On hold again?

Glorihl
Glorihl Member Posts: 11
Hi, everyone
I'm new to the site. I was diagnosed with HD stage IIB on Oct 2004. I was receiving ABVD and my last treatment was scheduled for May 3rd. But the week before I started having back and neck pain and I totally freaked out. It felt like the symptoms I had when I was diagnosed. I called my oncologist and before I walked in the door she had me scheduled for a CT. It showed, to my surprise, a "fullness" of the mediastinum and lung infiltrates that look like pneumonia. Two different radiologists agreed. They did a brochoscopy that same day and took washings (samples but without a biopsy per se) because I am on Coumadin. Everything came back negative for pneumonia. Still, to be on the safe side they gave me antibiotics and scheduled a PET/CT for June 1st. My question is, has anybody had the cancer come back so soon after treatment, and if so what was done about it? The next step in my case, if the scans are inconclusive, would be to have a biopsy of the mediastinum, which is making an incision ath the base of the neck and going behind the sternum. Has anyone had this procedure done? My life seems to be on hold again, after I was so close to finishing treatment and my previous scans were all clean. Please, anyone in a similar situation I would like to hear from you. I would also like to know if anyone had damage to their lungs from the Bleomycin in ABVD and what it felt like or what it looked like on scans. Thanks for reading.

Comments

  • Maur1966
    Maur1966 Member Posts: 23
    I had the bleo held for 3 treatments and have some lung damage now. :-(
  • positive
    positive Member Posts: 75
    Hello, in reference to your concern about the bleomycin. It is quite common for oncologist to sometimes discontinue the bleomycin. My dad was stage IIA and had the bleomycin taken away after the 3rd cycle. He started to have a cough during his 3rd cycle. He had a cat scan and his lungs have recuperated well. My dad is active and does not have any breathing problems. Its been a year my dad is in remission. 4 cycles and 17 radiations treatments.
    Hope everything turns out alright. Take care
    Val
  • Glorihl
    Glorihl Member Posts: 11
    positive said:

    Hello, in reference to your concern about the bleomycin. It is quite common for oncologist to sometimes discontinue the bleomycin. My dad was stage IIA and had the bleomycin taken away after the 3rd cycle. He started to have a cough during his 3rd cycle. He had a cat scan and his lungs have recuperated well. My dad is active and does not have any breathing problems. Its been a year my dad is in remission. 4 cycles and 17 radiations treatments.
    Hope everything turns out alright. Take care
    Val

    Thanks for answering. At least that part makes me feel better. I had bleo held back only once, I think it was my 3rd treatment. But all my breathing tests came back okay all through treatment so it wasn't discontinued again. We'll see how the other stuff turns out.