Hi everyone I am new here, my dad was diagnosed with HL Stage 3B after a long period of time taking to diagnose. He has had his first session of chemotherapy and we thought we were heading strong to session 2 - thankfully no nausea, appetite improved and the itching has stopped. All positive with the medical team commenting how great he was looking to now be told he has low platelet and they have to delay his chemotherapy, today he had a transfusion however they have unfortunately still not increased and there has been reference to bone marrow and another delay to the chemotherapy. Has anyone else experienced this, looking for some advice.
Thank you all.
Hi Linz1980 and a warm welcome to this corner of the Community although I am sorry to see you joining us and to hear about your dad.
I am Mike and I help out around our various Lymphoma groups. I don’t have Hodgkin's Lymphoma but I was diagnosed way back in 1999 at 43 with a very rare, incurable but treatable type of CTCL - NHL Low-grade non-Hodgkin lymphoma ……. eventually reaching Stage 4a in late 2013 when a second, also rare type of aggressive PTCL - NOS NHL was then presenting so although my Lymphoma ‘type’ is different I do appreciate the challenges of this journey rather well.
What your dad is experiencing, as in low platelet is rather normal and this delaying treatment often happens.
Chemotherapy affects both the immune system but also the bone marrow where the platelets are produced…… blood transfusions will often be used to boost his bone marrow and often Growth Factor Injections (FILGRASTIM or similar) as these are designed to wake up your bone marrow…… these treatments are not instant and can take time to work.
This happened a few times to me in late 2013 into 2014 with a week or so delay but this made no real difference to outcomes apart from making the treatment last longer.
Just looked out a few links that will help you understand some of the effects of treatment.
Treatment for lymphoma can lead to a shortage of certain types of blood cells. Be aware of the symptoms and risks, and when to contact your medical team.
Neutropenia (low white blood cells)
Thrombocytopenia (low platelets)
Plus this general link….
Often the first treatment is worst as it’s a shock to the immune system and bone marrow 
