Lymphoma
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Lymphoma
I'm a UK ATCO and was diagnosed with Lymphoma a few days ago, following a parotidectomy. I'll have more info about the type, staging and grading within the next few days, but I wondered if anyone else has been through treatment for the same. I'm keen to know if/when/how I'll get my Class 1 back and if there are any particular issues with the CAA and the various types of chemo.
Join Date: Aug 2007
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Sorry to hear about your diagnosis. This is one to be discussed between you, your oncologist and the CAA. The options are considerable and the effects of the drugs and their combinations so varied that I suspect any info you get from here will be too generalised to be of practical use. I would wait until you have accurate gen on the type, staging and planned treatment of the disease and then discuss it with the CAA.
Different types of chemo can certainly make you feel tired and sick and some can cause psychiatric symptoms (usually mild) so it may affect your Class 1.
Sorry I can't be more help
Good luck with it all
Bob
Different types of chemo can certainly make you feel tired and sick and some can cause psychiatric symptoms (usually mild) so it may affect your Class 1.
Sorry I can't be more help
Good luck with it all
Bob
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Bob - Many thanks, and undoubtedly sound advice
I have a little more info, insofar as it's a low grade, non-Hodgkin's, most likely to be Nodal marginal zone B-cell lymphoma.
Had a Bone Marrow sample taken today (not fun), CT Scan in the nest few days and back for staging/grading and a treatment plan in a fortnight.
I have a little more info, insofar as it's a low grade, non-Hodgkin's, most likely to be Nodal marginal zone B-cell lymphoma.
Had a Bone Marrow sample taken today (not fun), CT Scan in the nest few days and back for staging/grading and a treatment plan in a fortnight.
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I am afraid my knowledge of lymphoma is limited by how to keep the patient asleep while they have staging procedures or bone marrow biopsy (for those not brave enough to have it done awake under local!)
That said, low grade is usually a good sign in any lump and the rest sounds quite good too.
Chin up. Fortunately Lymphoma is a definitely beatable disease.
That said, low grade is usually a good sign in any lump and the rest sounds quite good too.
Chin up. Fortunately Lymphoma is a definitely beatable disease.
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NHL
Sorry to hear your news. Don't worry though, the disease is very treatable. I am a commercial Pilot and will complete my last session of Radiotherapy for Stage 4 Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma this Friday. I have also had Chemotherapy. Hopefully I will be back in the air sometime in the new year after a year off work.
Don't hesitate to PM me and I will help you as much as I can.
NCP
Don't hesitate to PM me and I will help you as much as I can.
NCP
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Well, I've just had the Lymphoma diagnosed this morning....Still not quite sure how I feel about it but It's just another thing to deal with.
Oh well, another fight on my hands.
Oh well, another fight on my hands.
A dear friend of mine was diagnosed with lymphoma eight years ago. With chemo therapy he's made a complete recovery and is doing great! The therapy was aggressive and no walk in the park but he made it through.
May I recommend a great book, "Love, Medicine and Miracles" by Dr. Bernie Siegal? He's an oncologist who questioned why some folks with relatively treatable cancers didn't do so well while others, much sicker, did well.
He seems to think it's up to a more positive attitude and strong family support. He advocates guided imagery and a form of self-hypnosis. Along with proper medical therapies, of course.
Worth a read. My friend is completely healthy now and has much to look forward to as his son has just made the school football team.
Best wishes for you and your family. Do keep us posted on your recovery.
Dea
May I recommend a great book, "Love, Medicine and Miracles" by Dr. Bernie Siegal? He's an oncologist who questioned why some folks with relatively treatable cancers didn't do so well while others, much sicker, did well.
He seems to think it's up to a more positive attitude and strong family support. He advocates guided imagery and a form of self-hypnosis. Along with proper medical therapies, of course.
Worth a read. My friend is completely healthy now and has much to look forward to as his son has just made the school football team.
Best wishes for you and your family. Do keep us posted on your recovery.
Dea
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I can tell you that the anxiety proir to any treatment is far worse than the chemo its self, and if you are going to get any form of cancer then this is the one to get. this is one of the longest treatment regimes usually between 8 and 12 course's which = 16 to 24 does of chemo, any other info pm me. depending how you look at things, 3 or 4 days after each chemo session you are well enough to visit the pub etc, eat out.
as Say again s l o w l y and North County Pilot both know, I had NHL diagnosed last July after a laparotomy to remove a tumour. Has 6 months of chemo and have just got my Class One medical back, no OML or other restrictions - I'm back doing single pilot emergency services helicopter work.
