Hodgkin’s Lymphoma

Hi Maeve and well done navigating across to this corner of the Community. I did put up a quick reply to your post in your 'New to Community' post but will answer a few of the points you put up in your other post on this thread.

Surreal is an appropriate word...... but real it is. Especially sorry to hear that 80yr old mum has been diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma especially after being diagnosed and treated for Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (NHL) about 40 years ago........ unfortunately it can happen. Once diagnosed with a blood cancer can open the door for other types of blood cancers in the future.

I am also sorry to hear that your dad died of Bowel Cancer 10yrs ago - it's been a rough time for you all.

You say that she is still awaiting a PET scan. The results of this along with the biopsy results that are in place will identify what stage she is. You may or may not be aware that when it comes to Lymphoma the staging number is a guide to what treatment is best and for how long........... this is rather different from most other cancers like Bowel, Kidney, Lung...... where a high stage number would be a poor prognosis....... this is not necessarily the case with Lymphoma - indeed I was stage 4 back in 2013 and I am still around doing great.

I have an incurable NHL, diagnosed way back in 1999 and have had lots of treatment over these 23 years....... some of the treatments have been very strong. Your mum's age and any other existing health conditions will be a big factory in what of the various treatments available will be best for her.

You asked the question......"do people lose their hair and does chemo or radiotherapy make you sick?"

It depends on the actual treatments. Most chemotherapy's will result in hair loss or thinning..... but not with some targeted therapies.

I had a total of 45 sessions of Radiotherapy over my years of treatments and they were no problem with the only side effect being fatigue but this was mostly down to the regular visits to hospital.

Sickness can happen but there are some great anti-sickness meds. For example the treatment I had for my NHL had me in hospital on my 2 IV pumps for 5 nights/6 days 24/7 for 120hrs for each of my 6 cycles...... so I had over 750 hrs of chemo, yes I felt sick at times but never was....... but I did lose my hair.

This is early days so it's important to get clear information from her clinical team as to what the plan looks like.

This link Questions to ask your medical team about Lymphoma will help you get your mind around what you may need to be asking.

Always around to chat and to answer questions as best as I can.

The drugs are what beats the cancer so I didn’t see them as horrific but a lifesaver. Side effects don’t effect everyone apart from fatigue and losing my hair I sailed through pretty much trouble free, mainly because my CSN told me not to bother looking anything up because we are all different and my mind will certainly create the ones that it is aware of. Don’t tell mum and she will have an easier time of it.