When I was 16, just a week before my 17th birthday, I was diagnosed with Stage 2 unfavourable Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Lymphoma is a cancer of the lymphatic system. There are two main types: Hodgkin lymphoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma – or NHL. The lymphatic system is part of our immune system it helps us fight infections. (find out more).
My Treatment
Treatment for stage 1 and 2 Hodgkin lymphoma is usually 2 to 4 cycles of chemotherapy. You might also have radiotherapy. For my treatment, I completed two rounds of chemotherapy, but during that time, they extended the course of treatment to four rounds overall. After this, I completed five weeks of radiotherapy. During the treatment days, I felt quite nauseous and exhausted, but once I was back home and in fresh air, it all felt much better. I still had very low energy levels, and headaches and nosebleeds were quite common. These affected me as I didn’t feel like I had the motivation to go out and about to see friends and family.
For the first month or so of my course of chemotherapy, I was able to see my friends and family, but it was towards the middle/end of my chemotherapy that I felt very tired with a low mood. The radiotherapy also caused me to be extremely tired with a low mood, but I was still able to maintain some sort of social life alongside this treatment.
How I coped with this life challenge
Mentally, it was a tough challenge, and I still struggle sometimes making sense of it all and getting to grips with what had happened to me.
I bought a puppy just before my treatment started, so this was a brilliant way for me to keep entertained and I was able to chat to her without an opinion. Having a dog was wonderful during this time. I found I didn’t really talk too much about how I felt to people but I kept myself busy by going on dog walks and I was fortunate that the young farmers community really supported me. I was able to keep seeing the people that I normally would and talk about similar interests that weren’t related to cancer.
Questions that upset me
People asked me if I felt any different because I had cancer; this was quite irritating, as it was only the treatment that caused me to feel different. I got a sense that people didn’t really understand the whole situation that I had been in. When people asked about the tumour, I found it very difficult to explain what it felt like and what it was, as I didn’t really know how to put it into words.
When people asked about how I was mentally, I didn’t really like that because I was in a mindset that I just wanted to get through it and get it done, rather than having everyone tell me that they are there to support me and that I’ll be okay.
What did help me
On a brighter note, I found that when people asked me if I wanted to go out on a walk or go and watch a film or even just spend time with them, that felt good as it wasn’t me having to organise or put the effort in, as such, I was just able to turn up and have a laugh. Personally, I liked people asking about the treatment and what it actually was because then I was able to educate people on what it is and how it works.
Being asked if I had any plans for after the treatment and making me think about the future rather than what was happening at that time was amazing. Having a different train of thought and thinking more positively about the future really helped.
