New to forum looking for advice

Hi 

Im 58 and first had Angioimmunoblastic T cell Lymphoma 9 years ago. Treated with 6 sessions of Chemo I happily reached remission. 3 years ago I relapsed and had in house chemo for 6 months and prep for a Auto transplant. That left me pretty immobile but a good result that now I can say was so worth every struggle of that treatment. 

I never asked but thought that this Auto Stem Cell Transplant being successful was a cure... In August I started scratching like a flea bitten old blanket and now I’m being checked out again. I haven’t read much on Lymphoma for a couple of years but did see in Wikipedia that Auto transplants with my cancer often come back... I guess I should realistically face this possibility.

The big questions I would like to ask is what they are looking for in my blood tests (as both previous cancer diagnosis showed good blood results), I’m curious now as I have no other symptoms like before - just itching...? 

Secondly, would they rule me out from having another transplant based on the fact that I’ve had one already? 

Anyone on here had their cancer come back three times? More than one SCT or suffer from the same cancer? 

My Dad died with this at 29 so guess I’m doing well on the positive ha ha 

 

  •  

    Hi Elaine,

    Welcome to Cancer Chat. I believe that fear of spread is one of the biggest worries of anyone who is diagnosed with cancer, irrespective of what type of cancer or how much treatment they have had. Sadly, I don’t think that there is any cancer treatment which is 100%, so I guess that you should realistically face this possibility.  

     I am afraid that I know nothing about this type of Lymphoma, but am sorry to hear that you suspect that it may be back after all this time. I have had 2 bouts of primary breast cancer, the first diagnosed 7 years ago and the second 6 and am having investigations for a third at present. I lost my mum to metastases from breast cancer too.

    I am not a medic, but I suspect that they are checking your bloods to see if there are any changes in your cell counts, which might indicate spread. Don’t be afraid to ask your consultant, as s/he will be able to give you a much better answer than I can. I am not sure what the position would be if you needed a second transplant. Don’t be afraid to ask your consultant about this too.

    I am so sorry to hear that you lost your dad at such an early age.

    Please keep in touch and let us know how you get on. We are always here for you, whenever you feel like talking.

    Kind regards,

    Jolamine xx