I’m Rue, I was 49 year old when I got diagnosed with a rare form of cancer.
In November 22, I felt nauseous several time. I eventually had an endoscopy which came back clear. However I had a few glands raised in my neck. In Jan 23 I had a needle biopsy, however I was told there was inconclusive sample size. In Feb 23 I had a full glad removed in my neck, which came back clear.
I started to feel quite tired by now, and in March 23 I got shingles, and then 4 weeks later had an infection in my leg. The was clearly a problem with my immunity.
At that time I developed another lump in my neck, where eventually I had a needle biopsy taken in May, which came back as cancerous cells.
I was diagnosed with a rare from of Non Hodgkins lymphoma, called Anaplastic Large T cell lymphoma, negative type. This effect 1% of patients diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
As the cancer was aggressive, I was put onto a target chemotherapy regime, called BV-CHEP, where I had 6 cycles, one every 3 weeks. I kept generally well throughout my treatment, with normal side effect of hair loss, and felling tired, and developed neuropathy in my fingers. I tried to walk most days which really helped me to stay focussed during this time.
After my 6 cycles I hit complete remission. To help stay in remission longer, I then had a stem cell transplant in Feb 24 as a form of conditioning treatment. This was tough as before the transplant you have 6 days back to back of really high dose chemotherapy, and the transplant on day 7.
I’m 10 weeks post-transplant. Lets hope this works. If only I had a crystal ball.
From all this, the most important factor is to be persistent with your doctors. If you’re not feeling well or not happy with their processes, you have every right to keep pushing. You know your own body and how you are feeling. Being body brave meant I got an early diagnosis, which has definitely helped me.
