JUNE, 2021
How did we start?
_Back in the latter part of 2017 I was seemingly much more tired than normal; falling asleep when my 6 year old was reading to me at 7pm had become standard but I was doing a physical job for the first time in years so just put it down to that. Then in January 2018 I noticed a lump in my right groin area and though it best to see my GP.
After he ruled out a blood infection I was quickly referred to my local hospital and within a short space of time after several blood tests, a CT scan and a bone marrow biopsy (BIG ouch!) I was diagnosed on 1st March with Blastoid Mantle Cell Lymphoma. Described there and then by the Consultant as a very aggressive blood cancer which needed to be treated ASAP. He couldn’t promise the chemotherapy that would follow would work but time was against us so it left little time to look at alternative treatments or second opinions. Putting it simply I was numb. My wife who was with me was naturally extremely upset and straightaway, and quite naturally, the worst thoughts start running around our heads.__Straight after that we were introduced to the department’s Macmillan Nurse for a private consultation who said we could have as long with her as we would like. She was fantastic. She very quickly answered some of our initial questions and when we left a hour or so later we already had a much better idea of the timeframe of the treatment, what it would entail and the options available later on once they had a chance to see how the treatment was going after the first few cycles.