← Return to Treatment for NHL: Rituximab & Bendamustine

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@njnana

I hope you are tolerating the Rituximab & Bendamustine as best as possible. I have a rare Hodgkin lymphoma in which treatment for Non-Hodgkin lymphoma was recommended. I have had infusions of Rituximab in the summer of 2016 and have been stable since. My worst side effect was the increase in fatigue. I dealt with that by sleeping more and accepting that I was not able to do as much as I wanted. The heat and humidity bothered me more than usual. About 6 months after the infusions ended, my energy level increased, but not to what I had prior to lymphoma. If the Bendamustine upsets your stomach, you will test various foods that will keep the stomach more calm. My doctor warned me that I may gain weight from the medicine, and I gained twice as much as the average person. This increased the fatigue even more. I see my oncologist every 6 months and have not had a CT scan for 18 months. I am on 'watch & wait' and will most likely receive Rituximab for treatment again as needed. The benefit for lymphoma patients is that a great deal of research is being done for us because much success has resulted in the medications being administered over the years. By the time we may need more treatment, a better medication may have been approved. My recommendation to you is to try to continue to do the activities you have been doing, but avoid germs as much as possible. While receiving these medications, it lowers your resistance to germs and you do not want to get an infection during the treatment period. Best of luck to you and keep us posted on your progress!

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Replies to "I hope you are tolerating the Rituximab & Bendamustine as best as possible. I have a..."

Hello - I noted that you said you have a rare form of Hodgkins that you are receiving rituxan for. Is this NLPHL?
That is what my 27 yo son was diagnosed with a couple years ago. His was pretty advanced. He was successfully treated with RCHOP, but unfortunately it returned shortly after he finished treatment. Docs at Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center and at Mayo recommend an auto stem cell transplant as the best chance for putting this behind him. That’s what we are heading into now. He actually feels fine - but the Doc’s conclusion is we should treat aggressively now.

It’s difficult because this form of Hodgkins is so rare -they don’t have a lot of research re best treatment- and the disease seems to vary quite a bit from person to person.

My son handled earlier course of chemo just fine - hoping that means the conditioning chemo for the transplant won’t be too awful.

Hang in there with your treatment.

I found your post valuable. I have chl 4b, which has returned after abvd and keytruda. I have another biopsy and then a treatment plan at mayo clinic. I spend time reviewing clinical trials and protocols. Please keep in touch and let me know how you are doing. Don