Hi I am glad i found this group I just turned 30 in February ,married with 2 children. I had severe itching all over, started with hands and feet, had that for 8 months prior to waking up with huge lump on my neck on March 30th, that also showed in chest in first CT.Went to ER that day and within 7 days had needle biopsy on neck, 2 CT's,petscan, heart, lung, and BM biopsy (painful but neg :). Diagnosed 3 days from going to ER and stayed at cancer center at hospital and found out on Alpril 1st.
Had chemo April 5th, then finally went home. So far told I will have ABVD 4 months with or without radiation, will find out after 4 treatments after petscan. First chemo was ok, nervous about next one :(
tonia1730 - so sorry to hear what you are going through. I am glad that the first chemo went well and will be sending you good thoughts during the next one. stay strong you will get through this and keep writing to let me know how you are doing.
tonia
As some here know, I had stage 3 HL 30 years ago. Did chemo, radiation, and have been just fine since 1981. And the treatments have improved even more since then.
This is a very beatable disease. There will be some anxious and rough moments, but hang in there and you will be fine in the end.
Tonia1730 -- Sounds just like my story -- Major itching in legs for about 1 year. Got married in October, woke up Christmas eve with a major lump on my neck, stomach bug Christmas day, Drs. office day after Christmas followed by biospy, BM, CT Scans, PET Scan, etc. Stage 2A - Started my treatments in Feb, ABVD every other week. I am still working full time, coached 2 cheerleading teams and still hold 2 zumba classes each week. Just had my 2nd PET scan done and the chemo is working!! I have my chemo every other Thursday, keeps me down all day Saturday & Sunday. By Monday, I'm back at it and Tuesday completely "normal" again for a week and 2 days - and yes, that time flies by!! Biggest thing I have learned is to say positive and surround yourself with positive people. It's very beatable and you can do it :) Best of Luck to you!!
Thank you yes ek my itching was horrible! I am having chemo every other week to, i had everything done within 7 days including chemo. Thank you for the information, i am surrounding my self with positive people, always do :) The first chemo i was ok just tired and no appetite, not sick, very happy about that :)
Stay positive and remember that this is temporary. I just finished my 6th round of Chemo. It is good that the hospital was able to move so quickly. I just had my first PET Scan after my 5th round of Chemo. the Chemo was working. I just dread the 6 more chemo sessions every two weeks, but at least I know it is working.
Tonia, it gets easier as you go along. Whether that is because you get used to things, and can deal with any of the minor problems that may spring up, or whether it's because the treatment makes you better quickly, I'm not sure, but before you know it, you will have finished.
Hi all, My Husband is 47 fit and healthy, on the 24 of February he had a scan because he had a pain on his right hand side, when we got the results we were shocked , a lump was found on his limp gland in his groin, he had to go in to hospital, he had 2 biopsy and 1 bone marrow to say what type it was, HL 2A. He started his Chemo on the 7th April, ABVD and his 2nd was on the 21st, all went well so far he has been a bit off but not to sick, but very tired, so he has been getting plenty of sleep. Has anyone got any advice or tips.thanks Marie
Hi Marie... Sorry your husband is having to go through this. I just finished 8 sessions of ABVD. Everybody is different but for me the main side effect was fatigue and a little nausea wich was well controlled by the medications they gave me. The worst I felt was after my 4th session and after that things got better. I used to sleep a lot too and it would take me a week or longer to start feeling a little normal. It is not easy but time goes fast and before you know it he'll be done with chemo so don't let him loose hope. I wish you and your family the best, take care.
P.S. I always thought that if you had involved nodes below the diafragm your stage would be at least a 3???
I also was diagnosed in my groin after a experiancing a Utinary Tract Infection. I just finished treatment 6 of 12. The worst I have experianced is terrible fatique for 4-5 days after. It seemed to get worse as the number of treatments increased. I did have a PET SCAN prior to treatment 6 and it shows that the CHEMO is working. I am just counting them down. Six more to go.
Marie -- welcome!! I just had my 6th chemo treatment - half way done!! Can't wait!! No lie, it totally sucks!! I am 29 years old and have HL 2A also. I consider myself pretty fit -- although the chemo has made me gain weight - which the dr. is pleased about.. not me!! I continued to coach cheerleading - 2 teams, instruct ZUMBA classes and only miss 1 day of work every other week. I have my treatments on Thursdays and I am able to work on Friday but complete bedrest on Saturday and Sundays. Then back to work on Monday and feeling completly normal until my next treatment. Amazingly, I still have a full head of hair (it's much thinner then it was before treatment) but you would never know it and I am still shaving my legs -- so the hair is still growing (never have I been so happy to shave). I find the foods that help me through the chemo weekend are chicken, potatoes, smoothies, hard boiled eggs, greek yogurt, almonds and of course - ice cream. I can't eat anything sour, spicy or heavly spiced so I try to keep it bland. Gives me major heartburn that lasts all day/night. Can't even think about a diet during these days. All I want to do is feel better. I wish you the best and again welcome to this group.
Another Greek yogurt fan! I had HL 9 years back. ABVD messes your taste buds up, and like our Cheer Coach, I couldn't do spicy. Or salty. I still keep it low on spice even now. But when times were hard, Greek yogurt with honey came to the rescue! I first had it in Cyprus, before HL, and it was love at first bite!
Tonia - I hope it's all still going as well as it can. I had the itches too, although it went before I knew what was wrong with me, and I never made the connection.