Valentin’s story between multiple sclerosis and Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
My name is Valentina, I am 38 years old and my “encounter” with lymphoma took place a few years ago, it was 2017.
I suffer from multiple sclerosis and in the fall of 2017, during the physiotherapy session, the physiotherapist perceives that there is a ball under the left collarbone, I honestly had never noticed. I do an ultrasound, it just looks like a cyst so I don’t think about it anymore until a few months later. It was January 2018, another ball appears, this time larger, on the right side of my neck. Thus began a series of tests, first for the thyroid, then a visit to the endocrinologist who, however, advises me to do a biopsy and contact a hematologist. After many tests and the outcome of the biopsy, the response is Hodgkin’s lymphoma. I did not know what it was, or rather I had heard of it but without actually knowing what it was, there were other more familiar terms for me, leukemia, myeloma, but not lymphoma.
It was at that moment that I met Dr. Cimminiello and the hematology team of the San Carlo Hospital in Potenza: the doctor explains to me that I would have to undergo four months of chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy and that I would lose my hair. It was hard at that moment, perhaps it may seem futile, but most of all I could not accept that I should have done without my crazy thick curly hair. I was 34 at the time of diagnosis, I was already facing other battles, adding this too did not really take.
To carry out the planned treatments I had to temporarily stop those for multiple sclerosis which in fact unfortunately had a little progression. But it could not be done otherwise, at that moment it was more urgent to treat the lymphoma.
I faced the months of therapy with a great fighting spirit, as I am always used to doing, all in all the therapies did not give me too many discomforts, the days immediately following the chemo were those in which some ailment such as stomach pain occurred, not I was able to eat if not lemon ice cream and crackers, but then I came back in strength.
At the end of the treatment the PET gave a negative result, the news of the remission arrived!
The fact that I was diagnosed with lymphoma in the second stage certainly also helped me, so all in all at an early stage, thanks to my physiotherapist who noticed something wrong that day.
All in all it was a short but intense period, I was and am a fighter, mentally balanced, I had a life marked by many bad moments (my mother is no longer here because of multiple sclerosis, she only had 40 years, then there were no treatments that there are now), but I have always been supported by many right people, few but good, my dad, my sister, my partner and a couple of friends. They never abandoned me and they never made me feel alone. The light in my eyes is my granddaughter, she too has given me so much energy.
Then in the ward I found a splendid staff, especially the relationship with Dr. Cimminiello who has always been very frank was very important, he explained to me step by step what I would encounter, preparing me to face the treatment path.
It’s been two and a half years since then, I’m still in the checkup phase, but my hair is back to being thick and today I’m talking about this piece of life lived with great serenity. The message that I feel I can share with those who have gone through or will have to go through this experience is that the important thing is to be strong, the character aspect is fundamental. Everything can be tackled. I have a lot of faith in scientific research, luckily there are people and realities such as the Italian Lymphoma Foundation who try to improve the treatments offered to us as much as possible and to make sure that new and better ones are available for the future.
Valentina