Gerri's Journey with B-Cell Lymphoma

I was diagnosed with Mature B-Cell Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma in my right hip which metastasized to my left shoulder.

Because of the rare type of lymphoma I was diagnosed in I was put into a clinical trial of chemotherapy treatment. The clinical trial mainly consisted of the different combination of chemotherapy along with the dosages.

My hair was the first major side affect. Being 10 years old it wasn't easy to deal with. Looking back now it didn't matter but being a 10 year old girl and bald was a big deal to me at the time.

The mouth sores were some of the worst side effects. They covered the inside of my mouth and down into my throat. I was unable to speak or swallow without pain so I was given nutrients through the IV because I could not bring myself to eat or drink anything because of the pain. Luckily they did not frequent throughout the whole treatment but just here and there

Because of the Prednisone I had random mood swings and craved foods that were high in salt. I gained a lot of weight throughout my treatment and had a tough time over the years to lose it all which I finally did many years later.

There were many foods, even sometimes smells, that I could not even permit near me because they would make me so violently ill. Luckily the hospital was always ready to be able to give me something for my stomach like Zantac which would work wonders.