The bone marrow biopsy was hell, but don't worry, your ache in your bum will ease after a while....
In terms of timescale, the CAA needed 6 months wait from the final dose of chemo and then a full cardio review...24hr ECG, echocardiogram, treadmill ECG etc
It was the effects of the chemo drugs, not the disease, that worry them on the medical front.
If your doc says you're getting Rituximab and CHOP then that's what I had. I can email you the CAA flowchart for anthracycline treatment if you want to see the process of getting your medical back. Straightforward, just took a while. The gap in my logbook is from 22 Jun 06 to 29 Aug 07, so 14 months or so...but my chemo was largely precautionary as they took the tumour out (plus a huge margin inc bits of guts, spleen etc) and only lasted 6 cycles.
PM for a chat, more details etc Good luck!
The bone marrow biopsy was hell, but don't worry, your ache in your bum will ease after a while....
In terms of timescale, the CAA needed 6 months wait from the final dose of chemo and then a full cardio review...24hr ECG, echocardiogram, treadmill ECG etc
It was the effects of the chemo drugs, not the disease, that worry them on the medical front.
If your doc says you're getting Rituximab and CHOP then that's what I had. I can email you the CAA flowchart for anthracycline treatment if you want to see the process of getting your medical back. Straightforward, just took a while. The gap in my logbook is from 22 Jun 06 to 29 Aug 07, so 14 months or so...but my chemo was largely precautionary as they took the tumour out (plus a huge margin inc bits of guts, spleen etc) and only lasted 6 cycles.
PM for a chat, more details etc Good luck!
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Cheers mate. After having chatted to you recently and seen how well you're getting on, it's a great comfort. No offense, but if you can kick it's ar*e, then so can I!!
I'll see you soon and any help with getting the old class 1 back will be much appreciated.
I'll see you soon and any help with getting the old class 1 back will be much appreciated.
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Sorry to hear about your diagnoses.
I was diagnosed in March with NHL and have done 4 cycles of chemo and a stem cell transplant. It is a beatable cancer mate and the harder you fight and the more positive you are, the quicker you will recover from it.
I'm still recovering at home from my transplant that I had 7 weeks ago and feel better by the day. I'm now in the process of regaining my medical so hopefully should find out next week what is required by CASA.
Stay positive and make sure you eat as much as possible and excercise lightly.
God bless and good luck.
PM if you need to chat more about it.
I was diagnosed in March with NHL and have done 4 cycles of chemo and a stem cell transplant. It is a beatable cancer mate and the harder you fight and the more positive you are, the quicker you will recover from it.
I'm still recovering at home from my transplant that I had 7 weeks ago and feel better by the day. I'm now in the process of regaining my medical so hopefully should find out next week what is required by CASA.
Stay positive and make sure you eat as much as possible and excercise lightly.
God bless and good luck.
PM if you need to chat more about it.
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I found a lump in my neck in May 2003. (Age 46 which is relatively young for this cancer). Anti-biotics did not work and so a lymph node was removed. It turned out to be grade II follicular NHL. It was already stage 3 because lumps were either side of the diaphragm but there was nothing in the bone marrow. This was diagnosed by a CT scan and bone marrow sample.
I had 6, monthly cycles of mitoxantrone through a drip together with chlorambucil pills prednisolone tablets. I had no real serious side effects. (A bit of hair loss, metallic taste in mouth and trouble sleeping). The neck lumps began to shrink almost immediately. After 3 cycles another CT scan showed they had all disappeared!
JAA medical regulations insist on a 6 month pause after chemotherapy.
older drugs could have a serious effect on the heart muscle. I saw a CAA cardiologist after 6 months and was given Class 1 OML. (Back flying after a year). The OML restriction was removed after another 6 months and so I went back to single pilot operations. I have to visit the CAA cardiologist for a 24 hour and stress ECG annually but it is very much a formality as anything nasty would have already happened.
The good news is that treatments have already advanced a long way. If I had the same thing now my Haematogist would be on to the next generation of drugs like the mono-clonal antibody rituximab.
