James' Story

It was in mid-2008 when I was diagnosed with stage 2 Hodgkin's Lymphoma. It all started about a month before when I was sitting at work and noticed a lump, just above my collarbone. As soon as I noticed the lump I immediately thought something wasn’t right, I booked in an appointment with my GP the following morning and after many tests that came up negative I finally got the lump removed and it revealed cancer.

I didn't really think much of this, I wasn't upset and I wasn't scared, as cliche as it sounds to say, but it's true. The next few weeks after being diagnosed were filled with needles and strange drugs, bone marrow tests and scans.

Treatment started off with 4 months of chemotherapy, the first month being the hardest as the doctors were trying to figure out how much anti-nausea drugs to give me, after this it slowly started getting easier. The nausea usually lasted for 5 to 6 days before it started to go away; the first few days were usually the hardest, especially in the morning. My days in chemotherapy consisted of getting to the hospital by 9.30am, waiting for a nurse and getting myself settled into a nice comfy chair.

I was usually out by about 2pm, but sometimes not until 3pm and even 4pm. My chemotherapy was a blend of drugs called ABVD, none of which I can spell, three of them took about 15 to 20 minutes and the last about 1 to 1.5 hours. By the end of this process I was usually feeling pretty exhausted.

Before cancer I was working in radio at 3AW in Melbourne, this was fairly easy to work at during treatment as they let me come in when I felt able to work. I would usually go in 3 to 4 times a week for half the day. I found the more you do during this period, the more it would take your mind off feeling unwell and the less you would have to stress out about things. It was never a problem getting a phone call from my friends down at the pub, I was always happy to go down for a couple of beers. Fitness was also a really high priority as you spend a lot of time lying in bed or on the couch so I would go to the gym 2 to 3 times a week, if only just for a walk on the treadmill.

Probably one of the best things I did was to talk to someone who had gone through cancer before. The more I talked about the positives, the negatives didn't seem all that bad, and talking to someone who had a positive aspect on cancer made my battle feel that less difficult. Another important thing that I found took my mind away from cancer was setting myself little goals throughout the treatment.

I am currently in remission at the moment, just finished my 3-monthly checkup and coming up to the year mark when I was diagnosed. I think the most important thing for anyone who has just been diagnosed or is just starting treatment, is to stay positive, keep on being proactive and don't dwell on the negatives because once you start it's very hard to stop thinking negatively.