Diagnosed with lymphoma

Hey, how are you doing now a month on?

I am 3rd year psych student, been having health issues for about 1.5 months trying to get to the bottom of them...and just got diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma on Tuesday..I have my PET scan on the 1st to determine the stage.

Just took extensions for my dissertation and coursework so I have a week or 2 to power through because I decided I just want to get it over and done with asap before treatment starts, I was told thats when symptoms get worse..and I would hate to delay and delay it and have that stress additionally looming over my head.

You being second year I'd advise you try come back into study after summer in October but if not defer by a year maybe, it depends on how long the treatment plan is going to be?

Wish you all the best, and here if you want to message!

Sorry to hear about your diagnosis. The PET scan unfortunately showed that my cancer had spread to my lungs and spleen, meaning that it had reached stage 4. I started chemo on the 10th of May, and they put me on pretty much the strongest treatment course (escalated BEACOPDac). The treatment is expected to be 6 cycles in total, and each cycle is 21 days long. Ultimately, I decided to take a year out and do my exams next summer. I was a wreck mentally and physically after I got the PET scan results and before I started treatment.
The side effects are pretty rough. I got nausea in the days following chemo, so I found it difficult to eat. I'm also tired most days, and my hair started falling out in clumps at the end of week 2 of treatment. I also need to do G CSF injections to boost my blood counts. The injections themselves aren't too painful, but on day 6 of doing them I got some pretty bad bone pain, but that is pretty common from what I've read, it's just a side effect of the injections doing their job.
It is definitely a rough fight, but I know that it is also a winnable one. On the bright side, the symptoms I had from the lymphoma itself (night sweats, fever, severe abdominal pain that woke me up at night) have disappeared. I can actually get a comfortable full night's sleep now, which is nice for a change. The staff at the hospital where I'm having treatment have also been extremely friendly and supportive, they've honestly been the ones who kept my morale up despite the side effects I experienced.

Regardless of what the PET scan shows, you can remain confident knowing that the cancer is treatable at any stage - even at stage 4, it has a very high cure rate, even though the treatment sucks.

PS - I tried to message you, but unfortunately the website did not let me as my account is still new. You might have more luck messaging me though, so I'm here if you've got any questions or worries regarding treatment.