My name is Luca and I am 26 years old. Two years ago, life confronted me with a difficult test, certainly beyond my imagination. It was the spring of 2018, while nature was awakening (I am a farmer), an annoying cough accompanied by chest pains left me no respite. I suffer from hyperthyroidism so I didn’t give it too much weight on the spot, that was certainly the cause. Summer is coming but this cough doesn’t go away, I couldn’t even do the jobs I normally took care of anymore, I just felt so tired, lack of concentration and dizziness when I got up quickly.
So I began to do some in-depth examinations, first of the x-rays, then a CT scan which showed that there is something wrong, an unwanted presence in my mediastinum. In July at the Hematology of Piacenza the doctors gave me further tests to better understand what it was, I was also hospitalized and all in all I preferred it like this, in that moment of strong uncertainty I felt more protected with the constant presence of doctors and nurses.
Those days were bad, my family tried to calm me down but I know them, they were very worried and scared even if they tried not to show it. I remain hospitalized for two weeks, cortisone and heparin become my first travel companions, the mediastinal mass was causing me thrombosis in the jugular, which is why those frequent dizzinesses. From those days I remember the many information received all together, the difficulty of being able to process so many inputs that were completely unthinkable until recently.
The biopsy defined my lymphoma to be a primary large B cell from the mediastinum.
I was treated with an experimental protocol and I am glad I did. From that moment on, the chemotherapy plus immunotherapy sessions took place until November. Friday was the day of the fixed appointment in day hospital, therapies and then a weekend spent at home trying to dispose of the side effects that weakened me. I faced everything with great determination and rigor, there were many medicines to mitigate all the problems that the therapies could give. There were many sleepless nights, the cortisone made me very hungry, I had put on several kilos.
Throughout this period, the Piacenza hematology staff has always proved to be an organized, fast, very communicative and very human team. I am happy with the people I have met and who have never made me miss a word of support in that difficult moment of my life. Now they are in the follow-up phase and visits are thinning out more and more over time, at first they were closer together, now less. Slowly I took my life back in hand, thanks to the support of my family, my friends, close relatives and my family doctor who has always followed me closely, now I’m fine and I’m back to work again.
The experimental therapies have allowed me to overcome this obstacle, which is why I want to tell everyone how important research is, it is the first thing to focus on, it is essential to take steps forward for patients and give them care. innovative that can make a difference.
The disease changed me, first of all because I was faced with a problem that I never would have imagined, then because it gave me the awareness that unfortunately these things exist and are much more common than it seems. “Lymphoma” was no longer a term for hearsay, but it was real and it had hit me. This experience has made me mature, a person grows up facing problems and so it was also in my case, a challenge that is certainly harder than the others but that I have won.
Luca