Hodgkin's Lymphoma Support Group

Hodgkin's lymphoma, formerly known as Hodgkin's disease, is a type of lymphoma characterized by the presence of Reed-Sternberg cells. Unlike other lymphomas, whose incidence increases with age, Hodgkin's lymphoma occurs more frequently in two separate age groups, the first being young adulthood (age 15-35), the second being in those over 50 years old.

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strumphyy 06/14/2009

My cousin has been diagnosed with Hodgkin's one year and a halg ago. She was stage II. She has had radiotherapy and chemo. Last year, in the summer she was free.
Sfterwards she has had a stressful period, in school and at home.
Now, she is accusing breathing problems. It's hard for her to breath in but not all the time, just sometimes. She says she is feeling something in her chest, altough nothing showed up on the surface.
What should she do? I guess blodd tests first.
Should she get a PET CT or a CT scan?
Could it be serious?

Etopboy1209 06/15/2009

These kinds of things are best to find early so they can be resolved faster and easier, (time is really essential)...if blood tests arent showing anything, then the next best thing would be to get chest x-rays or ct x-rays of the chest(im no oncologist,so she needs to ask her primary doctor, or her previous oncologist). but i had alot of trouble breathing when i would lay to sleep, play tennis, or even laugh, ended up having a 20cm tumor above my heart. THAT DOESN'T MEAN SHE HAS WHAT I HAVE. especially if the symptoms,as you described, arent as serious.

but regardless, when cancer is gone the first time, it has the highest chance of returning during the first 5 years following the initial treatment.(Remission)

thats really nice what your doing for your cousin though. I think the oncologist should have a take with whomever is in her household. Because stress is probably one of the worst things that could cause an recurrence. it's really not healthy for the body. knowing that its hard to reduce the stress of school, the next best thing would be to reduce the stress where it shouldn't exist.

the months leading up to my diagnosis were filled with alot of stress and worry between school and home

deleted_user 06/15/2009

I had breathing problems during my treatment, and it turned out to be acid reflux! If she's under a lot of stress, and if she's been through chemo, she might be having stomach issues that can feel like something is growing in your chest (inflamed esophagus). It felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest and like something was growing in there. She needs to follow-up with her oncologist or primary care doctor to discuss appropriate diagnostics.

deleted_user 07/21/2009

I had chemo and radiation. Both have very strong side effects on lungs. they make lungs weak and sensetive. Weak immune system makes it easy to get pneumonia and other lung diseases. So I would say ask the doctor to do a Pulmonary test and X-rays.

After my bone marrow transplant I had a pneumonia for two weeks and my lungs are weaker and more sensetivee in general.

One chemotherapy med called "Bleomayacin" (sp?) is known to cause lung problems. But what can you do?

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