Hi new here my husband has been told he has lymphoma we are awaiting biopsy results to know what type. Just wondering the waiting times from biopsy to results to treatment starting. And the outcome
Hi Gallop2024 and warm welcome to the Macmillan Online Community although sorry that you had to find us and especially sorry to hear about your husbands ongoing Lymphoma diagnosis.
I am Mike and I help out around our Lymphoma groups. I was diagnosed way back in 1999 at 43 with a very rare, incurable but treatable type of Low Grade Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma eventually reaching Stage 4a in late 2013 so although my Lymphoma ‘type’ may be different I do appreciate the challenges of this journey rather well.
As for getting biopsy results etc…… the average for results is about 10 to 14 days but as there are over 60 types and sub-types of Lymphoma some specialists testing is often done and this means samples are sent to other test centres….. the longest I have had to wait is about 6 weeks
As for starting treatment this will all depend on his type of Lymphoma and his stage. Staging in Lymphoma is rather different and unlike most other cancers like Kidney, Lung, Breast….. where a high stage number like stage 4 is a poor prognosis, in Lymphoma it’s not. I was stage 4a back in 2013 and it made no difference to my outcomes.
Staging in Lymphomas identifies….
1) Where the Lymphoma is presenting in the body (it can be anywhere)
2) What is the best treatment approach and best treatment type for your presentation
3) How long your treatment needs to be.
With some types of slow growing Low-grade non-Hodgkin lymphomas you may he is put on what is called Active Monitoring (I prefer the term Active Monitoring to Watch and Wait as it’s more accurate as to what is happening).
It took over 14 years before I had any full on treatments (but my type of low grade NHL was ‘on’ my skin so was treated as though I had Psoriasis)….. but if it’s a type of High-grade non-Hodgkin lymphoma or Hodgkin's Lymphoma then treatment often starts quickly.
As for outcomes…… there is no certainties…… but Lymphoma is very treatable and most people get on with their lives…… it’s over 24 years since I was diagnosed and au turned 68 last Nov and am living a great life.
We can’t have a group for every type but these are our main Lymphoma groups below.
General Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma
These groups are safe places to talk to others with a similar diagnosis, treatment experience, to ask questions and get support.
I would recommend you stay in this group until you know exactly what type he has as the treatments are different across the Lymphoma types…. yes Lymohoma is complicated
But when you are ready to join a group….,click on the “Bold Link” I have created above that first your husbands Lymphoma then once the group page opens click on “Click to Join” when the black banner appears or “Join” under “Group Tools” (this all depends on the device you are using)
You can then put up your own post when you’re ready by clicking “+new” or “+” in the top right next to the group title. You can copy and paste the text from this post into your new post.
If you have any further questions do get back to me and I will do my best to answer them ((hugs))
Thank you we will rake things one day at a time
Hubby has PET SCAN next week and hopefully fingers crossed we will get his biospy results back
i am just soo tired thinking about this diagnosis as he is also on a very slow recovery from a broken back that happened last year 
Sorry to hear about his back…… day at a time is the best approach at the moment.
Once all the test results are collected a plan will be put together.
As I said, with the wide range of Lymphoma his journey forward can follow a number of paths… care will be taken to take into account his existing medical challenges….. I also have asbestosis so this was carefully looked at once Stem Cell Transplants were seen as my best option…… my story is rather complicated See my story but I am over 8 years out from my last treatment, turned 68 in Nov and doing great…… this can be done ((hugs))
