Tuesdays 4th (of 8) chemo blasts.
@Moominho really sorry to hear about your Dad joining the Hodgkins club we are a pretty exclusive club, only 1,700 a year in the UK, compared with 50,000 breast cancer cases, I would guess though its a better cancer than what you 1st thought it was though, they consultants all say its one that has a high treatment success rate. If you want any advice on what its like please ask. I've cut meat from my diet as it can hinder your digestive system and it also lets you eat more fruit and veggies at every meal, I bought a Nutri Ninja juicer if my mouth gets any ulcers straight after the chemo session I just blitz some stuff into a juice or smoothie to still get my vitamins in. I've tried to face this head on and fight the fker. I found this blog the other day and it could have been written by me tbh http://www.chroniclesofacancerpatient.com/

Thanks mate, you are an inspiration. Enjoy your weekend and I hope Tuesday goes as smoothly as possible.

[audikentman]

Thanks, I hope they get something sorted for your Dad soon, my 1st blood test was ordered by the Doctor on 16th February, I had my 1st session of Chemo before the end of April, things seem to move pretty fast once the wheels are put in motion.
Blood test done yesterday, I'm suprised I have any left, hopefully the counts will be ok, now on countdown until the next dance with the red devil at Kings Collage Hospital on Tuesday that will be number 4 of 8, halfway

[audikentman]

4th of 8 sessions today, halfway there
My white blood cell count was high in February 14.4 x 10 9/l. Results for Fridays test were @ 0.6, due to them being so low I had another test before todays chemo now @ 0.26, they should be 4 - 11 x 10 9/l (4,000 to 11,000 per cubic millimeter of blood) If I understood correctly
I now have a nice goody bag of even more drugs than usual including 6 shots of Zarzio to inject into my stomach for the next 6 days

Edited by audikentman on Wednesday 10th June 16:05

Edited by audikentman on Wednesday 10th June 16:15

[Moominho]

Sorry to hear about your ever increasing drugs cocktail, however you are halfway there! Stay strong.

My dad was officially diagnosed on Tuesday, he was told he has Mantle Cell Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. He started his R-CHOP chemo on Wednesday. He'll be doing this first lot in the hospital, then after 2 weeks, he will just be attending as a day patient.

All the best mate...