The other good thing is that Dr Sally Evans the CAA's medical head has made a speciality of these diseases and is largely personally responsible for persuading the JAA to allow medicals to be renewed. I found the CAA medical division very helpful.
Hope this helps and good luck!
I had 6, monthly cycles of mitoxantrone through a drip together with chlorambucil pills prednisolone tablets. I had no real serious side effects. (A bit of hair loss, metallic taste in mouth and trouble sleeping). The neck lumps began to shrink almost immediately. After 3 cycles another CT scan showed they had all disappeared!
JAA medical regulations insist on a 6 month pause after chemotherapy.
older drugs could have a serious effect on the heart muscle. I saw a CAA cardiologist after 6 months and was given Class 1 OML. (Back flying after a year). The OML restriction was removed after another 6 months and so I went back to single pilot operations. I have to visit the CAA cardiologist for a 24 hour and stress ECG annually but it is very much a formality as anything nasty would have already happened.
The good news is that treatments have already advanced a long way. If I had the same thing now my Haematogist would be on to the next generation of drugs like the mono-clonal antibody rituximab.
The other good thing is that Dr Sally Evans the CAA's medical head has made a speciality of these diseases and is largely personally responsible for persuading the JAA to allow medicals to be renewed. I found the CAA medical division very helpful.
Hope this helps and good luck!
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Lymphoma
Hi NovemberMike,
For someone like me who is about to get the "ball rolling" so to speak with the CAA, I find your post encouraging. Thanks. It is good to hear that soemone like Dr Evans is involved.
Recently, I spoke with another Oncologist other than my own at a patient meeting and he said that generally the drugs only really have an effect on the hearts of elderly patients. At my age he said not to worry. lets hope he is right.
The fact that you were stage 3 - did this have any impact on your return to work at all? I have come across material discussing annual incapacitation risk in relation to staging.
NCP
For someone like me who is about to get the "ball rolling" so to speak with the CAA, I find your post encouraging. Thanks. It is good to hear that soemone like Dr Evans is involved.
Recently, I spoke with another Oncologist other than my own at a patient meeting and he said that generally the drugs only really have an effect on the hearts of elderly patients. At my age he said not to worry. lets hope he is right.
The fact that you were stage 3 - did this have any impact on your return to work at all? I have come across material discussing annual incapacitation risk in relation to staging.
NCP
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The only thing that matters is your response to treatment. If the cancer has "gone" and you are in remission then how it presented to start with is irrelevant. Mine responded quickly and was gone after 3 sessions. I still had another 3 just to make sure!
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UK ATCO Lymphoma
Hello to anyone who might read this. I never thought I would write on a forum, but after last week when I was told I had Lymphoma I feel a little lost. I am a 32 year old ATCO in The UK. I am wondering if there are any other ATCOs out there who may have had this type of thing and might offer a heads up to what to expect from The CAA? Apart from getting fixed I will want my medical back!
Feeling up beat though living The dream. Cheers
Feeling up beat though living The dream. Cheers
Life's too short for ironing
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TJFL,
Welcome aboard. That sucks about the lymphoma 
You might find more feedback if you don your tinfoil hat & venture in to the murky world of Jetblast. Do a search for "b*gger. I've got cancer". Better still, just click on here -
http://www.pprune.org/jet-blast/2919...ot-cancer.html
But! Beware! Once you enter JB you will forever be a changed soul. There is no turning back from all the wit, wile, wisdom & wwwwwwickedness in there
Best of luck with the lymphoma - you're not alone, especially in JB
Welcome aboard
. That sucks about the lymphoma You might find more feedback if you don your tinfoil hat & venture in to the murky world of Jetblast. Do a search for "b*gger. I've got cancer". Better still, just click on here -
http://www.pprune.org/jet-blast/2919...ot-cancer.html
But! Beware! Once you enter JB you will forever be a changed soul. There is no turning back from all the wit, wile, wisdom & wwwwwwickedness in there
Best of luck with the lymphoma - you're not alone, especially in JB
Está servira para distraerle.
This link might help in mark one eyeballing.
https://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx/d...90&pageid=9554
fernytickles is quite correct. The best of luck to you.
https://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx/d...90&pageid=9554
fernytickles is quite correct. The best of luck to you.
