Hi all,

I know this group is mainly used by those of you with cancer but I thought being a wife of a recently diagnosed person would be ok. I hope this is the case. My husband Richard has been diagnosed with stage 3b hodgkin lymphoma. He is brilliant, very upbeat and positive. He is just at the end of his first cycle of chemo. My problem is that he is too positive. We run our own coffee shop and have 2 boys. He is on the go all the time. I ask him if he is ok and he always is. I know there will be good days and bad, but I am a realist and know he cannot continue to do everything. Any tips on being self-employed, married to a worried wife and coping with cancer? 

I have a step mother who is being the same way, I was diagnosed in july with 2b hodgkins, and its been hard her being so up beat and cheerful. He will need you and it will get tough, and you have to be ready for it when you can, in the mean time make sure you have sorted out as much as possible so you can give him time when he needs it. As a sufferer the support from my partner has kept me going x

Hi

I was diagnosed with Stage 4-B in Jan, and after 12 doses (6 cycles) of ABVD, the disease remained. I just finished 3 cycles of MINE salvage chemotherapy. A PET-CT scan scheduled for end Nov should hopefully give me an all-clear. All these months, I have had very low energy, nausea, loss of hair, taste. Bleomycin (the B in ABVD) also damaged my lungs (pulmonary fibrosis) giving me breathlessness and a dry cough, which, the doctors say will recover over some months. I am very happy for Richard, but he must allow himself decent rest periods. He may also need booster injections between chemo doses to keep his blood counts up. I will particularly warn him to immediately inform the doctor of any symptom, however trivial. Do read about the side-effects of the specific chemo that he is on (lots of information if you use your web browser).

Both of you keep your spirits up.

Best of luck

Tinnedfruit