Becky

I’m 57 and have been a dairy herdsperson for 40 years, which is physically demanding work. Having farmed all my life, been really active and eaten pretty healthily, I never thought this would happen to me!

In December 2023 my husband and I both had a virus we thought was possibly COVID. I only had a couple of days off work as I am self-employed, but I coughed for a good couple of months. I thought it was the hundred-day cough (whooping cough is sometimes known as the hundred-day cough because of how long it takes to recover from it). 

I decided to go to the doctors just in case I needed antibiotics and because I had noticed a strange feeling in my left lung. I was given a week of antibiotics and I improved a bit so was able to continue working.

I continued with the frequent cough with sputum, so decided to go back.  I was put onto a stronger antibiotics and my doctor suggested I have an X-ray as I sounded a little crackly. I didn’t feel ill or especially fatigued, although I was tired from early mornings anyway!

Looking back, I had been very itchy for well over a year, but thought it was the menopause or a possible side effect of being on statins. 

By the time I had my X-ray results it was April 2024 and they could see a mass on my lung. I was devastated and I instinctively knew it was bad. In May I had a PET scan and in June I had a biopsy in my neck as they could see my lymph nodes were enlarged. Initially the doctors thought it was lung cancer, but I was eventually diagnosed with stage 4 anaplastic large cell ALK-negative lymphoma, which I was told was a rare one.

It has taken a long time to sink in having to give up work and start treatment which I absolutely dreaded. I responded well to my fourth cycle of BV CHP (a targeted drug called brentuximab vedotin in combination with cyclophosphamide, hydroxydaunorubicin and prednisolone) with no evidence of disease. However, I felt at my worst with the treatment and mentally too. I completed my last two treatment cycles in October and I am now concentrating on diet, holistic therapies and planning events to look forward to. 

I try and do small tasks to keep active and have my horses to tend to on my OK days. I haven't gone back to milking cows yet; one step at a time. I have a very supportive husband and sister and the nurses have been fantastic. I have also found Citizens Advice and Macmillan to be excellent resources.