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Childhood Hodgkin's Disease

cncersurvivor
cncersurvivor CSN Member Posts: 2
edited March 2014 in Lymphoma (Hodgkin and Non-Hodgkin) #1
Hello, my name is Leslie. I am 20 years old and am a 7 year survivor of Hodgkin's stage 4. I was 13 at the time of my diagnosis so I was classified as a childhood case.

I went un-diagnosed for over a year. By the time my pediatrician referred me on to Children's Hospital the disease was already in my bone marrow. I received 8 months of COPP/ABV and 6 weeks of high dose radiation. My parents were given the option of going through with a BMT but decided not to since I was in remission. I'm so thankful I didn't have a BMT because who knows what the outcome would've been if I had. They are extremely risky.

I am happy and healthy today. I had a setback a few years ago when I was diagnosed with tacycardiya of the heart. This means I had a rapid heartrate. My oncologist and cardiologist think it was from the adriamycin but we may never know. I had a pacemaker put in to control my heartrate. If you ask me, it's just a small price to pay for having my life back :-)

This may sound strange to some people, but I feel very fortunate to have been "chosen" to get cancer at a young age. I don't think I could imagine my life today had I not had cancer. I'd go through it all again If I had to. I am a completely different person than before. Life is so much more precious when you're faced with your own mortality. I look at my disease as a blessing.

Anyways, sorry to ramble on. I'm so glad to have found this board. I look forward to reading your survivor stories :-)

Leslie
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Comments

  • AlloMan
    AlloMan CSN Member Posts: 47
    #2
    Congratulations on your seven cancer free years. The longest of my previous two remissions was 10 months. I had a clean CT scan last month, so I'm in remission nine months now. I was mis-diagnosed for quite a while too, so I was stage IVB by the time I was diagnosed.

    Looking into The Abyss certainly changes one's perspective. I'm sorry you had to deal with this at such an early age, but I'm glad you've learned from it. I have a couple nieces who are 13. They have so much going on. It's hard to imagine them having to take a long time out for such a serious problem.
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