Good morning, I have been reading the chats on this site and feel I will benefit from this community. I was told my diagnosis on the 16th June and commenced first session chemotherapy on the 25th June. Not feeling as poorly as I expected during first week, only problem last couple of days is a headache, which paracetamol doesn’t relieve and some acid indigestion.
Hi Spented and welcome to the group but sorry to see you finding us. I am Mike Thehighlander and I help out across our blood cancer groups.
A NHL diagnosis can be such a shock but you will see that there are many positive stories on the community, yes treatments can be hard work but on the whole very effective.
I was diagnosed back in 1999 with a rare skin NHL and 22 years on I am doing great.
So we can help you more a couple of questions:
Do you know the exact type of NHL you have?
What is the name of the treatment you are having?
What hospital are you being treated at?
Great that your first treatment went ok and yes, we can get conditioned to think that we can get poorly but often this is not the case.
Keep posting as we can help you navigate this journey.
Hi again Spented and thanks for this and yes, in BIG green letters at the top of your post B Cell - need my first coffee 
First we do have a specific Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma group but folks tend to look in at both groups.
R-CHOP is the standard treatment pathway and it’s a very effective treatment. Because my type of NHL was rare it had to be treated in a completely different way (see my profile)….. but I was stage 4a. In blood cancers staging is not seen in the same light as in solid tumour cancers like breast, lung…. as the higher the stage number the more bleak the prognosis. In blood cancers it’s a guide to where it’s presenting, what treatment is needed and for how long.
I will always recommend that when you embark on the treatment journey do read the information provided by your team and also on recognised Cancer Support Charities...... but stay away from random Google search’s.
The treatment information can be challenging as the side effects can all sound daunting...... but people don’t have every side effects and when these do come along everyone experiences various levels and not all bad.
These are some useful links for you to have a look at:
Nausea, remember not to suffer in silence when it comes to nausea there are lots of tools available - but your team need to know how you are getting on.
Fatigue may well build up over time so take each day as it comes but at the same time keep some activity going as this does actually help overcome some of the fatigue.
During my 6 cycles of R-EPOCH I was on my chemo for 120 hrs 24/7 at a time and the main issue I had was fatigue but my nurse team told me to keep active so I walked the ward corridors with my chemo stand after every meal and actually did a few miles a day.
Avoiding Infections obviously is very important but you will totally get this during these challenging times.
I would also highlight the importance of drinking lots of water as this will flush out all the toxins released by the chemo and protects your kidneys.
Always around to chat
