L O W G R A D E - S T A G E 2 - N O N H O D G K I N ' S L Y M P H O M A
In late January 2023 I found two suspicious lumps in my right groin. I visited my GP in Early February who upon examination said that they were inflamed because my body was fighting an athletes foot infection in my right foot - my gut feeling said otherwise. I was referred for an ultrasound "just in case". Fast forward eight months! (Not sure why there was a delay but we're looking into it) and after an ultrasound guided biopsy and PET-CT I was diagnosed with Stage 2, low grade, Non Hodgkins Lymphoma. I was told by my haematologist that I would either receive Radiotherapy, Chemotherapy, Immunotherapy or a combination of these. After a recent appointment I was told that radiotherapy isn't an option as it has spread within my pelvis but that Immunotherapy on its own should deal with my cancer and I start an 8 week course of Immunotherapy sometime in the next two weeks. I had nearly 9 months to deal with the possibility that I might have cancer so it really wasn't as big a shock (to me) as I thought it would be. Don't get me wrong, I had my moments but most of all I felt vindicated - my gut feeling was right, and also angry that no one had taken me seriously.
Now that I have been referred to one of the best cancer specialist centres in the UK (which hip hooray for me is only a 20 minute drive from my home town) everything is being taken seriously, everything is moving quickly and me and my loved ones are being treated with kindness, care, compassion an the up most professionalism. I remain positive and hopeful for a future of remission but also prepared for the fight ahead of me in order to achieve it. The hardest part for me is seeing my loved ones scared and/or upset. This makes me feel very guilty for burdening them with such hard to deal with emotions. I keep them up to date on how I'm feeling both physically and mentally and I always point them in the right direction for correct information and the best places to go for advice but I know that only once I have beaten it will they rest easy. People often say that they would die for their loved ones. I am going to do my very best to LIVE for mine.
I don't refer to my cancer as 'The Big C'. I feel it doesn't deserve to be a proper noun, and anyway, there are much bigger 'C's' out there than mine. I just call it cancer. I see people inwardly wince when I use the word but as one of my favourite authors once wrote...."Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself". For me, this has never rang more true.
Sending love, hugs and positivity to anyone fighting 'the big fight' right now, including their loved ones. XxX
