I could have kicked the oncologist you know where, when he told Ranjan that he was cancer free. Oh how wish doctor used their brains before uttering half truths! We all knew that chemo had done its bit and how can one forget that people like my two trusted healers told me that a scan taken right after chemno can only be good and did not reveal the true picture. The true picture will emerge after at least 6 months if and only if we take care of the bone marrow.
Before I rush into conjuring another cornucopia of cures, I think it is time I sat back and understood what lymphoma actually is. Quite frankly I never had the chance to understand the disease as things went a little out of my control freak hands when after 13 months of Ranjan fading away, a name had finally been put on what ailed him. Then I got caught in a spate of things beyond my control - scans, biopsies, bone marrow aspiration, chemos and more of the same. My task was to ensure minimum side effects to the chemo and keep R's morale up. Long term had to give way to short term. And I ran an obstacle race just keeping a few tiny steps ahead of the dreaded treatment.
We are now off any conventional treatment after the almost incautious and thoughtless remark of the oncologist that could be summed up as: you are cancer free, see you in six months! Was I to go by that, then we should life like king size and hope for the best. That is the way with specialists! They are only concerned with their tiny window of specialisation and its protocols. The rest is of no importance. They would enter the dance again if, God forbid, cancer was to appear again and would spew another set of lethal protocols.
I do not work like that. Time I took over again.
So what is lymphoma and why does it destroy the bone marrow. Come to think of it, if I look at Ranjan's blood results over the last six months, it looks like the culprit in the bone marrow issue are the (in)famous 4: adryamicin, bleomycin, vinblastine and dacarbazine a.k.a ABVD. But we are over with that and I have been handed back my man with loads of side effects that need to be addressed and taken care off.
To be able to do that it is important to know what lymphoma is. Dictionary definition: cancer of the lymph nodes. So step one is to understand what lymph nodes are. One definition is: Lymph is clear or white fluid that travels through vessels, moves within tissues and work to keep all the parts of the body clean. After passing through the channels of the lymphatic system they drain into the lymph nodes.
The lymph nodes act as filters along the lymphatic system. These nodes trap germs like bacteria, viruses, toxins as well as cancer cells and ensure that these are removed from the body. The lymph nodes hold the lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell. These act as fighters against foreign invasion by bacteria, viruses, cancer cells or toxins. The lymphocytes also help control the immune response. These lymphocytes originate from stem cells in the bone marrow. And thus lymphoma is a type of cancer that begins in immune system cells called lymphocytes. Like other cancers, lymphoma occurs when lymphocytes are in a state of uncontrolled cell growth and multiplication.
There are two primary cancer of the lymph nodes: Hodgkin's and Non Hodgkin's lymphoma. Ranjan has the former. There are differences between the two. Hodgkin's tends to arise from what is called the Epstein-Barr virus and contain Reed-Sternberg Cells, which are necessary for diagnosis. The malignant cells that form usually remain localized in one lymph node or a surrounding chain. Is that good or bad news. I do not know. It is said that Hodgkin's Disease is one of the most curable cancers with a 'cure' rate (5 years or more cancer free) between 60 and 90%. That is if we go by conventional medicine. This is not acceptable to me. Between 60 and 90% and 5 years are statistics I refuse to go by. I seek total cure till infinity.
I had always felt a small sense of guilt at the length of time it took to diagnose Ranjan's cancer. I must confess that having had both my parents taken away from me by this dreaded disease, I did not want Ranjan to be diagnosed with the same. But reading this article today as brought me a small measure of comfort as it states quite clearly that the symptoms of this form of lymphoma are so nearly like those of some other diseases that it is necessary for a physician to arrange for the removal and microscopic examination of one of the enlarged lymph nodes for diagnosis. And one must not forget that Ranjan's lymphoma was hidden in the abdomen and not visible at all. I guess we did our best. An Epstein Barr virus test done in July 2013 was negative, and this virus is one of the main cause of Hodgkin's. Wonder how we could have done it better.
Now let us come to the causes. This seems to be nebulous. One article states that the exact cause of Hodgkin disease is not known. However, scientists have found that the disease is linked with a few conditions, such as infection with the Epstein-Barr virus. Some researchers think that this may lead to DNA changes in B lymphocytes, leading to the development of the Reed-Sternberg cell and Hodgkin disease. Scientists do not yet know what sets off these processes. An abnormal reaction to the Epstein-Barr virus or to other infections may be the trigger in some cases. In Ranjan's case the Epstein-Barr Virus was negative 3 weeks before we got our final diagnosis.
So let us look for other causes. Like all cancers it is a genetic mutation that causes cells to multiply abnormally. A list of possible triggers is given here but none apply to Ranjan: he never had a medical condition that suppressed his immune system, nor was he exposed to the Epstein-Barr virus nor did he have any chemo or radition therapy as his is a primary and not a secondary lymphoma. I perused article after article and could not find any probable cause. It seems like always that the medical fraternity is clueless about the cause issue. I even found an article that listed causes like: Fewer siblings, early birth order, single-family homes, and fewer playmates are associated with an increased risk of developing Hodgkin lymphoma -- possibly due to a lack of exposure to bacterial and viral infections at an early age. I guess living in India gives you sufficient exposure to bacterial and viral infections. If you try and interpret this in another way it may sound like having multiple infections may protect you from cancer. Sounds far fetched to me.
This leads us to something I have always believed in and that is that cancer is an emotional shock. In an interesting article Dr Keith Nemec states that the two mental /emotional causes of cancer are acute high stress traumatic shocks and chronic long term negative stress called distress. Traumatic shocks, which are totally unexpected, cause a mind, brain and body reaction that can trigger the formation of cancer. The first mental/emotional cause of cancer is chronic distress or negative stress that causes the hormone cortisol to go out of balance and weaken the immune system. This opens the door to cancer growth. I need not go any further. This is the reason for Ranjan's cancer. I will not say more.
So I now sort of know what lymphoma is and have sort of figured out why it happened to Ranjan. In hindsight I could not have done much to prevent it. Now that we have given a shot to conventional therapy and got our first remission, I need to try and figure out what we need to do ensure that it does not come back and mission 1 would be to deal with stress and emotional traumas and mission 2 with his bone marrow and immune system.
Lots on my plate. Let us get on with it!
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