Stage 4 HLD & NHL Lymphoma

• Diagnosed 14th Feb 2014 Hodgkins Lymphoma stage 4
• Biopsy to right neck Feb 2014
• Bone marrow & Lumbar punch March 2014
• P.E.T. Scan March 2014 (P.E.T. Number 1)
• Chemotherapy ABVD Commenced 13th March 2014 Ended 14th August 2014
• P.E.T. Scan April 2014 (P.E.T. Number 2)
• Declared Chemotherapy Steroid induced Diabetes Type 2 May 2014
• June 2014 Bleomycin (The B from ABVD) attacked my right lung
• P.E.T. Scan Oct 2014 (P.E.T. Number 3)
• Radiotherapy @ 40gml Grey to right side neck Nov 2014 to Dec 2014
• Given 6 weeks to live following Radiotherapy Dec 2014
• Ultrasound Fine needle aspiration March 2015
• P.E.T. Scan May 2015 (P.E.T. Number 4)
• Tonsillectomy & Biopsies to throat July 2015
• P.E.T. Scan Oct 2015 (P.E.T. Number 5)
• Oct 2015 Partial Remission (Cancer cells present but not active)
• Diabetes Type 2 Cleared
• Full Remission Feb 2016  
• P.E.T. Scan May 2016 (P.E.T. Number 6)
• Biopsies to throat & base of tongue July 2016 
• P.E.T. Scan Oct 2016 (P.E.T. Number 7)
• Suspected Kidney failure Nov 2017 & new Lymphoma site to middle spine
• Biopsy to lower spine Lymph Nodes Feb 2017
• P.E.T. Scan March 2017 (P.E.T. Number 8)
• Declared relapse both HLD & NHL urgent  rescue procedures required
• ICE Chemotherapy April to May 2017 
• P.E.T. Scan May 2017 (P.E.T. Number 9)
• Stem Cell Harvest June 2017
• BEAM Chemotherapy July 2017
• Stem Cell Transplant July 2017
• P.E.T. Scan Oct 2017 (P.E.T. Number 10) First Clear scan
• Partial remission Nov 2017 (No cancer cells but recovery)
• Multiple test and scans including bone density Jan 2018 to March 2018
• Full Remission March 2018

March 2018 All results are now in * Blood test CLEAR* - *Bone Marrow CLEAR* - * Bone density -Excellent* - Liver CLEAR.             *Diabetes  Normal* 


Countdown- even though there is no visible sign of Lymphoma the team will monitor me for the next 5 years, if no further issues I will be declared cancer free. You might say "5 years" is a long time but since I have been declared terminal twice I can assure you it's great news . However I will never be formally discharged from the hospital, a decisions  reached by the Lymphoma Association that any patient who has received a Stem Cell Transplant should be monitored indefinitely  - So after 5 years I will be attending my Oncologist once a year. 

Update 2018

As above I was given the all clear in March 2018. Two days after that I got a call from Dublin, My Mum had been diagnosed with advanced Vascular Dementia in August 2016 and required 24/7 care. She basically was bed bound as the disease had badly affected her ability to fend for herself. She had pneumonia just after Christmas and into the New Year, and this call was to tell me that she was critically ill after a second attack of pneumonia. I rushed up to Dublin (I live 260 klms from Dublin in Cork) but she managed to beat this yet again. It was a bank holiday weekend and I stayed up in Dublin till the Tuesday. She was in fantastic humor and very chatty when I left. By the following Friday I got another call, basically the pneumonia was back but this time it was bilateral. I raced up to Dublin and was at her beside for the next 48 hours when she passed away at 86. She was more than just my Mum, she was my oldest and most trusted friend and I miss her so much.

By September I felt I was ready to return to a working environment. I had a lot of bills to pay and my savings were gone. I managed to secure a job with a commencement in Jan 2019, securing a management job in the transport industry with my medical history at 56 could have been classed as impossible. So the job would commence from 2.Jan.2019

Update 2019

One of the side effects of the massive level of Chemotherapy, Radiotherapy and Stem Cell transplant is fatigue. There is no real cure for fatigue – you just fight it. By May the doctors had recommended a reduction in my working hours from full time to part time, so I reduced my working week to 4 days.

Update 2020

Just as everything started to improve.. Coronavirus hits

With a recovering immune system, long term medical issues, aggressive levels of Chemotherapy & radiotherapy I suddenly find that I am in the high risk group. I managed my way through Feb and  March but in April my COVID 19 test came back as a false negative meaning that I had a number of symptoms of CoronaVirus with the exception of fever, So I was Medically Isolated from 8th of April.

Update 2021
Feb 2021 - 3 1/2 years in remission- however I am still in isolation 12 months soon thanks to the pandemic.
May 2021 - First vaccine jab and second scheduled for early June
JUNE 2021 - Cleared bank loan fully. The GoFundMe has been reduced to make way for helping towards the site cost and medical follow ups


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The fund campaign needs to stay open, in the past year the costs of ongoing scans/blood test, oncologist meetings and other medical intervention has exceeded €1,000 - so the cost of the medical end outside of medical insurance has now exceeded €20,000 which I have taken out a bank loan to cover But I have just cleared this in May 2021 . So far we have raised a little over €6,650 from people who have really helped. No one ever said fighting cancer was cheap...

Our blog site now has 35,000 viewers from 130 Countries and building by the day. 

This GoFundMe Account also helps to maintain the website, Every cent raised raised is greatly appreciated  


www.hlai.blog   for full story