Where to start... im a 23 year old aussie female. Up until a month ago I was a happy hairdresser, first home buyer and thinking of starting a family. I could feel a big change coming, but I didnt see this.
It started off with finding a painless grape sized lump just above my collar bone. Being a hypochondriac, I freaked and went to the doc asap. Luckily she booked me in for an ultrasound straight away instead of sending me away and just seeing how it goes. Ultrasound showed not just 1 but 4 enlarged lymph nodes. Booked in for needle biopsy for 3 weeks later. After the ultrasound I was on my way to work when I got a call from my gp saying it was urgent. Holy crap.. that was the first time I really thought it was something serious. She went through everything it could be.. cancer came up. I thought of that the moment I found the lump, but it couldnt really be cancer though, could it? Had a blood test done and she managed to get me in for the needle biopsy 2 days later, on xmas eve. Was pooping my pants of the thought of having needles jabbed in my neck but it really wasn't as bad as I had imagined.
New years eve was the day my worst fears were confirmed. It was cancer. Hodgkins lymphoma to be precise. I just sat there and cried.. trying to take in what she was telling me. Made me feel better by telling me that if you had to 'pick' a cancer to get, that's the one. Next step was to meet my onc so find out what stage I was. The next few days I felt such a heavy fear, it felt like it was drowning me. Luckily I had a good support system around me.
Next few weeks consisted to seeing god knows how many doctors, blood tests, a PET scan, CT scan, surgery to remove a lymph node, and another surgery to remove cysts that were found around my ovaries. I was certain after something abnormal showed up around my ovaries that I was a later, unfavourable stage.
When I went back to see my onc she staged me 2b and said it hadn't spread anywhere past my neck! No words can describe how releived I was.. I felt a bit ridiculous being so happy.. but I just felt so lucky that its early stage and favorable. The plan is to do 4 cycles of ABVD. To my surprise she wanted the start treatment the following day, seeing as id had a few setbacks.
After i left that appoinment i went straight into the salon where i work and got my best gal to do the big chop for me. I went from having thick curly hair past my boobs to a little pixie cut and i love it! I knew cutting it would make it easier when it started to shed.
Anyways, here I am 4 days after my first treatment, honestly feeling better than I was expecting I would be. The best way to describe it is feeling like I hav the flu but without the runny nose. Im just waiting for it to hit me.. I know its just the begining and im terrified of what its going to do to me. did anyone feel like this in the early days? I know everyones different but id like to hear some peoples experiences with their journey, thank you for reading and hopefully sharing!
