Young cousin diagnosed with Non-Hodgekins Lymphoma

Oh school is excellent for L. The more normalcy, the better.

Reyn, I'm so glad the treatment all (clearly!) worked for you.

Reyn, Do you know whay they went with radiation and not chemo? Glad you're healthy since!

Hi Kris, sorry I didn't get back to you sooner, but I'm back at work working full time these days.

The reason, in my case, why radiation was used, rather than chemo was because my cancer was still isolated in one part of my body (the exit of my stomach). Having said that though, they did not take any chances and radiated much of my lower torso, including all my organs, front and back.

I imagine they did this to hedge their bet about the diagnosis, just in case they were wrong.

Generally speaking, it is my understanding that chemo is used to either treat larger areas (shotgun effect) or areas where radiation is not practical or inaccessible, or just won't work. I may be wrong on that though.

The lymphomas are a tricky cancer, because it gets into the lymph system and can travel anywhere in the body fairly quickly. Therefore, if not caught early, the outcome can be devastingly depressing. Not to scare you, but, again, this was my understanding that once one notices that they have symptoms, it can be quite uncertain as to "how much time one has" or if you'll be able to be "cured".

I take that last word with a lot of caution, as it can lead to a false sense of well-being.

I am one of those "lucky ones" that oncologists consider "cured". What they don't tell you is that one may be open to other cancers way down the road due to the fact of compromised immune systems, or one may have been in a very long remission due to a slow-growing cancer.

In the end, one can only hope for the best. In the case of young folks having cancer, it's very hard to take. Fingers crossed.

luckily, her lymphoma hadn't spread to spinal or marrow liquids. I'm not sure they did a full body CAT/PET scan.

Why are you back to work full-time? How's your wife's health?

I'm glad to see that the cancer hasn't spread as far as you've said. That can only give more hope for a better outcome, for sure.

My oldest daughter just got out of an abusive relationship of nearly 8 years with her ex-boyfriend. My wife and I have helped with initial expenses for her to buy a 2 bedroom apartment of her own.

It's going to take me at least a year to work and get back to the amount of money we had before we helped out.

In the meantime, Vivienne's father has just moved back to Canada from England and will be renting the 2nd bedroom (with it's separate bathroom) from our daughter. This will help immensely and will be her safety net.

Last year, Vivienne had the massive stomach hernia operation done which she came through fine and all is okay with that part. But, there's a large amount of medical mesh inside her which her body is reacting to. Her body is producing fluid which is building up particularly on one side of her stomach area. She has already had it drained once, and is due next week to have it drained again.

The doctor says it's likely that several more drainings will be required and the hope is that eventually her body will produce less and less fluid.

Fingers crossed on that, too.

If you have any other questions about the cancer I had, I'll try my best to answer, but it's been a while, so I've probably blocked some of it out by now. It's not something I dwell on too much.

Glad to hear that V's problems are expected to abate. Sorry about your daughter's experience, but glad she's turning a new page.

I wish I had questions for you, but I don't know enough to know what to ask. And those who are closest to my cousin are good about passing details around. If I have a question I think is worthy of you spending the time to answer it, I'll ask. Thank you.

Wow, Reyn, a lot on your family's collective plate recently (she says, providing the understatement of the decade). I'm glad things are moving towards positive resolutions. So glad your daughter got out. And V, hope her health gets better and better.

Thanks Kris and Jes.

I've been so preoccupied that I forgot to mention that for the second year in a row now there has been a "suspicious mass" found in her right breast.

Last year, it "supposedly" was found out to be "nothing" and if there was something there, it was gone now. Perhaps a water-filled cyst? Who knows.

Anyway, she's having to go through the same routine this year. The waiting for the tests is nerve-wracking for us. She's had further mammography and later this month, the ultrasound test will be done.

I'm hoping like heck that this will also be okay, but I'm determined to find out what is causing these false (?) readings.

I'm happy that re-imaging was done before biopsies and other surgeries.

My cousin is half-way through her planned therapy! She continues to be upbeat in spite of the post treatment return trips to the hospital with The Sick that follows. She has been attending school to whatever extent she can. She even did some project adventure ropes courses last week.

I'm pleased to hear that she's made progress. I hope she comes through this experience successfully.

Oh excellent! It's frightfully easy to get discouraged. Positive, positive, even if it feels silly. It really does make a difference.

Cool kid.

Checking in LilK and cuz....

hoping all is as ticketyboo as is can be.... hugs LilK



Reyn: hows you and yours doing?


x

Cousin's hanging in there. It seems that everyone has the heads wrapped around it all now. She has 4 more therapies to go to and then radiation. Radiation for such a young'n is scary because of possible complications in her later life. But, such is the nature of the beast. Her last PET scan showed a tumor shrinkage in the range they were hoping for (well, they were hoping for it to be gone, but.....). They're going to have a fund-drive/auction sometime soon to raise money. I can't raise money, but I could donate objects for sale.

Thanks for asking, Izzie. I am also wondering about Mrs. Reyn.

Thanks for the update, Kris. Things are progressing with your cousin, I see. I will be waiting for the outcome after radiation. My immune system was compromised all those years ago, but it's not the end of the world. In my case, it did bounce back a lot, although not quite 100%. Fingers crossed.

As for Vivienne, the end result of her latest test (breast lump) was "don't worry, be happy" kind of thing. All seems okay, but no doubt, the same scenario will be repeated next year again.

As far as the ongoing saga as a result of the post stomach hernia operation, the fluid continues to build-up. She had her 3rd draining a few weeks back, and several more are anticipated. The doc wants her to try to wait longer between drainings.

The left side of her abdomin is a bit of a pecular sight with the bulged area. She mentally copes the best she can, but I know it wears her down.

Chin up continues. Thanks for enquiring.

Good lump, bad water gain.... I like it that way and not the other way around. Glad you and she have a chin-up attitude.

Reyn, glad that Vivienne is better -- despite the abdominal issues.

littlek -- will your family be doing fundraising here in Mass.?

Jes, I think it'll happen out in Western MA wher thy live. I don't have any details yet.

I got the postcard for the fund raiser. It's November 22 and it's in Western Ma (Florence).