I have just been diagnosed with lymphoma, and am going for further blood work and X-rays today. What can I expect to happen from here?

Understandably I'm a bit

Submitted by Adrienne on Fri, 2012-02-17 08:54.

Understandably I'm a bit worried about all this, I'm 60 years old and have had back pain for years, i started itching all over my body, nothing seemed to help, I just thought it was "winter skin". I actually drew blood from the scratching. I also have Hep. B (I have NO idea how that came about, actually could it be related?)
Please tell me what to expect from here.

The back pain seems like it's

Submitted by Ross Bonander on Fri, 2012-02-24 01:27.

The back pain seems like it's been going on too long to be related to the cancer. Generally in lymphoma back pain comes from when tumors are growing around lymphatic or extra-lymphatic organs like the kidneys or spleen.

The itching is a common symptom. How were you diagnosed? Diagnosis in lymphoma can only be made through a biopsy.

For a woman your age, I think the most likely diagnosis is follicular non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. This is a very slow-growing disease that often requires no treatment for many years. When treatment is necessary, sometimes it involves combination chemo (R-CHOP regimen) or immunotherapy (Rituxan maintenance). You could be put on 'watch and wait' which means you do nothing until symptoms arise, if they ever do.

So how were you diagnosed?

—

Ross

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