Hi,I'm a 13yr survivor of Stage II B Hodgkin's Lymphoma,ready for questions and to give support!
@ socksfan...Thanks!
2 Hearts
@socksfan, Just your 1 little sentence made my day... I was Hodgkin's Stage IIB and am almost a year and a half into my remission. My next scans are in 2 weeks and already my anxiety is awful, ugh. Can't hear from enough long term survivors!!
@kelsharp I am longterm it has been 32 years so far. Anxiety always comes with your appts. Not many get away with out anxety, you will be just fine!
My 28 year old daughter with a 6 month old baby was just diagnosed & is starting chemo next week. Looking back on your treatment & recovery, what advice would you offer her & her family?
@chh I’m so sorry, I just completed treatment, and have two little ones. It was helpful for me to hear that being young is going to help one bounce back from treatment. Family support, especially from my mom and husband, was vital.
What advice? Tricky one. I would say that she should know that there is NOTHING in the treatment that she will not be able to cope with. Talk to us, we can tell her what to expect.
It will be tougher on her family than on her, but she will need their help for the days after chemo when she is tired. Beyond that, I would advise her to make plans for the future on the basis of a complete recovery from this illness, because that is the most likely outcome.
For her family, I would tell them never to be afraid to talk about the illness, but to remember that this is mom / daughter / sister / wife / whatever, and she still has a life outside Hodgkins. As the check-ups continue to reassure her, she will want to do the things that interest her.
Remember especially that she will have a hard time supporting you all through her illness and your anxieties. And above all:
Don't panic.
I'm over 12 years out of treatment, and I'm Johnny-come-lately.
Hey, I was diagnosed with hodgkins stage3B May 2013, right in the middle of my treatments. doing 6 cycles, (12 chemo treatments), of ABVD. Just have a few questions......always think about questions on my weeks off when I am not seeing the doctor and can't wait. I am having issues with my stomach that seems to be getting worse. I feel full as soon as I have breakfast and this feeling just gets worse as the day goes on and the more I add...even water the worse it gets. Yes, I have tried every combo of food, and eating only small amounts......this does nothing.....I can eat one piece of toast in the morning and then 2 hours later have a glass of water and then it starts, so please don't give advice on what to eat or how often or how much. I guess my question is, is this a common symptom of hodgkins, the chemo, or a sign of something else?? Also having issues with nausea, getting worse and longer with each chemo. I am on metoclopramide, ondansetron, they weren't doing the trick, so last time in they gave me Emend to add, it helped alittle but I still spent 6 days after chemo between the couch and bed......is this a normal amount of time to be out of commission, will I get sicker with each chemo?? Just really sick of laying on the couch for a week after every chemo.....used to being active!..........Doctors always ask the question...are you feeling sick more then usual.......I don't know what that means.....I never had cancer or chemo before so I don't know what is the norm!
@Hope3710 Tell them yes and describe your stomache issue. You may need to go to a GI person to have this looked at. Talk to your Oncologist first.
Yes, I will.......in the mean time I as just wondering if anyone else had these issues..........also the date of diagnosis should be 2014, I tried to edit it but once I changed it and left the site it reverted back to 2013, not sure how to save the changes to an edit.
@Hope3710 If you hit the edit button then edited it should stay then.