My Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (Cancer) experience

I made this website with the idea that people who had Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma could read about my experiences with the CHOP and ESHAP’s chemotherapy regimes, and also about stem cell transplantation; and should the worst happen yet again, what you can expect with the palliative care IVE regime.

I have tried to put everything in some sort of logical order, but if you are looking for something specific, just type in a word in the search engine at the top, and it will search my site for you.

I was officially diagnosed with Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma on 2nd May 2002. It was very advanced and had spread around my spleen, liver and heart. The classification was Stage 4 B, high risk, and treatment started immediately.

I finished my first round of chemotherapy in August 2002, and thought that it hadn’t been as bad as I expected; and then the cancer came back again in November. I was immediately started on the ESHAP regime, and it finished in March 2003, shortly before I was due to go in for my stem cell transplant. But with the two of us being such good friends (my cancer and I), it came back again, for the third time, just before my stem cell transplant in May 2003. The doctors were in two minds whether or not to proceed, as protocol dictated that I had to be in some sort of remission, but as I had come so far, I guess they took pity on me, and went ahead.

We beat it with the transplant - well, for just over a year anyway. I was due a routine PET scan on 9th July 2004, and had no thoughts of the cancer returning, but the results showed that it was back for another visit.

I’m now on IVE chemotherapy and have had three so far, with another three in the new year. The scary part is that this time we’re not trying to beat it, just control it, and hopefully get it into some sort of remission.

So if you’ve got cancer, all I can say is fight it.

Best wishes with whatever life throws your way. - Lawrence

IVE Beat it or should that be I’ve beat it?? Click here

Just me an’ my dog.

Don’t let the wife see this, he’s

not even allowed in the house.

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