When I was diagnosed, I was stage II bulky. I had a pretty intense chemo, though it wasn't R-Chop. My doc didn't want me to have that. Also, he absolutely did not want me to have radiation, as radiation could potentially cause other cancers later down the line.

Don't let that scare you though. Most of the chemo meds we have pumped into our bodies have the potential to cause cancers later down the line. Being as exhausted as I was, I was so happy not to have to go through radiation. But that is a decision you will have to make on your own.

Good luck to you!

Hi C.L.

This time last year I was diagnosed Stage 4 Diffuse Large B Cell. Bone marrow was not involved. I went through 6 cycles of R-CHOP. One cycle every 3 weeks. My best advice is keep the meds. in you. They will most likely give you Zofran for nausea-I took that religiously for the first week after treatment, even setting my alarm for 3am so I could keep it in my system. The result was I was worn down a little but overall felt good. What got me was the Prednisone which had me hyper and bouncing off walls. I could deal with that as long as I didn't feel sick though. You should certainly remain active during treatment, just don't over do it.

I also went through radiation after R CHOP which is a whole other story but R-CHOP wasn't bad. Just be patient. Just had my 2nd scan post treatment and I'm still clear.

All the best.

I haven't had RCHOP yet. They keep teasing me about it. From what I heard, you get feeling better between treatments. I would think you will be fatigued but still able to do stuff. I think everyone is different but your doctor will want you to stay active and keep doing what you enjoy. As far as nausea and such, they have great medications to help with that.

I'm always jealous of those with Large cell because it is curable. Small cell is not. So get your fight on and know it will be super wonderful on the other side.

Ok..I was diagnosed Stage 4 in March...Have just completed the 6 rounds of RCHOP last week...After the 3rd chemo they did a cat scan and it came out 85% in remission. Now I am going for scans this week to where I stand...The chemo was a litlle rough ,,yes I lost my hair after the first round...It just started to fall out...Ouch...The worse side effects: horrible taste buds...nausea...but most of all ..constipation...The PREDSION med had me going nuts...It depressed me and had me constantly hungry..I hope to get a clean scan this week...Hang in there...

Yeah Mike! Great job sticking with it and sharing your story. I have my fingers crossed your scan comes out 100% remission!

I completed all my test last week with the bone marrow being the worse. Now the wait for the results. Thursday, August 1st, I meet again for the Oncologist for the results. When I last met with him, he stated that if the bone marrow comes back positive, then I will move from stage one to stage four.

I'm feeling optimistic that the marrow test will come back negative. I'm not really having any symptoms. It has been since May 30 since I had an episode of fever, body aches (flu like). It had been twelve days since I woke with night sweats. It has been three weeks since I had the affected lymph node removed and biopsied. I'm basically feeling normal other than a little stressed.

My question, is this normal? Do other individuals that have lymphoma in the bone marrow not have any symptoms? Do I have reason to be optimistic because the lymph node is out of my body and I now feel fine?

In ways, I don't want Thursday to come too quickly and on the other hand, I overly anxious to find out the results.

Take heart it's seems difficult at first but for me it is not as bad as I might of anticipated. I have been through 3 of 6 cycles of RCHOP. I have stage 3 diffuse large B cell Lymphoma. It was diagnosed as incidental finding on abdominal CT scan. I had no symptoms. Any nausea due to chemotherapy has been minimized or eliminated by taking Zofran on regular basis for 2-3 days after the infusions. I recommend that if you have any constipation to take Miralax to get ahead of it. I now begin Miralax the night before the chemotherapy and continue it until 1-2 days after stopping the zofran. The side effect that has been persistent is the fatigue; leading me to take at least 2 naps each day. After the first week I make it a point to walk each day even if I do not feel like it. It helps with the fatigue and any bowel problems. Also, after the first week I have gone back to golf but limited it to 9 holes. I actually think it helped my game because I decided I would not be aggressive hitting the ball. If find by the third week I'm feeling petty good. It certainly helps to have friends and family in contact either by email or short visits. There are some days I do not particularly feel up to it and everyone I know accepts that readily.
The other thing of note is no food, except for sweets, seems to taste good to me.
Just as an aside at the beginning of therapy I had my head shaved instead of waiting for it to fall out piecemeal. I actually felt good about being in control of that aspect. Not so bad for a man as so many young guys shave their heads now. Although I do wear a hat often as despite the thinning hair I had it did provide some
warmth.

