Pia was diagnosed with Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma 6 weeks ago. This is Pia’s second battle with non Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Pia was first diagnosed in 2013 and after a hard battle, Pia beat the cancer. She lost her spleen as the cancer has spread there and the radiation and chemotherapy she undertook destroyed her bone marrow, including her immune system. Pia was then placed on the bone marrow transplant registry but after 6 years, a match couldn’t be found.
Due to Pia’s lack of immune system, she frequently got sick, yet never complained. As her health deteriorated, her immunologist recommended she have a stem cell transplant to increase her immunity and give her a better quality of life.
In August 2020, Pia started chemotherapy for 14 weeks before having a stem cell transplant. Towards the end of the treatment, Pia noticed she has mouth ulcers and sinus problems in addition to the other affects of chemotherapy, and was told they were just side effects. In December 2020, Pia was informed that her body had rejected the stem cell transplant.
Pia’s mouth ulcers grew and caused frequent pain, along with what seemed to be a sinus infection that would not clear up, even after 4 months. Again, it was put down to the rejection of the transplant.
In March 2021, Pia had a ct scan to investigate the cause of her sinus issues and was booked until hospital today have surgery. Prior to the surgery commencing, the doctors performed a routine exam and found a lump in Pia’s collarbone. Her blood tests also seemed off. The doctors cancelled the surgery to investigate further.
A week later, tests showed that the lump found by the doctor was a cancerous tumour. Further tests showed that Pia’s non Hodgkin’s lymphoma has returned, her neck lymph nodes are full of cancer, the lumps in her mouth were tumours and additional tumours were found in her nose.
On Pia’s birthday on 31st March, it was confirmed the cancer has spread to Pia’s bone marrow and sent her into stage 4 lymphoma.
Pia is undergoing intense radiation at the moment and has been given only a 30% chance of survival.
Pia is also a carer to her disabled mother who is wheel chair bound.