Hodgkin's Lymphoma

Hodgkin's Lymphoma is a cancer of the lymphatic system.

It begins when a lymphocyte (a cell in the lymphatic system) goes rogue and starts to grow rapidly, separating and dividing super fast. It grows into a disgusting blob with a crooked wall. This cell is now called a Reed Sternburg cell, and it is cancer.

From then on, the cancer spreads until you catch it and kill it with chemotherapy and radiation.

HL is discovered by a biopsy and a PET scan. A biopsy is when they cut someone open in the scene of the protruding lump (swells up in either armpit, neck, and/or groin). They take a piece of the lump and test it to see if it is a Reed Sternburg cell or if it is non-cancerous. In my case, they found a Reed Sternburg cell. The biopsy was done under general anesthesia.

A PET scan is a picture taken of the inside of your body, not a scan of your pet *winks* Before the PET scan, they put an IV in and push radioactive fluid into the body to light up anything that is metabolically active. Cancer is very metabolically active and thus lights up. When going into the scan, the pictures reveal whatever lit up. On my scan, they found a mass of tumors in my chest, a tiny tumor in my groin, and one in my neck. A tumor was also by my liver.

PET stands for Positron Emission Tomography.

Afterward, you go into chemotherapy. Since I was in Stage 3 of HL, I had four months undergoing chemo, another PET scan, and then the thought of radiation or not.

Radiation is when they use radiation beams to kill any cancer. However, radiation can kill other tissues that aren't cancer, resulting in many side effects depending on where the cancer is.

I ended up not needing radiation, which is rare in the case of HL, and thus declared cancer-free on March 6, 2019. However, I had a relapse at my 3-month checkup where the HL returned. Therefore I underwent chemotherapy once more, and now I am headed to an auto stem cell transplant. I will be in hospital for a month. That ended three weeks ago, and I responded fabulously. Radiation was not needed, and now I am pretty much able to continue on with my life! I have chemo once a month, but it barely makes me feel bad at all.
Thank you all for the incredible prayers!