Hi PandoraBox87, 

It must be so hard to see your child diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma at such a young age. I can imagine it came as a completely shock and it's normal to feel really apprehensive about chemotherapy starting soon and about the effects it might have on your son. There is detailed information on our website on chemotherapy for Hodgkin Lymphoma which I hope you will find useful and if you wanted to talk things through with our cancer nurses at any point, there is a free helpline you can call on 0808 800 4040 Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm. 

I am sure your son appreciates you being there for him even though you feel there isn't much you can do to help him but your love and support will mean so much to him at a time when he needs it the most. We have an interesting section on our website for family, friends and carers which I recommend you have a look at. I also had a little look around the forum looking for other members who had been diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma and thought I would mention for example locost47 's Stage 2 Hodgkin's Lymphoma thread and Lucilla also posted this thread a few months ago right after her husband was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Don't hesitate to respond if you would like to connect with others who have also been affected by this cancer and who have had chemotherapy treatment before. 

Best of luck to your son as he is about to start his chemotherapy. I hope it all goes as well as possible for him and that the treatment will be a success. 

Lucie, Cancer Chat Moderator

Hi there I am sorry to hear about your diagnosis and I'm glad to know you are fine now. We have been told today that he will need an initial 18 weeks on the strongest chemo they have for Lymphoma and he has his first one on 15th September.. he has been very quiet since coming out of hospital as he was admitted for 3 weeks as the cancer caused fluid in his lungs and around his heart. He doesn't like to tell me much but I can see that now it's getting closer he is getting more scared of what's to come. The doctor has said the chemo is around 93% effective and hopefully they will be able to cure him first time as long as he responds well to the treatment. We still do not know the Stage yet as still waiting for a PET scan. 

Thank you for reaching out I just feel so anxious and alone in this and the shock of the diagnosis is still sinking in. I don't want to see him be so weak and ill i just want my energetic, happy boy. He asked me today "why him" and I just didn't have an answer. 

Hello thank you for reaching out I really appreciate it. I'm glad you have recovered and are back to living your life again that is great to hear. 

I don't know what stage my son's lymphoma is as he is still waiting for a PET scan but he will be starting chemo on 15th September and has been told he will be needing 6-8 rounds depending on how he responds to it. They are hopeful they can cure him as the chemo they want to use is the strongest they have to offer and has a 93% chance of a cure. 

I have been finding it very hard the last 3 weeks since he was admitted to hospital to see him in so much pain and looking so downbeat and anxious. He had fluid on his lungs and around his heart caused by the cancer and has possibly been like it a few months before his breathing got so bad we knew something was wrong, but the shock of the diagnosis is still sinking in. I just hope he is strong enough to get through it and hope and pray he responds well to treatment. 

Thank you for reaching out I really appreciate it. Thank you also for reading my long reply it's a lot  I know 

Take care 

Hello

Thank you for reaching out and for your kindness I really appreciate it. I will look at everything you have suggested.

Thanks take care 

Hello, yes I am sure you are terrified. When I was told it was a huge shock and I was terrified. I was initially told the same amount of rounds then radiotherapy. But after 4 rounds they changed it to 6 as one of the drugs had irritated my lung. (I didn't notice). 

I had a biopsy for my lymph nodes  then the pet scan. 

I am terrified of needles so I was dreading it. I then had Avdb chemo (I may have got the order mixed up!). 

Everyones experience is different, but in my experience my afterthoughts on it were, 1. Needles, I choose to have a cannula for each treatment and not a picc line, just personal preference, but this made me anxious each time waiting on the cannula being put in. The actual process of the different chemos going in, for me, was not too bad, just sometimes a very cold arm, later I would bring a hot water bottle and rest it on my arm during the infusion. Then just talk away to the nurses or other patients for a few hours then off home.

2. as treatment went on I felt more nauseous, the odd time I did vomit, but they give you drugs to make this less likely.

3. Bunged up! Yes I found it difficult to go to the toilet, but they give you a powder to help.

4. Heart Palpatations, I had a few after each infusuon, but nothing serious.

Everyones journey is different but what I mean to say is not everyone will get all the side effects listed. The nurses are very good at keeping everything doable, and I'm 42, and got through it, so he will be fine. A few days after each infusion I felt myself again and just went about my normal day, shopping at quieter times, went for a walk or light jog, and just tried to live as normal as I could.

My oncologist before I started treatment said to me the hardest part of treatment is the mental part, it will be a small blip in your life timewise over your lifetime. Of course I didn't believe her, I was reading other peoples stories and thinking I'll be getting all these side effects and it will be terrible, but although it wasn't nice, it was no where as bad as i imagined.

A long winded post!