Today's post is from one of our beneficiaries, Olive*, 47, from Kent who has kindly shared her experience of being treated for non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
After a year of getting regular boils in my armpits and round after round of antibiotics I got concerned when one lump wasn't responding. After another nine months of hospital visits starting with the breast clinic, chest clinic and skin clinic, I ended up with a diagnosis of non-Hodgkins lymphoma (NHL) at the Haematology clinic.
Having never heard of this condition it did not register that this was cancer. I was on my own when the consultant broke the news, having had so many visits to the hospital I thought this would be another 'we can’t find anything wrong'. It was a shock to say the least. I had no warning or pre-counselling about what I was about to be told.
I drove to work after that in my state of shock and the first people I told were my boss and a colleague. They cried with me.
Having never heard of this condition it did not register that this was cancer. I was on my own when the consultant broke the news, having had so many visits to the hospital I thought this would be another 'we can’t find anything wrong'. It was a shock to say the least. I had no warning or pre-counselling about what I was about to be told.
I drove to work after that in my state of shock and the first people I told were my boss and a colleague. They cried with me.
