I was treated with ChIVPP/PABLOE,which is in trials against ABVD in England where i live.It got rid of my Hodgkins but i had my problems along the way,via blood transfusions ok this is caused by the treatment,admitted to hospital twice because of high temperatures,the second time being caused by a very severe reaction to Vincristine which started as a small lump in my right inner bicep and turned into a very painful hole a 1 inch and a half long and half inch wide and very deep(my onc a Professor said he had not seen this in 25 years of treating patients).I've had a pain in my left femur since June 2001 and after several scans i have been told that i have a reduced blood supply to both hips(is there anybody out there with this and what treatments were you offered,plus is there anyone out there who have had allergic reactions to chemotherapy.)
Keith.

Hello there, My name is Mary Taylor, I am listing on the spinal cord disorder boards, but read your topic and thought you might like to know, my mother died in August 1998 of Non Hodkins Lymphoma, she was treated for 8 years at Kings College Hospital in London, she had 4 recurrences of the disease, and after her third course of chemotherapy, she sufferred a heart attack, and also her blood pressure fell away completely if she as much as tried to sit up in her hospital bed, she was transferred at one stage to the National Hospital in central London for investigation, and they worked out that here autonomic nervous system had been affected, and, both of these separate issues were put down to the drug Vincristine. It was a vewry difficult time for her having to spend so much time in hospital in one go (15 weeks) through a very hot summer, but she knew she had to take the drug. When her Lymphoma returned for the 4th time they were unable to offer her full chemo, and instead as a palliative measure gave her mild chemo tablets only, and lo and behold within a fortnight her symptoms (lumps) had completely dissappeared, she remained with that happening for a further 3 years, I dont know hwereabouts in the U.K you are, but if youi ever attend Kings College, you must see Professor Ghulam Mufti, head of haemotology, he is an absolute angel and dedicated to all of his patients. I hope all goes well for you very best wishes. Mary.

Hello Mary,sorry your'e mother did'nt make it I've always said since I got Hodgkins Lymphoma that I've always felt sorry for the young and the older people with the disease.If I had been about 20 years older I don't think I'd be here now (I am 46 and been in remission for 18 months).
I live in Chesterfield and at the time they did not treat HD here so I was referred to Sheffield at Weston Park which is only one of a handful of centres dedicated to just cancer and like your mother I was under a Professor(B W HANCOCK)who wears a hearing aid and looks just like the nutty professor in the film of the same name and he is brilliant.
Today I have just seen a Orthopaedic Surgeon in Sheffield about my hips(Avascular Necrosis caused by Prednisolone,one of the drugs used to treat HD).I will be having a operation called a core decompression to both hips,this will try and restore the blood supply to my hips,if unsucessful I will need two new hips.

Thanks again Mary......Keith

Speak with your doctor about hyperbaric treatments as well.

I'm a parent of a child who underwent a bone marrow transplant and needed very high doses of prednisone for Graft-Versus-Host-Disease [transplant rejection problems]. Luckily we did not progress to this level of damage to bone tissue, but I did do some reading-up just in case.

AVS/AVN in cancer/BMT patients has recently been successfully treated using hyperbaric therapy. Hyperbaric therapy was originally used for scuba divers - their joints are also exceptionally susceptible to AVS/AVN. Much of the research was done in the U.K. so your doctor should be able to access this information.

In the U.S., there are three Avascular Necrosis clinical trials underway, each appears to be evaluating a different procedure. Although you maynot qualify for these trials, nonetheless it may be worth reading them in order to gain more information on different treatments.
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct/gui/c/a1b/action/SearchAction?

Good luck,
Jay [in Toronto, Canada]