Surviving Cancer

I am a 38 yr old single mother of two young children, diagnosed in May of 2005 with B-Cell Large Diffused NHL, Stage 1A. For a few months before my diagnosis, I had rashes on both of my shins, and a dull pain radiating down the left side of my arm. I went to my G.P. for my rash and ignored the dull pain down my arm….thinking it was related to my asthma A few days after my doctor’s appt., when lying in bed, I woke up from a sound sleep because I couldn’t breath. Was rushed to the hospital, had a chest x-ray, and was told that I had a mass in my Thymus gland that measured 7.6 cm and that it appeared to be some sort of Lymphoma. After receiving 2 opinions from Oncologists, I opted for a more aggressive plan. I received 6 treatments of R-EPOHC-96 hrs of straight chemotherapy (per cycle), this all to avoid radiation after chemotherapy and minimize the chance of any secondary cancers. With a mass the size of the one I had, I would have definitely had to get radiation if I went with my first Oncologist’s opinion. I was told that I would most likely have scar tissue left over, possibly 2-3 CM of “Dead Carcass” (doctor’s words). After two years of being in remission (a very big milestone for NHL - aggressive lymphomas tend to come back more often than not within the first 2 yrs of remission) I don’t even have any “Dead Carcass” rotting in my body. I am just grateful that I received a second opinion and became pro-active in my health and decisions that I made.

There is HOPE!