Today is World Lymphoma Awareness Day (WLAD)!

As the world begins to wake up...suddenly knowing our lymph nodes becomes imperative...Did you know today is World Lymphoma Awareness Day! Today I consider myself lucky because lymphoma is one of those cancers that can easily go undetected. I have known about most cancers except this one. So I hope you will all take a moment and learn more about this cancer which can affect anyone. Improve your understanding by being aware. I have read so many stories of people like me and discovered each story is so different and some people were even sent home because the doctor thought it was a simple cold or nothing serious. For me when I look back, since January I had been feeling so tired. I used to drag myself out of bed just to go to school or my internship at a hospital. It was absolute torture. I remember often dozing during hospital or clinical rounds only waking up when it was my turn to present my cases I was working on. I used to struggle to pull information from my head, it felt like my brain was scrambled. Shame on me! But, I didn't know I just thought I was tired because I was working on my Masters thesis, going to school and doing my placement. I recall being absent minded when I was driving to work and always having people either honking at me or I almost missed hitting someone because I forgot to give way at the traffic light. I was a hot mess for sure. Also, remember first I thought I was going down with a cold then after noticing the swollen node which appeared to be on my jaw not my neck I went to the dentist thinking it was my tooth or gum having an issue. If the dentist did not express concern and sent me for further investigation, I would be home and the cancer spreading without me knowing. So, bottom line, know your lymph nodes. Here is the kicker. Despite that more and more people worldwide live with lymphoma most people do not know anything about this potentially life threatening cancer. Maybe its because lymphoma used to be known as a disease and not cancer.

Now, having been recently diagnosed, I have come to know so much in a short space of time. For example,  Hodgkin Lymphoma is a cancer of lymph tissue found in the lymph nodes, spleen, liver, bone marrow, and other sites. There are five main types of Hodgkin Lymphoma. They differ in whom it affects, the parts of the body more likely to be affected, and in what stage it is usually diagnosed. I was diagnosed with Lymphocyte Rich Classical Hodgkin's lymphoma.Classical Hodgkin's lymphoma is a term used to describe a group of four common types of Hodgkin's lymphoma. Together they comprise more than 90% of all Hodgkin's disease. The 4 types are:

• Nodular Sclerosing Hodgkin's Lymphoma (NSHL) - the most common variety of Hodgkin's in developed countries. It occurs more in younger people.
• Mixed Cellularity Hodgkin's Lymphoma (MCHL) - the next most common, a type that may occur at any age.
• Lymphocyte Rich Classical Hodgkin's Lymphoma (LRCHL) - an uncommon type, more common in middle-aged individuals.
• Lymphocyte Depleted Hodgkin's Lymphoma (LDHL) - the least common variety, more common in older individuals and those with impaired body defenses.
The symptoms of lymphoma are not very different between these four types, but the patterns of enlarged lymph nodes and the stage at diagnosis may be quite different. As a result, the outcomes after treatment may also be different. An experienced pathologist can determine the exact type of Hodgkin's by examining lymph node biopsy samples under the microscope. Links to each type provides more details about that particular type of Hodgkin's lymphoma. (Source: Cancer: Principles and Practice of Oncology 7th Edition. Editors: VT DeVita, S Hellman and SA Rosenberg. Published by Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, 2005). 

According to www.lymphomacoalition.org despite the fact that one million people worldwide live with lymphoma and nearly 1,000 people are diagnosed with this cancer every day, research shows:

1. Lymphomas are not understood; are often misdiagnosed and often treated for the misdiagnosis. The 2010 LC Nodes No Border global patient survey told us that although most people had heard of lymphoma prior to diagnosis, they knew very little about it and almost never connected their symptoms to it.
2. Lack of awareness of lymphoma signs and symptoms results in late diagnosis,

•           40% of patients took over 2 months + to get diagnosed
•           11% of those took 1+ years
•           2% actually took over 4 years 
•           56% of the patients went to the doctor with recognizable lymphoma signs and
•           only 19% of these patients suspected lymphoma

     3. Cause is yet unknown.  Without known causes, we cannot pre-screen or prevent lymphoma from occurring. We are just beginning to uncover the causes and risk factors through the The InterLymph Consortium, or formally the International Consortium of Investigators Working on Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma Epidemiologic Studies, an open scientific forum for epidemiologic research in  lymphomas. The consortium is a group of international investigators who have completed or have ongoing case-control studies and who discuss and undertake research projects that pool data across studies or undertake collaborative research on the causes and factors of lymphomas. 

Let us all be aware of the signs and symptoms of lymphomas in order to lead to earlier diagnosis and treatment and ultimately resulting in better patient outcomes.