My Friend is diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, will she die?!
Question: My best friend was very recently told she has non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and that there is nothing that can be done. She is in her early 30's with 2 young girls. The doctor told her to do "alot of video-taping". Essentially, she feels fine, but doesnt know how long she has. Is there NO treatment for this? We live in Southern California with some of the best medical universities and hospitals. Is there nothing that can be done? Im angry! What should I do?
Answers: My best friend was very recently told she has non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and that there is nothing that can be done. She is in her early 30's with 2 young girls. The doctor told her to do "alot of video-taping". Essentially, she feels fine, but doesnt know how long she has. Is there NO treatment for this? We live in Southern California with some of the best medical universities and hospitals. Is there nothing that can be done? Im angry! What should I do?
my sympathies to you and your friend. If her doctor thinks they need to treat with chemo or chemo - they should.
my mother had non-hodkins for 8 years. most of the time she wasn't too bad. You can survive for i think about 12 years with it - at least that was the info I got when my mother got it about 16 years ago. of course I'm sure that treatments are better now too.
usually they die due to complications such as respiratory failure or some sort of infection. they get susceptible to colds and illnesses since their immune system is so low.
look it up on the mayo clinic site.
i know you are angry and upset, but really just deal with it and support her and help her as much as youi can.
good luck
I'm sorry
I am so sorry to hear about your friend. That is so sad..she is so young. You could suggest your friend get a second opinion and just be as supportive and helpful as possible.
If I were her, I would seek out help from Cancer Treatment centers across the nation. How disappointing of her doctor. He/she is not even going to attempt to save her? Also, I've heard that Hodgkin's Lymphoma is worse, but I'm not a doctor.
Tell her to get other opinions on her options. Tell her to not let one doctor discourage her from fighting for her life!
Good luck and God bless!
Sorry to say it's a 50/50 chance of living :( I don't know what else there is to say.
The treatment options often depend on the cancer stage, and not so much on the type of cancer. Most likely, she is already at an advanced stage. Encourage your friend to seek a second opinion, or even a third or fourth opinion to make sure there aren't some options that someone has overlooked. Maybe you could do a little research to find the best experts in treating non-Hodgkin's, and help her arrange an appointment with the best possible expert, even if it means flying to another city.
According to Wikipedia, it can be treated in the following ways:
Chemotherapy and radiation therapy -
Chemotherapy and radiation therapy are the most common treatments for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, although bone marrow transplantation, biological therapies, or surgery are sometimes used. CHOP, with rituximab added in certain circumstances, is the most commonly used combination of chemotherapy.
Rituximab is an antibody-based therapy. Ibritumomab tiuxetan (commonly known as Zevalin) and Tositumomab (Bexxar) are FDA-approved options, requiring a Nuclear Medicine facility, but only two short infusions one week apart. There is mounting evidence that more patients have long-term remission if they use radioimmunotherapy first.
Radiation therapy (also called radiotherapy) is the use of high-energy rays to kill cancer cells. Treatment with radiation may be given alone or with chemotherapy. Radiation therapy is local treatment; it affects cancer cells only in the treated area. Radiation therapy for Non Hodgkin's lymphoma comes from a machine that aims the high-energy rays at a specific area of the body. There is no radioactivity in the body when the treatment is over.
Sometimes patients are given chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy to kill undetected cancer cells that may be present in the central nervous system (CNS). In this treatment, called central nervous system prophylaxis, the doctor injects anticancer drugs directly into the cerebrospinal fluid.
Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation -
Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), or Bone marrow transplantation (BMT) may also be a treatment option, especially for patients whose non-Hodgkin's lymphoma has recurred (come back). BMT provides the patient with healthy stem cells (very immature cells, found in the marrow, that produce blood cells), the function of which is to replace white blood cells that are damaged or destroyed by treatment with very high doses of chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy. The healthy bone marrow may come from a donor, or it may be "autologous" (marrow that was removed from the patient, stored, and then given back to the person following the high-dose treatment). Autologous transplants are preferred, as the recipient is less likely to reject the cells, the origins of which were the same entity. However, in order for an autologous transplant to be performed, certain physiological conditions must be optimal within the patient. If these conditions are not present, transplanted stem cells can come from other donors. Until the transplanted bone marrow begins to produce enough white blood cells, patients have to be carefully protected from infection due to the virtual elimination of the auto-immune system resulting from the high-intensity treatment. Without the introduction of the stem cells following the high dose treatment, the patient will not survive as the body will be unable to produce infection-fighting white blood cells. Patients usually stay in the hospital for several weeks and will be monitored for transplant rejection and overall health.
Immunotherapy -
Biological therapy (also called immunotherapy) is a form of treatment that uses the body's immune system, either directly or indirectly, to fight cancer or to lessen the side effects that can be caused by some cancer treatments. It uses materials made by the body or made in a laboratory to boost, direct, or restore the body's natural defenses against disease. This approach is under close investigation. Biological therapy is sometimes also called biological response modifier therapy.
Yes.
I'm very sorry to hear about your best friend - I hope she'll get well soon. All my best to you and her! :D
My grandmother died from this. She had little bumps on her arms and didn't know what they were until my aunt urged her to go to the doctor. Well, the doctor told her she had non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. She went for chemo and/or radiation, but it was too far advanced for it to be cured or to go into remission. Eventually, it got so bad to where she couldn't even eat - only drink because the lymph nodes in her throat swelled up to the point where she literallly looked like she swallowed a basketball - no exaggeration! She literally starved to death from it, and I'm not saying all this to make you more angrier or to upset you, but it's the truth. I don't believe in 'sugar-coating' something so serious as this; only being frank and honest.
What I suggest is chemo treatments and/or radiation and see what happens from there. I believe there is also chemo-therapy in pill form if she doesn't prefer the other conventional method, which is through the IV.
Unfortunately as with most, if not all cancers, early detection is of the utmost importance, and the more time that passes without treatment, the more time there is for the cancer to metastasize (grow and multiply exponentially) and spread to the rest of the body.
Sadly, if your friend has been told that there is nothing to be done, that probably means that the cancer went undetected or untreated long enough to spread to vital organs - and has progressed to the extent that it has become inoperable and unable to be treated with conventional methods like chemotherapy or radiation.
So assuming that she has gotten a second opinion (or even third and fourth!) and they all concur that this cancer has metastasized to the point where it is now untreatable, unfortunately there probably isn't much that can be done.
On the other hand, your friend could try the Cancer Treatment Centers of America. I used to see their commercial on TV all the time, when I was living in the US (I moved to Australia earlier this year) and they claimed to treat cancer patients whose other doctors had given up on. So they might still be an option for your friend.
Other than that, I don't think that there is much that can really be done - at least not medically.
All you can do now is be there for your friend, and support her and her family through this difficult time. Help her with the household tasks (cooking, cleaning, shopping, etc.) so she can spend that time with her kids and family.
Like the doctors suggested, help her with videotaping so her daughters can have her memoirs and legacy to keep and cherish, even years after her death.
I understand you're angry and that is completely normal. Your friend is dying, and because you feel powerless to do anything, you're angry.
But you can do something. Maybe not in the way you're hoping. But you can help in other ways.
You can be there for your friend, supporting her and helping wherever, whenever, and however you can.
Then, when and if your friend does pass away, you can be there for her girls, not as a replacement for their mom, but as a loving friend who cares for them, and will try to do some of things that their mom did.
I hope that helps.