recently diagnosed

The diagnosis of having cancer is very traumatic and very scary, the first thing you proabably think of is "Am I going to die" Well your not, Hodgkins disease is a very curable cancer, with precise staging and accurate detail to your treatment you will go into remission sooner than you know. Educate yourself about Hodgkins Disease. The more you know the better you will get through this. Yes the chemo is not fun and it is scary, but you will get through it. My dad age 71 was diagnosed with Hodgkins disease December 2004. He had 4 cycles of ABVD and 17 radiation treatments. He is in remission since APril 2005. Get to know about the side effects and try to cope with them as best as you can. My dad had fatigue and hair loss and a little quezziness in his tummy. My dad is doing quite well today, he remains active and lives a very full life. MY dad had stage IIA nodular sclerosis non-bulky. Make sure your doc has treated lymphoma it's a plus. I know how your feeling and I want you to know youre going to be alright, I pray you have a loving supportive family that will help you sail through this. It's ok to be afraid, and you should always express how you feel its aways best to get things off your chest you'll feel better and do not be afraid to ask your oncologist questions even if you've already asked him and you forgot ask again!
Hugs and support to you, Keep the site posted there are lots of caring loving individuals that will reply to you be patient.

Take care.

Hi,
I'm sorry you've had to join this group -- on the other hand, I've never "met" so many kind and compassionate people before joing here! My husband was diagnosed shortly before you and is just about to begin treatment. You might find the posting just a few below this one helpful -- I think I titled it "in shock" as we were!

I can tell you that my husband had many sleepness nights initially and actually lost quite a bit of weight as he didn't have any appetite.

If you're experiencing more stress than you're comfortable living with (and frankly I'm not sure who doesn't after being diagnosed), you might want to check with your PCP. He/She may be able to provide some medication to help with sleep.

For us, it took a few weeks to absorb the news, get the rest of the tests, and begin to deal with what the treatment would be. Generally Hodgkin's is slow moving and taking a week or two to "digest/comprehend" everything doesn't make much of a difference in treatment.

Take care of yourself and remember with this board you aren't alone. I have found it very helpful.

Best wishes,
Lisa

Hi, I am a 28 year old female also from England (London), I was diagnosed with stage IIa Hodgkin's Lymphoma in May of this year. I had 6 ABVD treatments (3 cycles) and responded very well to these (had a clear PET scan after the 3 cycles) I then had 20 radiotherapy sessions just to make sure. I finished my chemotherapy in August and the radiotherapy finished in November. I am now just going for regular check-ups and feel great.

It is very normal to be scared when you receive your diagnosis although you will probably find that once you start treatment your emotions will settle down and you will just get on with it. The chemo isn't nice but it is bearable, as long as you take enough time to recover between treatments and accept help from those around you, you should be fine. The chemo made me feel slightly sick but I never actually was sick, the anti-sickness drugs they give you work pretty well. I felt very tired but I just made sure I got lots of rest. I did eventually lose my hair but not until my treatment had finished (and there was me thinking I had got away with it) it is growing back nicely now though.

Keep us posted on how it is all going and feel free to email me through this site if you have any other questions.