Nataša has beaten Hodgkin’s lymphoma twice: ‘I lost my voice, but losing my hair was the hardest for me’
After that began a new fight for recovery, but also a change in her outlook on life.
“I had almost all the symptoms of Hodgkin’s lymphoma, maybe a good six months before it was diagnosed. Those were itching, fatigue that had appeared much earlier. When I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, I didn’t know what kind of illness it was at all, and I didn’t expect I would be going for chemotherapy. However, when I first went to the day hospital for therapy, only then did I see that reality, what my illness actually was and that far more of a fight awaited me than I had thought earlier.”
Nataša admits that at the first chemotherapy session she was very frightened, but as the treatment progressed, she gained more and more courage and believed everything would turn out well.
“It was only that first encounter with the illness that was hard, for me and for my family. I had five chemotherapy protocols and a stem cell transplant. Each therapy was different in itself and there were side effects. Even during therapy I was always thinking about what awaited me when I got home, whether I would have nausea and what new reaction to the therapy would come.”
As the treatment progressed, she gained more and more courage and believed that everything would turn out well.
The stem cell transplant went well, even though Nataša thought she would tolerate it worse, as well as the immunotherapy.
“Immunotherapy was the easiest for me, even though I had 16 of them and they came without side effects. That’s why I think they should be used more compared to traditional treatment systems, and patients would not have to focus on side effects like those that follow chemotherapy. When I was having immunotherapy, I felt as though I was going out for coffee, I didn’t have that feeling of heaviness. I knew that when I got home, I would be able to carry on with my usual activities. What I liked about that therapy is that hair doesn’t fall out. Losing my hair was something I took the hardest, even more than the diagnosis itself and all the other side effects.”
Nataša has been treated twice for Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The first treatment lasted eight months with a one‑year remission, after which a relapse occurred, and then the treatment lasted about a year.
“I discovered the relapse by chance, while I was putting on make‑up. I lifted my head and noticed a lump on my neck. That scared me, although of course I didn’t immediately know whether it was a relapse or not. On the ultrasound it was seen that it was, and a biopsy was done to confirm it.”
Nataša has been treated twice for Hodgkin’s lymphoma
After the diagnosis, she immediately received therapy and the preparation for the stem cell transplant followed immediately after one treatment.
“In the relapse, the therapy was very aggressive, I had many side effects, and I lost my voice. I finished treatment last year in August; that was the last innovative therapy I received. Only now, after several months, am I slowly getting back to myself.”
Our interviewee says that after the first time she wanted to recover as quickly as possible and get back to work. During the treatment itself she thought more about the future and worried about how the treatment would affect her life. However, after the illness returned, her approach changed.
“I started to exercise, to introduce some physical activities. I had a problem with neuropathy after therapy, but that’s generally a problem for many patients. I realised that the illness doesn’t end with the last therapy received; we carry it all our lives. Mentally, I might not even be fully aware yet, honestly, everything happened very quickly, I had to focus more on the treatment than on myself and how I felt. I’ve learned to allow myself all mental states through treatment—to cry, to laugh, to be angry; all reactions are natural. Now I am finding myself again, as though my life began anew after this treatment, especially after the transplant.”
Everyone who is treated for cancer gains a new dimension in life, as if one chapter ends and another begins
In some situations I even had to comfort my parents
Her greatest support was her parents, and she admits that in some moments she had to take on that role.
“You see things differently when you are the patient, and parents see things differently when they have a sick child. And in some situations I was the one who comforted them more than they comforted me. During treatment everything for me was mechanical—I’d go for therapy, come home, wait for the next. That period between therapies we spent together. I avoided too many people around me, and I didn’t like it when people told me I looked good, when they said ‘Be brave, everything will be fine,’ and they didn’t even know my diagnosis, honestly. The people who suited me most were those who had the same diagnosis as me. They instantly became my friends, because no one can comfort you more than someone who knows what it’s like to feel nauseous all day after therapy.”
Nataša found great support among members of the LIPA Association
Nataša found that very support in the group of patients within The Association of People with Lymphoma and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia LIPA.
“That’s where I connected with people, and they suited me most. And now I see that I also help people who are currently undergoing a transplant or are currently in treatment, and they often tell me: ‘I don’t like it when someone else says everything will be fine, but when you say it, it somehow sounds different.’ Because I know it all, I’ve been through many protocols and I know what it’s like when you have support from other people who’ve been through the same, and I think that’s what kept me going.”
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