Leukemia Lymphoma Cancer

Being told I had leukemia was a shock and I don't mind admitting I burst into tears in the Consultants Office.

For me and my family, the most important thing was to get the treatment needed to fight this cancer of the blood. I hadn't been well for about eighteen months before the diagnosis, I felt very tired and unfit.

During a lovely holiday in Bermuda, I started to feel as though I had got the flu coming on and I had to go to see my doctor when I arrived home in England because by this time I couldn't breath very well. I had actually got legionnaires disease - which to put it simply meant that I had pneumonia, the TB I had as a child showed up on my X rays, and I was very ill for 6 weeks. I was taking 8 different antibiotics daily to fight this off.

Interestingly, my husband was fine - no symptoms at all - I realise now that my white blood cells were already being attached by the cancer and this in turn brought my immune system down.

It was over a year after getting legionnaires that I knew something was wrong because I found I needed to go to bed in the afternoon due to fatigue - I had only to knock myself lightly and I would have a big black bruise.

After visiting my doctor again, who referred me to the local hospital, where tests were done which included blood tests and a sample of my bone marrow was extracted from my hip bone - not a ery pleasant experience I have to say,the diagnosis came in that I had hairy cell leukemia, it's called that because the tumors look like they are covered in tiny hairs under the microscope.

The chemotherapy was simple - basically the chemicals needed to kill off the cancer cells are fed into you intravenously - I firstly had a liquid injected prior to the chemo, this was to stop me from being sick - thank goodness it worked. I was also lucky that my hair did not come out in clumps - I had severe dandruff but that was all.

I had to have 5 two hour chemo sessions Monday to Friday and I felt very weak by the last session, I was given some needles to inject myself with, these contained a solution described by the doctor as Fertiliser for White Cells. I did the injections and found I was getting rather a lot of discomfort in the hip and thigh bones - this was caused by the injections as the solution was stimulating my bone marrow and aiding the clean new white cells to grow (sorry I cannot explain it in more medical terminology) and that was what caused the discomfort. It was a small price to pay to get my blood clean again.

I have been very lucky, my sort of leukemia is treatable and as long as infections are avoided after and during the chemo, a full recovery after 6 months is perfectly achievable.

I have been in remission now for three years, visit my consultant every six months and he says my blood is very healthy, so I thank god for that and of course the medical profession who are just fantastic.

Lymphoma is a cancer of the lymphatic system. The lymph nodes are found in various places around the body. There are multiple areas of the lymphatic system that can become cancerous. The area of the lymphatic system that is primarily affected will determine to a great extent, both the treatment and survival rate are determined by where in the body the cancerous cells are located and if they will be able to spread to other areas of the body.

The lymphatic system is made up of lymph nodes, lymphocyte cells, bone marrow of the thymus and long bones, the spleen, tonsils and adenoids as well as the lymph.

Other cancers can also start within the lymph nodes such as breast cancer. However breast cancer symptoms are not the same as lymphoma blood cancers.

The most common of blood cancer types is lymphoma. Many people confused lymphoma with leukemia, another type of blood cancer. Although they are both blood cancer diseases, they are not the same. About 56% of all patients affected with blood cancer have lymphoma

Hodgkin's lymphoma is named after Thomas Hodgkin. Mr. Hodgkin discovered this disease in 1832. There are two types of lymphoma named after Thomas Hodgkin. Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Lymphoma starts when the white blood cells, called lymphocytes, progressively multiply as a result of malignant changes within the lymph nodes and other areas in the body. They begin to grow in large numbers, pushing out healthy cells. This is what leads to the formation of tumors in the lymph nodes. Other areas affected can be the spleen and thymus and so forth.

Lymphoma can originate in the blood and bone marrow as well as the lymph nodes or lymphatic tissues, which are present in the stomach or intestines. From the bone marrow it can spread to many other parts of the body. While it is true that leukemia can spread from the bone marrow to the blood and lymph nodes, lymphoma is very different from leukemia. Lymphoma is the sixth most common cancer in men and the fifth most prevalent caner among women in the US.

There are two major types of Leukemia: myelogenous and lymphocytic. There are acute and chronic forms of each of these types. Although a great deal of information can be found both on-line and offline about lymphoma, it is always best to seek out medical care if you have any suspicious symptoms. Sadly, there are many different types of cancers. There are several types that affect the blood. Blood cancers that in the bone marrow are not to be confused with bone cancer.

It is always best for anyone that may suspect they have some type of health issues, regardless of the type, to discuss it with their doctor.

MDS or myelodysplastic syndromes are a grouping of cancer afflictions that target the white & red blood cells as well as the bone marrow. MDS can develop into leukemia if not diagnosed or controlled early enough. There are types of MDS that are easy to manage and mild, while others can be life-threatening.

Experts in the field are trying their best in finding a cure for MDS; however there are a variety of treatments patients can choose from. There are also a lot of things people can do to help raise awareness and funds for MDS and other fatal types of cancer.

Treatment Options for MDS Patients

A host of treatment options are now available for patients suffering from MDS. These factors should be taken into consideration in deciding what treatment option would be best for a patient: overall illness risk level, type of MDS, age and status of health. The most common treatments are:

* Bone marrow or cord blood transplants

* Chemotherapy

* Drug therapies

* Supportive care

Testing is always being done for new MDS treatments, which is the reason why most patients agree to be a part of the clinical trials as part of their MDS treatment. A patient can have a standard treatment such as chemotherapy combined with alternative treatment options.

Support Care for MDS Patients

Supportive care is an option that is gaining popularity for those who seek MDS treatment. The purpose of this type of treatment is to ultimately get a firm hold of the disease and any issues related to it. There are cases when supportive care is the only treatment a patient requires, combined with regular checkups with physicians to decrease any risks of the disease developing into something more serious in the future.

Supportive care can also be combined with other forms of treatment; this combination works best for those with a more severe type of MDS, or those with an advanced age. Other patients look at the benefits of getting the supportive care from time to time, augmenting the benefits of the other forms of treatment.

Blood Transfusion

A lot of MDS patients require blood transfusion to lessen their symptoms' adverse effects, and to keep the disease in line. Platelet transfusions decrease the risk of drastic bleeding problems, while red blood cell transfusions assist in reducing the symptoms that include shortness of breath and exhaustion.

When a patient undergoes blood transfusions, additional treatments should also be given to manage the iron build up in the patient's body. Excessive amounts of iron in the body may cause damage to some organs, which is why a combination of treatments would be the best thing to do. It would not do to treat an existing condition (the MDS) only to have a new problem develop (organ damage) as a result of the treatment

Treatment - Growth Factors

The medications that enable the body to develop healthier blood cells are called growth factors. MDS patients are often given growth factors to lessen their need for red blood cell transfusions. There are some cases, however, when the patient's bone marrow does not respond effectively.