New To Non-Hodgkins

Hello there,

My Dad was just diagnosed with non-Hodgkins and they will have to remove the spleen. What kind of things is he up against here?

Thank you for your time. Sincerely, Carol

Dear Carol,
Sorry to hear about your Dad, and of course any news you receive regarding a loved one having cancer is a very upsetting and difficult situation to live with, especially not knowing much about the disease. First you must let us know at what stage his lymphoma is: Stages range from I - II - III - IV and also A or B type and what the treatment plan is. Are they only removing the spleen or are they planning chemo or radiation or both. My 20 year old daughter was diagnosed with NHL and she began chemo last week and maybe I can give you that hope we all cling to, I was told by our oncologist that one of the easiest treatable cancers is NHL and this cancer does not go into remission but actually at the end of the treatment or operation is cured...now that is great news. I am far from an expert and would suggest that you write down all the questions you may have and discuss them with your Dad's doctor and I am sure he will be able to give you all the necessary answers. I am not telling you it is a piece of cake but it is 90 - 95% guaranteed to be cured, now that is a very high percentage.

Wish you and all your family the best. Hang in there and the best remedy is to be positive and take it one day at a time.

Mary

Dear Mary B.
Thank you for your response. I will find out as soon as possible and get back on line. I am not sure about the 1 and 11 or A and B part but all I know is that the mass is around the spleen and into the lymphnodes beside this mass. He will undergo surgery in March, he is going to go to Cuba for a booked holiday and is coming home in time for removel. He is starting his series of shots next week to prepare for the sleen removel and then they will decide what they will do chemo or radiation. I am not sure. Yes the positive thing is best but lets face it sometimes you overload and have a good cry. I have just lost a sister in law from cancer just after Christmas so it can be disheartening just to here the word cancer.
Sincerely, Carol

I am so sorry to hear about your dad. I know how devastating this news can be. I was diagnosed with NH-L (gastric) on December 16, 2004. I was lucky enough to get immediate outstanding care locally. I underwent a P.E.T. Scan, Upper GI Barium Swallow with small bowel study, bone marrow biopsy, bone biopsy, and other testing. I was fortunate in that my gastric lymphoma was Stage 1! I underwent a partial gastrectomy of January 17th and am slowly healing. The pathology results are promising and indicate that I may now be cancer free. I will undergo extensive testing every 3 months for a long time I am told. I will hold you and your dad in my prayers for good results. And this type of cancer is curable! But, many times it reoccurs elsewhere so be prudent about testing!
Best wishes and prayers,
Melody in Texas

Dear Melody

We will be waiting for the results after spleen is removed. I will post a note on this web sight for all to see after that happens.

Take care of yourself and I will post soon.

Sincerely Carol

Hi Carol-
I understand the confusion and being anxious when you find out a parent has cancer. I have been trying to educate myself on my Mother's cancer but have found it a little overwhelming.
She was diagnosed a month ago with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. It is a indolent cancer which is slow moving. It is also a follicular lymphoma.
The cancer is in stage 4 due to it being in her bone marrow including her neck, chest and under her arm. She has no symptoms of the cancer at this time except fatigue in the afternoon. Because it is a slow moving cancer and she is not showing a lot of symptoms they have suggested that we do the "Watch & Wait". She will have a scan every 2 months to see if the cancer is growing and if they find it is progressing they will start treatment. The doctor wants to start with Rituxin. I have read that there is also positive progress with Bexxar and Zevalin. It is so hard to know what treatment to go with. My Mother wants to go with what the doctor suggests. We ended up in the emergency room tonight. She had a sharp pain on the side of her forhead and a vein became quite buldged. The doctor said that a blood vessel burst and started bleeding. She is on a blood thinner due to having 3 blood clots. They checked her blood and that seemed ok and she was sent home. She is 67 and she looked so much older tonight. She seemed very tired and distressed. I wish I could take this all away from her. It is hard to see your mother go through cancer as I am sure you know with your father having cancer, too.
I hope and pray your father is doing well.
My faith sustains both my mother and I which helps so much going through something like this.
May God bless you and your family.

I will just copy/paste another message I read in this website from another member. (again, the message is not from me, I'm just the son of a woman who survided angiosarcoma and I read this online magazine to keep myself informed so I can help my mother better):

"I was diagnosed with colon cancer 6 years back this past September. In November of 2004, my cancer came back a second time, this time to my bones. I took chemo twice in 6 years and it keeps coming back. So this time I said “no more chemo”. The oncologist was not pleased and gave me months to live. I am still alive 15 months later. I am doing well.
I don’t know how much longer I have, but no one does. I attended a funeral this past Saturday for a friend 57 years old (my age) who was diagnosed in December of this year. She took chemo and after the first treatment, she developed blood clots and died this past week. One of the clots traveled to her heart. This would not have happened had she taken no chemo.

Another friend of mine passed away last year. He was diagnosed with the same type of colon cancer as I was. They wanted to give both him and myself Cisplatin (a type of very aggressive chemo). I refused. He took the chemo and passed away. I have done as lot of research on chemo on the Internet and nowhere did I find any good that chemo does. Chemo does not cure cancer. For every patient that takes chemo, the cancer clinic gets paid about $5,000. Chemo is all the cancer clinic knows. Why don’t they start teaching their sick patients how to boost their immune systems rather than take chemo that lowers the immune system? You should get busy first thing tomorrow morning and start doing research on ways to boost your immune system.

For starters, I am on a near vegetarian diet and take modified citrus pectin tablets. They can be found at your health food store. I take 4 a day. They kill newly formed cancer cells. I also do not smoke or drink and try to stay positive 24 hours a day. I have to keep telling myself that no one on the face of this earth (including the Pope) knows when their time is up. So start building your immune system and start living and enjoying your grandkids. Chemo will never give you a good quality of life and I think that’s all we want. Good luck to you and let me know how things work out."

God bless you all.