Newly diagnosed

Hi Dave, I've had DLBCL since 9th March 2022, had 6 rounds of R-CHOP and 12 zaps of radiation, which seems to have done the trick, and I'm now doing very well. I didn't suffer from breathlessness during the treatment, my lymphoma presented in my left arm, nowhere near the lungs. (the arm broke, though).The chemo treatment left me very weak, tired all the time, and generally miserable, but I never had any breathing problems. All I can suggest is that you speak to your cancer team and follow their advice. Stick with it, Dave, the best advice I can give you is to get your head down, and stick with the program, it's a tried and tested treatment, and in my experience it's worked for me.

All the best...

Steve

Thanks Steve for your reply and support. I appreciate it.

I'm feeling just as you describe.  I will ask my cancer team about the breathlessness to see if anything can be done to help.

Best wishes

Dave 24

Hi Dave24 and a warm welcome to this corner of the Community although I am sorry to see you joining us. I am Mike and I help out around our various Lymphoma groups. 

I don’t have DLBCL but I was diagnosed way back in 1999 at 43 with a rare, incurable but treatable type of Low-grade non-Hodgkin lymphoma eventually reaching Stage 4a in late 2013 when my NHL was then presenting as a more aggressive type of NHL so although my Lymphoma ‘type’ is different I do appreciate the challenges of this journey rather well.

I agree with Steve Conundrum1956 be guided by your clinical team as to how things will improve as your treatment progresses…… various problems I had going into treatment did improve as treatment progressed.

I had no lung involvement but I do have asthma and asbestosis so breathlessness happens a lot. I had the big brother of R-CHOP - R-EPOCH…… these treatments are strong and can have a temporary effect on our blood counts,

My blood sats were often on the low side and this was mainly due to the effects of the chemo in my haemoglobin as there was less air circulating in my blood.

But this normally improved with time but U also did have to have some transfusions to help things recover.

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the reply.  It helps to hear the journey that others have been on and there there is light at the end of what can feel like a dark tunnel.

I will mention my breathlessness to my oncology team next week and keep positive.

Best wishes.

Dave.

Hi dave24, my hubby suffered with the breathlessness,  it was really frightening, it took him about an hour every morning for it to ease ...he was advised to sleep propped or sitting up , so he took to sleeping in the recliner chair ...fortunately he can sleep on a clothes line, the chair helped him immensely and the breathlessness subsided