Interview 09

Diagnosed in 1992 with Hodgkin’s Disease after noticing that her collar bone stuck out due to a swollen lymph node beneath it. She was treated with chemotherapy, which put her into remission.

In 1992, when wearing an off-shoulder party frock, she noticed that one of her collar bones was sticking out more than the other and didn’t feel right. She went to her GP who referred her to a specialist the next day. The collar bone problem was caused by two enlarged lymph glands in her neck, and biopsies of those nodes and other tests proved that she had Hodgkin’s disease. She reacted very badly to learning that she had a type of cancer, and from then on dealt with it by referring to cancer as ‘Trevor’ and to chemotherapy as ‘Fred’, and the word ‘cancer’ was never mentioned again.

She was given a course of chemotherapy, to which she responded well and the drug regimen was changed part way through the treatment. Hair loss from chemotherapy was traumatic for her and she missed three weeks of school because of concerns about her appearance. After the end of the treatment it was decided to give her four extra cycles of chemotherapy, which meant that the hair that had regrown fell out a second time. She managed to keep up with her school work, and her illness had no significant effect on her career plans. She remains in remission.

She saw the size of the bone marrow biopsy needle and could feel and hear it being pushed into…

Age at interview 30

Gender Female

Age at diagnosis 16

Tell me more about your bone marrow test because you said that was really, really painful. Ive heard other people say it didnt bother them at all, so tell me what was so awful about it?

OK, so they obviously can numb your skin but the needle is huge and I stupidly looked at it, which maybe I shouldnt have done. But you can feel them, like you can hear the sort of noise of it going into your bone and you can feel it pushing down into your bone, and I think, like maybe I tensed up because it was just like, it wasnt painful it was just really uncomfortable. And afterwards it felt like youd just been kicked in the hip by a horse or something. It was just, I just remember that’s one of the things that really stands out in my mind, from all of it. Like the chemo I don’t really remember that, but it’s the bone marrow test that’s really one of the things that stands out.

Was it sore for a while afterwards?

A couple of days but, you know, it just was bruised, like really bruised.

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Her hair came out sooner than expected; she tried using a ‘cold cap’ to reduce hair loss but it…

Age at interview 30

Gender Female

Age at diagnosis 16

With my hair they, it was too late but they thought they could slow down the process. They did like a cold cap. But they said it was too late pretty much because my hair is quite thick and it grows quickly and they said the quicker your hair grows the quicker it comes out. So it started coming out about six weeks before they predicted. They thought it would be quite a way into the treatment and they werent sure if it was going to come out at all. So

Can you describe what the cold, using the cold cap is like?

It was, it looked like a, from what I can remember, as I say I only had it once, but it was like a shower cap, a swimming cap, and it was just freezing cold on your head. And that was, they said it was because the chemo makes your hair follicles expand and this, because it’s so cold it shrinks them, which is why it stops some of the hair coming out. But that’s

It didnt work for you?

No, and losing your hair is probably one of the most traumatic things, like waking every morning and just your pillow being covered in hair and, yeah, it’s not nice.

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A friend had suggested using homeopathy instead of chemotherapy but she didn’t believe it could…

Age at interview 30

Gender Female

Age at diagnosis 16

Have you ever used, or thought about using any complementary type therapies to do with your lymphoma?

Well apparently one of mum’s friends who’s really into homeopathy wanted me not to have, suggested to mum that I didnt have chemo and I just had, but I’m really, I don’t believe in that. I think some things homeotherapy medicines can help you with but when it comes to cancer, however much you don’t want chemicals pumped into you, I think people whove been doing research for years know more about it than a homeopathic person. So I think I wouldn’t have agreed to have done that, however much, you know, side effects, whatever.

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