Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma

[Patsye]

After having no "b cell" symptoms, in Nov. of 07 I was diagnosised with stage 3; agressive B cell lymphoma, this was three days before a trip to Italy was planned, Have had at this time, 2 rounds of RCHOP. The first round was really bad and I was very sick, did better with the second round. I am told to consider the "growth" as the size of a grapefruit, and it is located under my liver. Two very tiny nodes were discovered with a PET scan above the diaphragm under my clavicle which moved this thing to stage 3. Are any of the rest of you with similar cancers having any pain? I feel like I have been gut shot. They did do a abdomenal X-Ray and the explaination I got was that they think it might be inflamation because of the size and the location. I also seem to have trouble with chemo brain...anybody else? My spelling, sentence structure, and I search for a word and come up with the wrong one. Next chemo round is scheduled for Jan. 28; so am on the good side, now. Just needed to reach out...Patsy

[azdgmurph]

I was diagnosed in May 07 with NHL b-cell stage 3. I immediately started RCHOP. The first chemo was pretty hard but they did get easier as they went along. I too had a growth that was the size of grapefruit just below my rib cage (you could actually feel it) I had quite a bit of pain but it did gradually go away the further into treatment I went. After a few treatments I didnt start feeling "crappy" until I got my Neulasta (sp) shot, after that I would feel bad for just a couple days. I had chemo brain(loss of words, thoughts, generally a stupid feeling!), shaky hands, and basically felt like I was in a foggy cloud. After my 4th treatment I had a PET scan which showed the cancers were still there but greatly reduced so on with the treatments. After 8 treatments my PET scan was clear.....no more Lymphomas! That was Nov 07, now my hair is returning (not as fast as I would like) and I am out of the brain fog I felt, I was really surprised at how quickly I started feeling back to my old self. I just turned 42 and am the mother of 2 children, so getting back to normal is awesome. Just wanted to let you know you are not alone and it does get better!

[gosia21]

Hi Pasty

I had Lymphoma , B cell, last year , the same stage as you.The treatment is not nice, but it works .Dont worry , You will be ok , when you finish your treatment. I enjoy my life again and I feel so good again.I wish you the same.Good Luck and think positiv.

Gosia