In January of 2006 I was diagnosed with fNHL (folicular Non Hodgkins Lymphoma) Grade 11 Stage III slow growing. I'm not a stranger to this decease. I was diagnosed with fNHL in 1998 in the right groin area recieved 25 radiation treatments and was in remission until the present diagnoses.
My Oncologist and I decided on Watch and Wait this time because of the slow growth of the desease :
1. You have relatively dormant NHL that waxes and wanes, but is not progressing rapidly -- drifting sideways, not further, from shore.
2. You are enjoying life; the NHL is not making you worry excessively and you have good quality of life.
3.You are of advanced age and the clinical tempo of your disease is slow. You may be near your life expectancy before needing treatment.
4. Given the slow tempo of your disease, new treatments may arrive with the potential to cure with less risk to you in the near future.
5.It takes time and larger studies to say for sure that a given treatment has the potential to cure patients or significantly increase duration of response and improve survival. We need to consider the limitations of current data compiled in small patient samples. This fact may favor watchful waiting for patients with lymphomas that have a slow clinical tempo.
My Oncologist and I decided on Watch and Wait this time because of the slow growth of the desease :
Factors that may favor W&W
1. You have relatively dormant NHL that waxes and wanes, but is not progressing rapidly -- drifting sideways, not further, from shore.
2. You are enjoying life; the NHL is not making you worry excessively and you have good quality of life.
3.You are of advanced age and the clinical tempo of your disease is slow. You may be near your life expectancy before needing treatment.
4. Given the slow tempo of your disease, new treatments may arrive with the potential to cure with less risk to you in the near future.
5.It takes time and larger studies to say for sure that a given treatment has the potential to cure patients or significantly increase duration of response and improve survival. We need to consider the limitations of current data compiled in small patient samples. This fact may favor watchful waiting for patients with lymphomas that have a slow clinical tempo.
