Understanding R's lymphoma

I have been a little anxious about what awaits us all for the months to come. Six months seems a long time to wait for what we may call the 'real picture': when we actually know whether we have won our battle or not. I met my friendly neighbourhood doctor yesterday who had put my health on hold many many months ago. The adrenaline fix I was under seemed to be keeping my mind-body-soul going if not kicking. Now that the chemo saga was over and that conventional medicine I given its interim verdict: remission, the next six months looked rather empty as all one had to do is wait, a wait quite akin to that of Vladimir and Estragon in Beckett's play Waiting for Godot! So my good old Doc feared a massive adrenaline drop that could lead to other problems and even depression. I guess he is right from his point of view, but that is not quite the way it is.

I am an adrenaline junkie and do not function unless in a state of stress. The few moments in my life when I have been on an adrenaline low have been dark times. I need a mission to survive. A true zealot! Now that we are over with conventional therapies and have to live with the fear of the morrow, I have set my heart to ensure that there is no return of Mr H or any of his acolytes. There was a reason why he landed upon us and the one way to ensure that he does not come back is to remove that reason. Along the way, unfortunately, we will have to repair the damage made by the nasty 4 (ABVD).

I searched for the supposed causes for lymphoma and realised that in our case the cause was emotional and not physical. The only physical damage is the one the disease made before it was unearthed from the dark corner it was hiding in and the damage done by the treatment that seems to be akin to using a bomb to kill a fly. But as long as we can remove the main cause that brought about the problem we are home safe.

I know what the problem is but sadly again it is something that I cannot be of great help in as only Ranjan can quieten his demons and find the closure he so desperately needs. I can only try and nudge him as diplomatically and gently as possible. I will certainly give it my very best. However I can create all the most enabling environment and tackle all the physical issues that need to be addressed.

So to begin I need to ferret some more and find out what lymphoma does to one's body. First and foremost is affects the drainage of the lymphatic system and the dysfunction of the lymphocytes affect the body's immune system and defence against infections. In hindsight this has been the case as Ranjan's blood counts were in free fall from August 2012. Ranjan's lymphoma is located in the abdominal cavity. They are the abdominal retroperitoneal and pelvic lymph nodes and receive drainage from the upper gastrointestinal tract and the abdominal organs. So any blockage or dysfunction would create digestive tract issues, even the ones we would like to avoid, at least when we are not alone. But the big culprit in this case is chemo as let is not forget it is a progeny of mustard gas! I am inured and as I am neither a pregnant woman nor nursing mother I am safe! On the lighter side someone invented a special anti flatulence underwear! Believe it or not it has has a pocket on the rear that has a replaceable activated charcoal packet, which the subject farts through has a pocket on the rear that has a replaceable activated charcoal packet, which the subject farts through! But we have not come to that! However the man was a little concerned about the magnitude of this problem. I can reassure him now.

In my quest towards understanding what Hodgkin's disease really is, I came across this interesting article. It gives quite a balanced description of the ailment and ends with these words of caution: Patients with HL do have some immune suppression because of the disease and have a higher risk of getting certain infections. Patients who are successfully treated for HL continue to have this immune suppression and long term have a higher risk of leukemia and some other cancers because of their therapy. So there is no way to keep the guards down.

It is all about the immune system, is it not!