 |
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Patient Story |
|
|
Melinda New York, NY United States Female Living with Hodgkin Lymphoma for 12 years Age: 34 In the fall of 1998, while working as a nanny for a 5-month-old baby, I found out I had cancer. First I discovered a lump in my neck. I ignored it because I was new in town and I didn't have a doctor, but ultimately my mother made me find someone because it's just not normal to have a big lump in your neck. We attended a local health fair where we collected information about local doctors and were tested for anemia. My counts came back low and they recommended I see a doctor for a blood test. The doctor checked my blood and sent me to see a surgeon about the lump. The surgeon aspirated the lump and x-rayed my chest. The x-ray showed there were lumps all over the place, including one the size of a man's fist. After the surgeon removed the golf ball-sized lump in my neck they tested it and determined that I had stage two Hodgkin's disease. The oncologist I was sent to started me on chemo the Monday before Thanksgiving. There I sat in the corner with my mother and the little girl I took care of while the nurses slowly injected medicine into my system to kill the cancer. Unless you've had chemo it is hard to explain what your body goes through. I was sick for days. My mouth hurt so bad I could hardly eat. That was the first Thanksgiving I had Popsicles instead of turkey. My chemo appointments were scheduled for Fridays so that I had the weekends to recover before I had to go back to work. The little girl I took care of was my angel. I knew that by each Monday I had to be better so that I could take care of her. In the seven months I had treatment I only missed one day of work. After about two treatments my hair started to fall out, and my mother shaved my head for me. We laughed and we cried. This had all happened to me so quickly that at first I didn't have time to think about what it all meant. But about halfway through, it hit me like a ton of bricks: I had cancer. I felt like I was having a mental breakdown. I didn't want any more treatment. I was tired of being sick. I told my oncologist I didn't want to do this anymore, and he told me that if I didn't I would die. Fortunately I spoke with someone I met through The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. He knew just how I felt because his wife was also going through treatments. He told me not to give up and to fight the disease. The phone call helped. Afterwards I called the oncologist and told him I was back. I was ready to fight the cancer. Four days before my birthday in 1999, I received the best news I had ever gotten. The oncologist told me I was done with chemotherapy and that the lump in my chest was now smaller that an infant's fist. This news was followed up with 22 radiation treatments, and I am happy to say that I am a two-year cancer survivor. I have never felt better. I would like to thank all of my friends and family. I would have never made it if it they hadn't been there to help me. The doctors still do not know why people get Hodgkin's disease. I hope that one day soon we can find the reason so that more people with this disease can be treated early. Maybe even one day it can be prevented all together. |
|
|
copyright | disclaimer | privacy | security