In November 2022, I’d had a cough for several weeks that wouldn’t go away. Didn’t really think much of it. A buddy of mine and I decided to head to Vegas for a golf vacation and to watch our favorite college football team play in a bowl game.
Our first night in Vegas, something in my head told me to go to the ER. I felt terrible, and my cough was getting worse. A chest X-ray and a chest CT later, I was told I had a mass in my chest, and the radiologist was almost certain it was lymphoma.
To say I was shocked would be the understatement of the century. Was I going to die? I thought for sure I just had pneumonia and needed antibiotics. No, I had something much worse.
Weeks later, two biopsies later, three pathology opinions later, and I was officially diagnosed with nodular sclerosis classic Hodgkin lymphoma (NSCHL).
We’d caught it very early, and I only had two cycles of chemo (four infusions of ABVD) and two weeks of “mop up” radiation. In June 2023, I was pronounced cancer-free. The relief to be able to tell those around me that treatment had worked, that my oncologist and my radiation oncologist both celebrated the best-case response to treatment, all of it was incredible. I got extremely lucky.
Today, I play a lot of golf and live my life disease-free. I’m incredibly lucky and grateful.
David
nodular sclerosis classic Hodgkin lymphoma (NSCHL)
