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Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma- Watch & Wait Approach
Blood Cancers & Disorders | Last Active: 1 hour ago | Replies (238)Comment receiving replies
Welcome to Connect, @katharine56. Having to ‘watch and wait’ after a diagnosis can feel like you’re waiting for the proverbial ‘other shoe to drop’. The inaction feels contrary to your thoughts of ‘let’s get this taken care of!’, right? Follicular lymphoma is often slow to develop. So you’ve likely had this condition for some time.
Your doctor has staged and graded the level of involvement and is using those results to determine if and when they’d suggest starting treatment. Some patients without symptoms can go many years without treatment. The good news is that there are several positive treatment options available for follicular lymphoma.
Knowledge is power but the internet can be full sites that may not be very productive or helpful. So here are a few articles from credible sources which will give you some useful information about the disease and potential treatment options.
~uptodate.com:
https://www.uptodate.com/contents/follicular-lymphoma-in-adults-beyond-the-basics
~Healthline.com:
https://www.healthline.com/health/follicular-lymphoma#diagnosis
~Mayo Clinic:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/non-hodgkins-lymphoma/symptoms-causes/syc-20375680
I’d also like to tag some of the members in Connect who also were diagnosed with FL so they can offer you some suggestions and discuss their experiences with you…here are just a few: @valandsheri @quimbie @puddknocker @traceyt @vonbaron36 @bogie60 @lee59 @susanlim
Wishing you only good news on your upcoming appointment in September. Will you please let me know what you find out?
Replies to "Welcome to Connect, @katharine56. Having to ‘watch and wait’ after a diagnosis can feel like you’re..."
@loribmt Hi there… was just looking through some notes and saw you asked me to let you know how my September
3 mo. scans went. Everything appears stable, no significant growth at this time. We would have been comfortable waiting 6 mos for my next scan, but some of my bloodwork came back low. My WBC was low, also my monocyte and lymphocyte numbers were low. So he’s having me come back in a month to re-check those numbers. Hopefully they go back up. I’m feeling good other than I have discomfort quite often in my neck when those affected nodes get really swollen. (They go up and down as most know!) Anyway, getting more use to this being my journey and learning as I go! One step at a time! Take care… catch you down the road!
Kathy
Connect
Thank you so much for your comforting words and information. All of this is a learning process and also coming to terms with it! I most definitely will let you know how September appointment goes. I am just learning how to navigate this forum…. haven’t quite figured out how it works, feel like I’m fumbling my way through a bit. So I will try and find you here after my appointment. I am thankful for my ability to put “this” (my diagnosis) on a shelf until I need to address something. I am thankful for my optimistic attitude and always look at the glass half full instead of half empty!! So I know all will be well. Knowledge is Power… that’s why I joined this forum! Thanks again ❤️