Third Relapse Of Hodgkins

I have just found out that my 15 year old son's Hodgkins has relapsed. This if after Chemo and Radiation the first time and Chemo Radiation and a Stem Cell Transplant the second time.

It has always returned in the Mediastinum but has spread this time to the other side of his chest. The doctors are recommending a Bone Marrow Transplant using his sister (who is a match)

Has anyone ever had two transplant like this before? Or has anyone had any succes with another form of treatment. I am very concerned about the side effects of all this chemo.

Laura

Laura, I do not know what kind of NHL your son has, but I would go for what the doctors recommend. I had Chemo in 2005, Zevalin and
Rituxan in 2006 and am now in remission. It may or may not come back. Zevalin acts on a cell like taking the pealing off an orange so that the Rituxan can kill the tumors. I only had them back under one arm, not like Stage three the year before. I did get another remission, although it lowered my white cell
count for about 6 weeks. I do not know if
Zevalin would be of help, but you can ask about it.
Janet
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Your message caught my eye. I too am dealing with my third (actually 4th) reoccurence ABVD and Chemo, auto stem cell transplant, Gemzar chemo, and now, they are recommending a bone marrow transplant. I am considering that and clinical trials. The Gemzar (pill form of chemo) I heard usually works for people, for awhile, but it didn't work for me. I am 44 and have two small children to raise? What did you decide to do?

Kelly

Kelly:

We have decided to go through with the transplant. It is being done under a clinical trial for relapsed lymphoma. He is on his third cycle (EPOCH) and the latest CT scans were great. The transplant is scheduled for the end of this month.

Good luck to you with whatever route you take

LM

I remembered your message and wondered how your son is doing? How was the allo transplant?
I'm sure you're waiting to see if it will graft. I would like to keep in touch with you as I am thinking about doing the allo transplant for my hodgkins. However at this time I have two small children and don't want to take a risk until I have to. Is he doing a mini? What odds did they give you. I seem to read and be told different odds and different ways to look at it all the time. My sister is a 10 out of 10 match for me. Good luck and I'll be thinking of you and your son.
Kelly