Amanda Marsh: Living With Lymphoma

Living With Lymphoma

In July 2005, I was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Primary Mediastinal Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma, Stage IIA.

Background

I was 22, with no previous cancer history, and no family history of blood cancer (lymphoma or leukemia). My symtoms included recurrent strep throat and bronchitis, persistent cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, itchy skin, and hair loss. Was treated for asthma and bronchitis before being sent in for an x-ray to check for possible pneumonia, when it was discovered I had enlarged lymph nodes throughout my chest.

Tests

X-ray (discovered enlarged lymph nodes), CT scan (confirmed enlarge lymph nodes), PET scan (detected cancer cells), mediastenoscopy (surgical procedure to take a biopsy of cancerous cells and confirm diagnosis), MUGA scan (to make sure heart was strong enough for chemotherapy), and bone marrow extraction (to check for cancer in bone marrow).

Diagnosis/Treatment

I was diagnosed by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Stony Brook University Medical Center. I had a large tumor behind my thymus gland, which was causing the shortness of breath. There were smaller, dispersed tumors in lymph nodes on both sides of my chest cavity. I ultimately decided to go with treatment at Stony Brook, where I was treated by Dr. Douglas Gladstone.

A port-a-cath was put in my chest for intraveneous access, and I was treated with the R-EPOCH chemotherapy regiman. The medicines included rituxin, doxorubicin, etoposide, vincristine, cyclophosphamide and prednisone. This involved an inpatient, 96-hour drip every three weeks, twice-weekly complete blood counts, and PET scans every two chemotherapy cycles. I received blood tranfusions if certain counts were too low or I had a fever/infection, and recieved 10 tranfusions. My treatment started in July 2005; the tumors disappeared and I went into remission after the second cycle, then finished treatment in November 2005.

I had plenty of other medications, including a Neulasta injection after every chemo cycle, Compazine and Emend for nausea, iron supplement, and non-asprin/non-acetaminophen pain relievers.

Post-Cancer Care

I received PET/CT scans every three months for the first two years following the end of treatment, then twice yearly for following two years. As of 2010, I am now on a yearly PET/CT schedule.

Outlook

So far, so good! I am now in five years of remission. Cancer can be a very scary thing, but the best way to get through it is support and proper care. If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me at amanda@amandamarsh.me