I have Hodgkin disease.Is it possible to recover from that?How long time?What to do?

I found something in my neck,I had biopsy and the doctor said its suspicious that I have Hodgkin lymphoma.My blood test was negativ,the blood is clear.I'd like to get some information,because I'll have operation,they'll remove the lymphoma,and I'm desperately search for the way to heal up.Is it possible to have cancer when your blood doesn't shows any disorder?If the lymphoma is cancerous does it mean my body has cancer?Is it possible to cure this disease?I feel relly well,just a little bit tired,because I worked a lot in the past few years.Any answer is precious for me.thanks.32 year old "cooper"

I am sorry to hear about health scare. Your said that your doctor is suspicious, so try not to worry too much before you get the actual diagnosis. You may have something less serious. Don't do too much research before you know what you have; its confusing and scary. I had Hodgkins last lear. My doctor told me he was pretty sure I had lymphoma, so I tried researching it. I got all kinds of info, most of which didn't apply to me. I ended up giving myself an unnecessary scare.

To answer your other questions: Yes it is possible to recover! I am in full remission now! The good thing about hodgkins is that it is easier to put in remission than many other cancers and it tends to stay gone longer than many other cancers. Lots of people don't have it ever come back. When its gone for five years, it is not very likely to come back. Many people call themselves "cured" then.

My blood counts were normal at diagnosis too, many peoples are. My only symptoms were tiredness, which I thought was related to my hectic college schedule.

Lymphoma is a blood cancer, but the actual cancer is in your lymph nodes. Lymphnodes fight off "invaders" that are carried to them by your blood. If one lymphnode is infected, its very possible others are. I found one lump under my collar bone, but scans showed a couple egg sized tumors of the nodes deep in my chest and a small tumor on the other side of my neck, which was too small to be felt.
Chemotherapy was kill all of them, and I only needed the minimal amount, though I did have to follow with some radiation to help kill the larger ones.

There is a really great support forum for lymphoma. It helped me so much during my treatments; the people there were like my family. Its at http://forums.webmagic.com if you wanna check it out Click on Lymphoma support.

Take care, and please email me with any other questions. I'd love to hear from you. Madenthe80s@hotmail.com

I think one of the actors from 7th Heaven (Barry Watson?) had Hodgkin's and recovered. I remember this, because I watched the show frequently, then saw him live on an awards show, I guess he must have been very sick, because he looked really bad, and just last night I saw a commercial for a movie starring him and he looks great! I know I didn't really answer your ?'s, but maybe give you some hope for a bright future. Good luck, I hope you feel better soon.

Did your doctor say hodgkins or non-hodgkin's lymphoma? They are both different. I have enclosed links for both of them as it is easier than to have me explain them to you.

http://www.webmd.com/hw/hodgkins_disease...

http://www.webmd.com/hw/nonhodgkins_lymp...

My husband had Hodgkin's the first time when he was 21. They told us it is the "best" kind of cancer to have because they can cure it easily. They did treatments, chemo four hours in one day every two weeks for 12 cycles (or 6 months). They had gotten it. It did however come back 9 months later, they said it coming back wasn't that common but was still very curable. So he did three rounds, each month he went into the hospital for a 5 days at a time. On the fourth round, it was extra strength to kill his immune system, and used his own treated stem cells to transplant back in. He is 24 and is almost 1 year post transplant. He is doing magnificent and the doctors are amazed at his progress.

Unfortunately, you have to go through this, but it is the best kind to have. It will make you tired before anything else, then you'll get night sweats. When his came back, it showed in a petscan more than the bloodwork. Do whatever it is the docs feel they need to do, they need to make sure. They don't want to give you anything you don't need, or miss out on giving anything you do need.

Good luck to you, you're in my prayers. Everything will work out well.