Hello! My name is Raquel and in March 2014 I was diagnosed with Grade 2 Follicular Lymphoma Stage IV, high-risk FLIPI2, with mesenteric bulky mass (a type of Hodgkin’s lymphoma). I had just turned 35. Anyway, I had no idea what they were talking about, but within 3 weeks I was receiving chemotherapy + immunotherapy.
I was administered the sessions every 21 days (when I could take it, as my body didn’t manage to recover in between the last few cycles and my white blood cell count was very low (the famous neutropaenia) so I had to leave 3 or 4 more weeks in between cycles). During the 6 months that this first treatment lasted, I lived a more or less normal life, I continued working (my work allowed me to continue and it really helped me to focus on something other than the illness), exercising, practising photography, walking in the mountains and on the beach (as the sun was setting) … I just had to avoid enclosed and crowded places, something that was not difficult for me since this all occurred during the spring and summer months.
At that time I felt the typical effects of this treatment: my hair fell out (the most noticeable), mucositis and diarrhoea (the most annoying). But I learned to take very good care of myself and to pay a lot of attention to my body, so much so that I thought about studying about everything I could do to feel better during treatment. And my curiosity was so piqued that in 2020 I finished my Higher Degree in Nutrition and from then on I continued to study formal training relating to Nutrition and Cancer. 9 years later, I am dedicated to accompanying people who are undergoing cancer treatment to improve their quality of life during treatment, and believe me, we achieve fantastic results (http://www.ahoraquecomo.es/).
After a few relapses, I continue to be closely monitored and checked up as we know that follicular lymphoma is a type of lymphoma that does not usually disappear. We continue to be unstoppable every day, because even though I relapse, thanks to the people who are there looking after me, I can keep going!
Raquel