Non Hodgkins Lymphoma Success

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  • 1ladydiamond
    1ladydiamond Member Posts: 28
    #62
    CountryGal7557 said:

    Rituxan + new Chemo Treanda in 2010
    I was diagnosed March 2010,Stage 4a Follicular B-cell NHL indolent, coming up on my one year anniversary. Took 2-day treatment of Rituxan + Treanda for 4 months, Pet scan came back 'no activity' - clear scan in July 2010, 16 days before my daughter's wedding! then finished up with 4 weekly treatments in August. I am cancer free and my onc will be monitoring my progress thru blood draws. he said he's not a fan of too s tmany PET scans, which we were relieved to hear.

    I blogged my Journey @ http://lifeisgood2010.wordpress.com/ because I could not find a support group anywhere, this site didn't even show up when I googled for information. so I started my own journey in hopes to help others. I am so glad to finally have found all of you, better late, then never, as it's great to hear encouraging words and to hear success of others. I am now experiencing the aches and pains in joints - mostly ankles and have read on this site, that it's all a part of the late affects after chemo, and to take Aleve or Tylonol - is there nothing that can be done? I work at Swanson Health Products and found a Joint supplement that I am going to try for two weeks and see if that helps.

    Life is still pretty darn Good!
    Janelle
    Stage 4a Follicular B-cell NHL indolent (I've seen alot of abreviations on how to write the dx, but I'm not familiar with how it all yet.)

    Follicular lymphoma stage 4

    Hi Janella i was diagnosed with the same in April of this year. Rituxan was used i had severe side effects and steroids etc was used i also suffer joint and bone pain and tired but mine is Follicular b cell lymphoma stage 4. I had been feeling sick through the years tired all the time and since it doesn't show up in the blood my doc kept telling me it is this and that and i had my gall bladder removed in april and my doctor didn't want to do a abdominal scan but my surgeon had one done and that is when they found it and took a biopsy of my lymph nodes. What a shocker but i knew why i was experiencing all of these symptoms and they were not in my head. The waiting and watching was not for me. So Rituxan each week since the end of April and in August was each month and now 8 wks it has scaled back alot but still in stage 4 I am told i will never get out of it. But i told my doc never say never lol. My faith is strong my doc explained to me that yes it is remission but not cured just scaled back and it can stay this way for yrs. And it will keep coming back and this will be a never ending battle and eventually i will have to do a more aggressive treatment full blown Chemo. I also researched and talked to a well known researcher about cell therapy and was told at this time it is not recommended for me and it is highly risky and the chances of me dying was high. So i will wait and down the road when it gets really bad i plan on doing it anyway when the Rituxan doesn't work which i am also told that will happen but i plan on living a long time i have changed the way i am eating i juice and stay away from processed food. And it is a big life changer for me. I hope with everything i am doing eating right etc my faith i have 20yrs or more. Wishing you all the best i have been writing about my experience and it helps me to journal. Take care
    Patricia if you would ever like to talk you can reach me at first_ladydiamond@yahoo
  • Max Former Hodgkins Stage 3
    Max Former Hodgkins Stage 3 Member Posts: 3,812 Member
    #63
    bluerose said:

    Hi JacquieK
    I have a feeling that with your strength and positivity it won't be long before you will be receiving the same kind of 'Thank You' from a new cancer patient for your inspiration to them.

    All the best.

    Blessings,

    Bluerose

    Great Success Story
    Bluerose,

    Your story is hope-inspiring. You may know that most of the folks here have been on Rituxan themselves, since it is part of most combination therapies (r-chop, r-ice, r-abvd, Stanford V, etc.)

    SCT is a wonderful thing, but often brutal. Whatever side-effects combination therapies have, SCT has also, but perhaps more intensified (combination therapy, the use of numerous chemo drugs at once, is frequently a core part of STC anyway).

    Of course, if I were in a situation in which SCT were the only remaining option for me, I would go for it in a micro-second ! One of the great advances in the last 30 years is the improvement in radiation application. Most doses today are much lower than years ago, and more precisely aimed. Plus, new radiation delivery, like "seeding," is usually very effective. My uncle had stage 4 throat cancer in the 70s, and when my mom would drive him home from radiation, the car smelled from where he was burning. After a hideous surgery, in which he was cut from his neck to his pelvis, he died. Those sorts of stories are seldom heard any longer.

    Great progress is being made on many fronts, but we must remember that mortality rates for some lymphomas and other cancers are saddening, and that many here at our Board discussion have not been as fortunate as us. Among the people I got to know during my six months at my infusion center, none are still living three years later, although none of them were lymphoma patients. Most were brest or colo-rectal, with one leukemia.

    Constant prayer is the best advancement we can make.

    Bless you !

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