Hodgkin's Lymphoma

Hi Luke  and welcome to this corner of the Online Community, although I am sorry to see folks finding us.

I am Mike Thehighlander and I help out around the site. I don’t have HL but a rare type of NHL but do understand the Lymphoma journey well.

Your route to diagnosis sounds rather familiar but good that you have been able to get into treatment as this does help control the noise in the head.

I am sure that some of the HL folks will be along to help. It is also good that your team have told you that a blood cancer like this is very treatable, yes hard work but do-able.

Everyone will react differently to treatment but you may find the Fatigue will slowly get worse over the cycles but one simple way to overcome this is to keep some simple activity going - like short walks

Its is very important to Avoiding Infections especially first week following your treatment.

You also may need to watch what you are Eating and Neutropenia when you are going through chemo as your body will not fight food based problems

It is also important to drink lots of water to flush you system out and protect your kidneys

You may find our various Macmillan Support Line Services to be helpful - call them on 0808 808 00 00 This free service covers Emotional Support, Practical Information. Clinical Information, Financial Support and Work Guidance mostly open 8.00 to 8.00 but check the link.

We also have our ‘Ask an Expert’ section where you can post questions to our mostly Volunteer Experts but please allow 2 working days to get a reply.

Talking to people face to face can help a lot so check to see if you have any Local Macmillan Support Groups in your area or a Maggie’s Centre as these folks are amazing.

When you feel up to it try putting some information in your profile. This really helps others when answering. It also means that you don't have to keep repeating yourself. Just click on YOUR username, select 'Edit Profile'. Put as much or as little in your profile and you can amend it at any time - you can see members profiles by hitting our forum names.

Keep posting and all the very best.

Hi Luke, and another welcome, though sad to see you here.

Mike has given you lots of things to think about, but I will add a few more.....

drink plenty of water! I know it’s not easy but your kidneys and liver will thank you for it, they will be working overtime to process and get rid of the drugs once they have done their stuff, together with dying cancer cells. If you’ve been given Allopurinol, to take for anti-gout, then please do take it as dying cancer cells can mimic gout - and it’s very painful! But it would just be for this session of chemo.

ABVD is tough (it has to be to kill the HL) and can be hard on veins. If you get similar aches next time, ask that they slow down the drug and speed up the carrying fluid (usually you have a bag of saline going through too) as that will help though it lengthens the process.

if the antinausea meds don’t help, please do phone in and ask they adjust them/give you something different, there’s nothing worse than feeling sick (unless it’s being sick!). Keep an eye on your temp, and if it shoots up at all or you feel really unwell, phone in for advice, and if you need A&E anytime, make sure they know you’re on chemo therefore need to be away from folk, especially those with various bugs! 

and tmi coming here, don’t ignore constipation! The water should help a bit but ABVD can cause problems this way too.....

keep posting, we like to help if we can!

hugs xxx

Hi both, 

Thanks for your responses and tips! Much appreciated! So far so good today, been up and about doing some shopping, whilst washing my hands with bacterial killing gel every 5 minutes! Feel like a bloomin hypercondriact! Lol

The nausea tablets have worked really well tbh, only had 2 very mild spells which only lasted 15 mins each, the tablets made short work of them. I do feel quite tired today though, so had a well deserved power nap.

Hopefully will beat this thing, put it to bed and just go back to the norm. 

Thanks, 

Luke

Hi Luke, well done and yes, the hand cleaning thing along with other things will become an obsession but it is very important and with it in the long run,

Nap when your tired but keep that short bursts of activity going as it truly does help.

My NHL treatment required me to be in hospital 5 days/nights for 6 cycles and as I was connected to my chemo 24/7 was not allowed out of the ward so had to take my double chemo pump trolley for walks around the square corridor in the ward and I worked out that I was doing about 2 miles a day and did not have any real fatigue. I was in a 6 bed Heamatology/Oncology ward but the walking, sling with ear plugs and s blindfold helped me to sleep most night.

Keep your head up and concentrate on the end goal