Official Diagnosis

All the tests done during the week were progressively sent through to Prof Joshua and our appointment was 11.15am on Friday 23rd October (yesterday)

It was busy again, and we got in at around 12.30pm. Before we had even sat down he confirmed lymphoma and that chemotherapy is necessary. He said the lymphoma is aggressive (for treatment this is actually a good thing, as aggressive growths respond the best) and is showing up in traces in other lymph nodes in her body (neck and maybe spleen) - ie both sides of the diaphram.

She is therefore officially Stage IIIA. The "A" in the staging is because she is not showing any of the classic symptoms of lymphoma (night sweats, fevers, swelling) - otherwise this would be "B"

Her chemo starts straight away (next Wednesday 28th October) and as the growths are large she will be admitted to hospital for the first cycle. This is because the chemo basically blasts the things and she needs to be monitored as all the toxins are released when it is blasted.

The good news for Shanean's abdominal pain is that the masses should reduce straight away after the first treatment so hopefully things will be more comfortable for her

He also confirmed that she will lose her hair, probably after 3 cycles. Just in time for Christmas

He was then subsequently bombarded with questions for the next half hour from the both of us. Some key ones I've put below

What is the Chemo called?
R-CHOP 21. The 21 is the number of days in the cycle
This is a relatively new drug that still has to have permission from Canberra to use. The lymphoma.org website has some good info on this

How long is the treatment and how often?
She has to go in every 3 weeks for 6-8 cycles. By our estimates she should be done late February/Early March next year

How is it administered?
By IV, she then has to day pills for 5 days after (Prednisolene - a steriod)

What are the side effects?
As well as hair loss, there may be mood swings, depression, tiredness and fatigue. Nausea from chemo is a lot more treatable than the old days apparently. As chemo attacks good cells as well as bad, she has to watch carefully for infection - any temperature over 38 degrees has to be reported straight away

Whats the prognosis?
This type of chemo drug has a 60% to 80% response rate. Of this there is a 33% relapse rate. If it doesnt respond or if she relapses then more aggressive treatment will be necessary (stronger drugs, stem cells etc)

This type of lymphoma is unusual for Shanean given her young age. As she is young and fit this should help with the treatment

Halfway through the cycle she will have onother PET scan. If this returns negative this is a good thing and will be a good sign that things are working.

So thats about it for now. Big day Wednesday. Will post another update after this.