On July 11, 2018 I found out I have cancer. Today it was confirmed as a lymphoma. The final diagnoses will come next week, but it is almost definately “Waldenstroms macroglobuliaemia” (WM). It has no cure, but it is treatable. It is also extremely rare.
This obviously sucks.
But probably not as much as it could suck, since there seem to be many positive signs about how this cancer has progressed in my body (very slowly). I haven’t seen my oncologists yet, but I have googled the crap out of it, and I think it’s going to be OK. The median survival rate is anything between 3.5 years to 11 years, which (surprisingly) is not nearly as bad as it sounds (I will write more on this later). In brief, I think I could die with Waldenstroms instead of from it. There are certainly many, many people who have lived with it for decades and are still going strong.
The worst thing for me is that the lymphoma is here to stay, as there is no cure. But! It’s been with me for the last 8 years and I didn’t even know it, so maybe we can continue as usual? 🙂
I intend to be very open about the process of this disease in my life, the treatments, my reactions and the overall journey. I am thus resurrecting this blog (again!) and will use this as a platform to write about all things to do with my life in general, and this cancer in particular. For one, I hope to offer a resource for others suffering from this cancer, especially if they are in South Africa. But it’s at times like this that one thinks of leaving footprints, and writing a blog is maybe a good way?
Before I sign off…a big shout out to my family and friends for their support, especially Craig who is clearly going to be my rock here. <3
xx,
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PS: If you are specifically interested in my Waldenstrom journey, from diagnosis to the present day, then I suggest you view this page to see all the posts I have written about it, in reverse chronological order, or start on Day One of my Journey .
