so it's the good kind?

so after the initial shock of my surgeon telling me he thought i had hodgkin's lymphoma, my first question was "is this the good kind?" and if you are a fan of curb your enthusiasm you might remember this episode (**warning there is swearing***) and have more of an appreciation for that question.

so here is my first educational blog.

there are two main types of of lymphoma: non-hodgkin's and hodgkin's. according to the leukemia and lymphoma society:

Lymphoma starts with a change to a lymphocyte. The change to the lymphocyte causes it to become a lymphoma cell. The lymphoma cells pile up and form masses that gather in the lymph nodes or other parts of the lymphatic system. Hodgkin lymphoma has characteristics that distinguish it from other diseases classified as lymphoma, including the presence of Reed-Sternberg cells. These are large, malignant cell found in Hodgkin lymphoma tissues and named for the scientists who first identified them.Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) represents a diverse group of diseases that are distinguished by the characteristics of the cancer cells associated with each disease type.

i dont know if that helps distinquish the two at all, but all i know is when i was doing my scary internet research on the two diseases the term "life-threatening" was associated with non-hodgkins, and not so much with hodgkin's.

from what my doctors tell me and what my research has taught me is that hodgkin's lymphoma is completely treatable. i have caught it early and i am taking all the right steps to begin treatment to beat this thing.

first steps: finish staging. the first oncologist i met with sent me for a series of tests to finalize my staging. she believes that i am stage two A. basically because i had two lymph nodes as well as some swelling of my chest lymph nodes. what are these fun tests? PET-scan, a heart test, and a lung test. the PET-scan is to get a better look at my insides 'below the belt' to see if there are any other lymph nodes floating around in there. the heart and lung test are to see how healthy i am before starting treatment.

what is treatment? well that was the answer i could just get out of people. the doctors kept saying 'medicines' ok....what kind of medicines? i wanted to be like ok am i going to lose my hair or what? basically what my treatment will be is chemotherapy with a possible round of radiation. the chemo will take about four months to complete, and then if needed, i will begin radiation after a month break.

what is chemotherapy? basically drugs that are given intravenously. my course of treatment will be the ABVD chemotherapy regimen, which is the standard treatment of Hodgkin's disease in the US. The abbreviation stands for the four drugs adriamycin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine.

what can i expect? probably nausea, fatigue, hair loss...you know, all fun sounding stuff.

my doctors have recommended me take the first month of my treatment off from work since i wont know how my body reacts. if i decide i cant return to work right away, i wont, if i can, i will. i'm not making any decisions on that right now. taking it one day at a time.

so the positive of this is yes, it's the good kind. very treatable. i live in one of the best cities in the world for cancer treatment and research, i am in good hands, i will get through this.