About to get a biopsy and so scared.

...Every patient's cardinal virtue.

Hello Elisa,

I am sorry to welcome you in your current situation. However, you will soon know for sure what it is you are facing. Your doctor says he has little doubt, so it seems very likely that you have lymphoma - but only the pathology report can tell you that it is lymphoma indeed.

Assuming it does confirm your doctor's diagnosis - although this is not the most pleasant news, it is often not the worst either. There are all sorts of lymphomas, with widely different characteristics - but there is also a whole arsenal of treatment options for each type of lymphoma, and giant strides are being made every day. Many lymphoma patients now benefit from very efficient therapies that can put them in lifelong remissions in one go.

So, that means - among other things - that you should not give up all hope and give in to panic, and that at this point it is best to avoid trying to figure out what the future holds as you have too little information. It also means that having a little girl to look after will probably require a little planning ahead and turning to a grandparent or trusted friend for a little occasional help.

Finally, and if proof is needed that the above points do make sense, please consider that you have posted on a forum for lymphoma patients - all of whom have jobs, families, etc. Therefore, and since this is not "the afterlife forum" (if you'll allow me some continuing Halloween spirit here), we have all survived the uncomfortable wait for biopsy results and the handwringing over approaching imaging tests, and the sweaty palms and racing hearts at experiencing possible symptoms... not to mention the treatments, of course!

I hope these few words of encouragement can contribute to convince you that even if you do have lymphoma, you stand as good a chance as anyone to make it through the other end with flying colors - with us cheering you on the way.

Wishing you the most benign diagnosis, and looking forward to reading your update.

PBL

I'm so sorry for your worries, I know it seems very ominous right now but please know that if it is lymphoma, most are very treatable and even curable.  They all normally respond very well to chemo, even the difficult ones.  The symptoms, which you may be experiencing are usually very dramatic and usually go away with chemo.  So hang in there, you will know soon.  We all hope for the best but if it is lymphoma, it is not a death sentence, so much research is going on.  Please keep us updated.

We care,

Becky

Hello Elisa. I would hate to stay in the hospital waiting for results. Good luck in your findings. I go to an ENT specialist Friday and she will let me know where I go from here. Take care and God bless you

How do you get through it. You take one step at a time. 

You might have times you take a step or two backwards. That is life. Just stand up and start going forward again, one step at a time.

Befor my chemo started the CT scan showed I had pluerisy in the right lung. That was caused by the lymph system not being able to draw the fluids out of the plueral sac. They Dr ordered a cath to be put in so we could drain it at home, about every 2 - 3 days. 

I did 6 cycles of R-Chop for follicular lymphoma. A week before the second cycle I got what I thought was severe constipation. It turned out to be a perforated bowel. An enlarged lymph node in my abdomen had adhered to my bowels. The first round of R-Chop caused it to shrink enough to tear a hole in the bowel. All went well and my chemo schedule was shifted 3 weeks. 

During the recovery from the bowle surgery it was hard to walk. My gut hurt and I still had the pluerisy. When we went to the hospital to see any of my Drs I would grab a wheelchair and my husband would have to push me around. I didn't know if I would ever feel "normal"

We all have had out challenges fighting our disease and we did it one step at a time. 

Hi Elisa.  So sorry to welcome you to the DLBCL group, but glad to hear that your team put you straight into treatment and that you've already come through one round.  And it may not feel like it right now, but it sounds as though you handled it OK (no issue with the Rituximab?).  That bodes well for the future rounds.

Weakness: the days after completing a round were the one's where I felt the absolute weakest.  After the first round, I couldn't even walk to the bathroom, so the fact that you are going up/down stairs is a major "+" in my opinion!  I found that each between-round recovery took a little longer than the one before, making me feel weaker.  But by the end of my third round, I could walk about a mile without my walker.  So don't assume that it will get worse, just expect that the "bounce-back" may take longer.  I have a terrific champion-spouse who insisted that I get up and move around.  If you can have someone like that around for you, take advantage of him/her. Try to walk as much as you can, even when in-hospital.  This will help with constipation issues too.

In the meantime, try to stay ahead of those things that have the potential to make you feel worse.  If you've been reading here much, you know already that constipation is a biggy.The more you can prevent it, the better. With your doctor's OK, Colace or similar 2X/day starting 2 days before each round and continuing until normalcy returns. High fiber foods, cereals, etc.  Drink water.

Neulasta bone pain:  many people report relief with Claritin (loratadine). Again with your doctor's permission, take a day or two before your shot and continue for a few days. Worked for me.

Mouth/throat issues: ask for an RX for Magic Mouthwash if you feeling your mouth beginning to burn.

Methotrexate: Tylenol or Fiorcet 30 min - 1 hour before the procedure can help prevent headaches.  I was terrified about it, but turned out that the procedures were mostly painless; nowhere near as bad as the bone marrow biopsies. 

We are here if you have questions.  Hang in there and good luck with it.

So often we get an ache or pain and just push it off. When a person has cancer (or is a survivor) every ache or pain makes us wonder "do I need to call my Dr?". 

We just had a situation where the ignoring a problem could have ended a lot worse than what it did. About 3.5 weeks ago I had a bit of a cold that was gone in a couple of days. So a few days later my husband started coughing and feeling tired. Where mine went away quick his didn't. I thought he should go to the ER, he said no. After almost a week he texts me at work to say when I got home from work he wanted to go to the ER. Left work and got him in. Dianosis - congestive heart failure caused by a side effect of a med he was put on a few weeks before. He was in the hospital 4 days. Fortunately his heart is ok. 

elisa73 said:

Here is my diagnosis

Large Diffuse B Cell Non-Hodgkin

I got the first round of chemo R-CHOP on Wednesday. Feel like crap today, and I hear it's only going to get worse. 

I pray I find the strenght to go through this, because it seems so hard. 

I can't go up and down the stairs without hesitating at every step. 

I am already so much weaker than I was two weeks ago. How can I do 6 rounds of this and the Methotrexate on top of it?

It seems such a torture, almost telling you, if you want to live, you gotta die a little. 

So down. 

 

Hi there i hve just read your thrread,i recently found a lump behinf my ear,i currently go though leg back and chest pains and a strange lump on my head thats been there a year,what other symtoms did you get..God i am so scared,ive lost lots of weight..i sound so stupid but i am sat on the sofa with my dog and baby crying..i think i have lymthnoma. i am sared i really am....ive got doctors at 2.40...