Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (my boss has it)

Factual Questions
1

My boss has non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and we are very afraid for her. We are just hearing bits and pieces of what is going on with her, so we don’t know what stage she is in or what the prognosis is. Perhaps the medical Dopers here could help me put this together. Prayers from the general Doper populace would also be appreciated.

Here are the clues:

  1. A golf-ball-sized tumor removed from behind her eye.

  2. A large lump is in her neck.

  3. Apparently a very rare form of NHL; no doctor in the large hospital has treated it; they are searching for one.

  4. She needs a bone marrow test or transplant or something.

  5. She is going to receive some other treatments.

It sounds bad to me, as though it might already be stage IV. See what you can do with the above. She herself seems very optomistic but might be in denial too. Thanks for your help.

2

A good friend of mine has non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. She was diagnosed about four years ago and went through all the treatments.
She’s feeling great. I can’t say anymore than that.
This is only one example of course

3

The good news is if you have to have cancer, and it can’t be Hodgkin’s Lymphoma ( 80-90% full recovery) thenNHL is a fair choice.

That said, there are two groupings for NHL, the indolent type is less agressive, and more easily treated.
The aggressive type involves the immune system directly, attacking B & T cells (these are the white blood cells that protect us from infections and foreign proteins) This group includes Burkitt’s Lymphoma, Mantle Cell Lymphoma, Adult lymphoblastic lymphoma, Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, & Primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma.

Sorry, I didn’t have a patient information site bookmarked for the last two. The ALL site might be a bit too technicial.
The less agressive types are listed in the NHL over-view link.

But, from what you’ve said, it sounds like she has one of the more agressive types. Bone marrow transplantation for NHL is very successful.
She has a good chance of doing well.

4

My husband was diagnosed with NHL in 1978, when he was seven. They told his mom he was terminal. Obviously, that’s worked out better than they hoped, and with (fairly brutal) treatment, he survived just fine. And this was in the late seventies. Cancer treatments have moved light years ahead in the last few decades.