On the 16th January I was diagnosed with stage 2a Hodgkin’s Lymphoma on my neck and chest. Back in September 2017 I was awake early one morning, my mind spinning about the day ahead and running through my to do list. Resting my hand on my neck, I felt a lump about the size of a 20p piece on the left side of my neck near my collar bone. I left it for a few weeks, as you do thinking it would go away. I was then having lunch with my friend who at the time was 6 weeks into her chemo treatment, also for stage 2A Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. I mentioned the lump to her whilst feeling very aware that mine is probably nothing and my friend sitting opposite me has cancer and is going through such a huge change in her life. Her advice and the advice we should always take is, just go and get it checked out.
A few weeks later, after finally registering with my local GP I got an appointment. I was very lucky that the GP assigned to me was a female in her early 30's so instantly I felt very comfortable to talk to her about how I was feeling and the levels of stress I was under within my job. By this stage I had 3 lumps all on the left side of my neck ranging in size, none visible but felt very easily when touched. The GP arranged for me to go to Homerton Hospital the next day for emergency blood tests. Following that over the next 6 weeks I had further blood tests, an ultrasound on my neck, appointments with the ENT specialist and finally a meeting with the surgeon as I would need a biopsy under general anaesthetic to remove one of the lumps from my neck. I was told a biopsy was the only way they could get a true reading of why I had swollen lymph nodes in my neck. As I felt generally well in myself I was still very blasé about the whole thing and to some respect, being made a fuss off. For many people, taking time in our days to go to healthcare appointments can be tricky or difficult with work or childcare commitments. I am so glad now that I continued to show up and work around these often twice weekly appointments, even though I often felt I wasn’t being told the full picture and drip fed information.
I was convinced that nothing serious was happening as I had none of the side effects, such as night sweats, severe tiredness but did have itchy skin. I put this down to perhaps my washing powder or the travel back and forth to India which I was doing every 4 weeks for my job. I met with the surgeon towards the end of December where he ran through the biopsy procedure. I was then given a choice to have the operation 3 days before I was due travel to Delhi for work and then onto Goa for a holiday. I decided to hold my operation until I was back 8th Jan. For me this was the right decision and I am so glad I had that long break, 12 days of sunshine to prepare me for what was to come.
A week later I got my results. It sounds cliché but it really was the last thing I expected. In May last year I was moving out of my flat share. One of my flat mates who had lived there with me for over 4 years had woken up with a bite on her ankle. This bite was later diagnosed as a tick bite and due to incorrect diagnoses, she had contracted a virus. In August my friend was diagnosed with stage 2A Hodgkins Lymphoma and had a large visible lump on the left side of her neck. I am sharing this as it’s likely to be a total coincidence. Watching my friend going through her treatment it felt so unlikely that 6 months later, I would be diagnosed with the same type of cancer, at the same stage and in the same parts of my body.
Following my results, my case was transferred to St Barts Hospital where I would meet with my Key worker and Oncology consultant. I spent the last 2 weeks of January in a daze and in shock. Trying to process everything. Telling family and friends was the hardest part. I called my close family but with friends I took my time as it was just too painful to keep repeating the story. It was mid-week when I got my results. I was due to be travelling back to Delhi for work but luckily I had changed this earlier in the week, as I still wasn’t feeling totally recovered from the biopsy operation. I didn’t tell work straight away but explained the news was more serious than I expected and could I take a few days to work from home. From that moment work have been nothing but 100% supportive of me. By the Saturday I was ready to leave the house and meet with 3 of my closest mates for a much needed and many to follow cocktails. I went back into work on the Monday to tell my CEO who was so quick to support me and ask what I needed. I needed to find a way to hand over my role for the next few months while I focus on myself and my recovery. That week and a half preparing my handover involved many 12 hour days and so much guilt adding to my teams work load. Everyone in my team was supportive and had my best interests at heart which made the whole process so much easier.
I finished work on the 1st Feb nervously awaiting what was next…