I can't comment which route of therapy is best for you as it depends on the specific of your disease. the results of chemotherapy only regimens have improved significantly with the addition of Rituximab to the regimen.

Good luck to you

Thanks everyone for your replies and support. On Aug. 5fth, I received my first of three cycles of R-CHOP. Everything went well and the worst part other than sitting for almost seven hours was the Benadryl. I was so loopy that I couldn't focus not alone speak clearly. The Bone Marrow test came back negative along with the scans and blood work. Therefore, I was diagnosed as stage one, however the new biopsy concerned the Oncologist that the replication rate was considerable higher than normal. He anticipated that the diagnoses would come back Berkel, (or something like that) but that was negative also. Today is day four and I have had no side effects other than being a little tired. However, not to tired to get in some golf. Again, thanks for your support and I will keep you updated.

UPDATE:

On Aug. 26th, I had my second infusion of R-CHOP. Like the first round, about day five, I started feeling the effects. As the weekend continued, I went down hill. Since it was the holiday weekend it was Tues. before I could get into the Oncologist office. He started the injections of Neupogen, but it was too late. Like an idiot, I should of called his service to get some help.

By Thurs. I had a raging infections and was hospitalized. They pumped me with several antibiotics and numerous injections of Neupogen. My white count was 0.2 when I went in and is now up to 11.4.

I had a lengthy talk with the Oncologist while in the hospital and his plan of attach for my third and hopefully final infusion, is to start the Neupogen on day two after infusion and continue for five days.

Any one else had WBC problems with R-CHOP? With both of my previous infusions, my WBC plummets, but will go back with the Neupogen. It's the suffering I have to tolerate while this all happens that is almost intolerable. I have never been as sick as I was last Thurs. when they admitted me to hospital. I never want to experience that again.

As always, any advice or thoughts would be appreciated.

CL

Thanks for this forum. I hope this group is active, as I see no recent posts. No problem, here goes:

I am one week and one day after the first R-CHOP infusion. I still feel good, except feeling stuffy -- as in having eaten too much -- but I felt somewhat that way before I was diagnosed. I am expecting five more cycles, spaced at three-week intervals.

I have had no nausea and no particular bowel upsets. I think the Prednisone disturbed my sleep for the five days I was taking it. I guess the next cycle will include five more days of Prednisone but now I know what to expect.

I had labs yesterday but late in the day. My doctor said he'll let me know on Monday morning if anything showed up that needs to be addressed. My age, 72, is somewhat a concern. R-CHOP can be tough on the body. Besides the lymphoma, I have no particular medical problems.

I will check back here every few days to see if anyone comments or has advice. I don't want to be talking in an otherwise empty room. :-)

Welcome to the group! This group isn't particularly active but there are people watching and offering support. I'm glad to hear the RCHOP has been fairly easy for you to handle. I do think it is fairly effective. You have every reason to be optimistic!

Keep posting away. It is helpful for those that are watching but too shy to post!

I was tired of course after chemo and felt a little nausous. I took the medication and slept which helped most. I felt the worst after the first Nuelasta shot because of body aches.

Overall the chemo never made me feel too bad I believe it was the high dose steriods that made a bad taste in my mouth and felt like I was in a fog. Once that was done by the end of the week I was feeling much better. I just did my best to rest the week of treatment, listened to my body when I was tired I tried to sleep which wasn't easy working ful time. Usually by the middle of the following week after treatment (I had one treatment every 3 weeks) I was feeling better. Best of luck to you.