It was a quiet Sunday. My phone rang in the afternoon and I picked it up. My uncle (the neurologist) had received unofficial results of the histology of the node. I was still hoping that he would take a load of my mind by telling me the whole trouble was a mere infection. In fact, it wasn’t. The pathologist had confirmed that the cause of the swollen node was a malignant tumor, to be specific, the Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.
I am that type of a person, who always likes to know specific details about everything I deal with. This time, it was no exception. So, let me tell you a few words on this unwanted guest in my body.
Hodgkin's lymphoma, previously known as Hodgkin's disease, is a type of lymphoma, which is a cancer originating from white blood cells called lymphocytes. It was named after Thomas Hodgkin, who first described abnormalities in the lymph system in 1832 and drew a line between infections and this tumorous disease. Hodgkin's lymphoma is characterized by the orderly spread of disease from one lymph node group to another and by the development of systemic symptoms with advanced disease. Interestingly, the disease occurrence shows two peaks: the first in young adulthood (age 15–35) and the second in those over 55 years old – no one knows WHY.
Also the disease tends to afflict more men than women (65:35).
This specific kind of lymphoma is rather rare when compared to other types of cancers of the lymphatic system (only 15%, the others are called “non-hodgkin’s lymphomas”). Despite the low occurrence (around 62,000 people worldwide annually) the treatment success is fairly high, but is strongly correlated with the state of health of the particular patient.
There are generally four possible stages of the spread of the disease:
1. involvement of a single lymph node region (mostly around neck)
2. involvement of two or more lymph node regions (my case: neck and around lungs, to be specific, the regions up from the diaphragm)
3. involvement of the whole lymphatic system in the body
4. involvement of the whole lymphatic system plus other extralymphatic organs are afflicted (spleen, liver, lungs) – still curable
Generally, such a serious disease does not crop up in a day. My body signaled that something was wrong – some symptoms may or may not be relevant. Nobody can confirm or refute whether it had anything to do with the lymphoma. This is what I experienced prior to my first visit to my GP:
1. back pain – nothing unusual for me, since I have always suffered from minor scoliosis
2. development of allergy (11 months before the visit) – first sign of a dysfunction of my immune system – considered not serious, since so many people suffer from allergies, my mom included
3. development of alopecia – gradual loss of hair on my legs along with receding eyebrows and also minor skin eczema. (considered related to the allergy – nothing serious)
4. stress – trading commodities is a bit stressful :)
5. occasional night sweats during Christmas – so what, I lowered the heater intensity (nothing serious)
6. another sign is considered an unexplained weight loss – in my case, I had lost around 13kg but over 16 months (nothing serious, because I would say, I came back to my “normal mode” of weighing around 80kg, as opposed to the previous Christmas when I had no limits relishing the great food during the holidays, plus I intensified my playing of the drums, so again, the loss of weigh was rather explained then unexplained)
7. final sign: the swollen lymph node, which I had never experienced before, so I went to see my GP.
I am sure that there is no way I could have gone to my GP any sooner than I did. Simply, just because you sweat or have allergy is absolutely no valid reason to be afraid of developing a tumor – at least not for laymen. I suppose, people who suffer from points 1-6 I described should not be scared of cancer. But I do urge you to see your GP if you can feel a swollen lymph node anywhere in your body. It is not worth sweet-talking yourself you can’t be struck down by any serious disease. I hate to say that, but anyone can. Nature does not pick and choose, you can be young/old, a boy or a girl etc… I can count on my fingers how many times I had flu in my life. I had no problems at all, never. But I wasn’t stubborn and went to hospital. The specialists were there to help me get the early treatment, which I began three days ago. Don’t wait till it is too late!
And a little sideswipe: PLEASE THINK TWICE WHEN CONSIDERING A VACCINATION!
One month before my health issues intensified (night sweat, basically four months before I went to see my GP about the lymph node) I had been inoculated against "tick-borne meningoencephalitis" (a rather usual vaccination in my country) - these vaccines almost always have a great number of possible side effects, one of which is a dysfunction of the lymphatic system! (considered rare, but the chance is still there, someone will catch it sooner or later, I may be one of the unlucky ones!) Please, ask yourselves a question: Can't I really go without the vaccination?
Many times, the vaccination is just a big game of the pharmaceutical companies that crank out half-baked pseudo-cures with one goal, which is to make money at the expense of possible deterioration of health of the general public. (Or the other way around, they come up with a serious disease that is likely to cause a pandemic so that they can be heroes by introducing the right cure) Think about it...e.g. the swine flu - billions of dollars wasted by local governments which hastily invested heavily in the vaccination - all in vain. The avian or bird flu - the same. And you know what, the same company produced the vaccine I had taken. Brilliant...isn't it?
