Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma

[kerrycats3]

I have two questions to ask about lymphoma.
Have any of you ever had non-hodgkins lymphoma more then two times? Is there always a lymph node swelling for this kind of cancer.

Can someone have cancer and the cbc test be ok? I didn't know if the cbc test would always show if there was cancer or a tumor. Would a tumor cause the cbc test to show a problem with the blood count? Would a tumor cause lymph node swelling too?




------------------
kerrycats3
Have a happy healthy life

[Jay Tor]

Kerry;

I'm unable to answer your specific questions, but perhaps you can find the answers on these sites:
[url="http://cancer.med.upenn.edu/templates/types/article.cfm?c=10&s=36&ss=288&id=6625"]http://cancer.med.upenn.edu/templates/types/article.cfm?c=10&s=36&ss=288&id=6625[/url]
[url="http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000581.htm"]http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000581.htm[/url]

You might also try ACOR.org which is a non-profit cancer resource with online patient support groups for various cancers.

From personal experience, there are always exceptions to CBC Diff results. That's one of the reasons why most HEM/ONCs do several different types of tests before offering a diagnosis.

[kerrycats3]

Thanks Jay Tor. I will check out the links you gave me. I was just thinking about it because my sister has had it twice and she is almost through her 4th year of not having it again. They said if she makes 5 years she would be considered cancer free. Lets hope. The first one was a swollen node in her neck the second was in her colon(not colon cancer). Its rare but sometimes lymphoma gets in colon. She had to have 6" of her colon removed. That was 4 years ago in July. I just wondered if its possible to get a third time.


------------------
kerrycats3
Have a happy healthy life

[vedstone]

I've had non-hodgkins lymphoma and the recurrence rate is based on what stage they caught the previous cases in. For instance, I was diagnosed in stage 1 and was told something along the lines that it is 90% curable and 90% that it will not come back. The numbers might not be completely accurate, but it was in the 90% range. The later the stage the lower the percentages become. It also depends on whether or not it spread to the bone marrow and a bone marrow transplant has been done. Another factor would be the grade of the cancer. Research it... go to yahoo and type in lymphoma and you can get lots of info of this nature.

So to answer your question, yes, it can come back more than twice. I was lucky in that I was only in Stage 1 and it was the first time I got it, but even still with that scenario the recurrence rate was not 0%. I was also given that five year rule. If it doesn't come back in 5 yrs that I would be considered cancer free. Still though, having had cancer once, I'm at a higher risk of getting another type of cancer than somebody who has never had cancer before.

[kerrycats3]

Thanks so much vedstone for the info. I hope you are cancer free. I know everyday must be scary. I know my sister gets very nervous when she has strange pains or other things happening. She was stage one also.

------------------
kerrycats3
Have a happy healthy life