– by Pirunrat Nathchayanonth (Yori), Client Coordinator
When I was a child, almost all the soap operas I watched involved tragic scenario of someone having untreatable Leukemia. Little did I know that one day my father will be diagnosed with Lymphoma.
As September is Leukemia and Lymphoma Awareness Month, let’s learn more about these conditions.
Firstly, what are the differences?
“Leukemia is a cancer of the blood and bone marrow.” – Cleveland Clinic (https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/4365-leukemia)
Leukemia symptoms are often overlooked due to its similarity with flu or other common illness. So far, scientists still haven’t figured outwhat exactly cause Leukemia, but they know how it’s formed.
There are different types of Leukemia below and you can read more here: https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/types/leukemias/types
- Hairy Cell Leukemia (HCL)
- Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL)
- Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML)
- Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia (APL)
- Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL)
- Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML)
- Myeloproliferative Neoplasms (MPN)
- Systemic Mastocytosis.
“Lymphoma is a cancer of the lymphatic system, which is part of the body’s germ-fighting network.” – Mayo Clinic (https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/lymphoma/symptoms-causes/syc-20352638)
The cause of Lymphoma is also unspecific. You have it because your white blood cells called lymphocytes double themselves in hazardous level. And also not all Lymphomas are the same, I knew my dad has it but then apparently there are 6 different Lymphomas. But according to Cancer Council (https://www.cancer.org.au/cancer-information/types-of-cancer/lymphoma), there are two main types of lymphoma, which spread and are treated differently:
- Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (which accounts for about 90% of lymphomas)
- Hodgkin lymphoma (which has a characteristic appearance in biopsies).
Both may seem similar but “the main difference between lymphocytic leukemias and lymphomas is that in leukemia, the cancer cells are mainly in the bone marrow and blood, while in lymphoma they tend to be in lymph nodes and other tissues.” – explained by American Cancer Society (https://www.cancer.org/cancer/chronic-lymphocytic-leukemia/about/what-is-cll.html)
Comprehensive Cancer Center (https://cccnevada.com/understanding-warning-signs-leukemia-lymphoma/) gave us some warning signs below –
- Loss of appetite or sudden weight loss. – Many of other illness includes this, even simple one like hormonal imbalance! So how can you tell?
- Bone or joint pain. – hmmm? Arthritis?
- Headaches. – Oh dear, this doesn’t mean every time it happens you have to jump the gun, right?
- Shortness of breath. – Are you a smoker? Do you experience panic attacks? Asthmatic patients?
- Frequent infections. – Pneumonia and bladder infection and also happen more than once.
- Easy bruising or heavy bleeding. – This also relate to other blood disease like hemophilia or von Willebrand disease
As mentioned, these are signs and symptoms that are very common and many illnesses. My dad was always exhausted and had high temperature quite often with no other fly symptoms though. But because he was a contractor so we just thought it was because of long exposure to external environment at work. Maybe it wasn’t fever but he had heat exhaustion and such.
He’s always been skinny and a heavy smoker so every now and then he would lose his appetite. He also has hemophilia and got sick regularly from childhood. There’s a period when he would complain about constant headache but again, he didn’t sleep as much because of all those projects he was working on. My mom’s brother was the one who forced him to go see a doctor and by the time he was diagnosed, the oncologist told us he had about 6 months left.
Everything changed then. He refused chemotherapy and for 3 years he turned vegetarian. He moved from Bangkok to Chiang Mai to be in a more tranquil atmosphere away from all the stress. It has been a 17 year stretch since then. Although he’s not 100% healthy, his diet proved to be doing some kind of magic.
One of my friends also had Hodgkin lymphomawas diagnosed last September. With regular chemotherapy and radiotherapy, she is now cancer free and living a stronger life!
But if the signs and symptoms are so common, when do you think you need to see a doctor? When those symptoms happen together and/or more frequent than they should be.
In case, you’re wondering – “my family has a history of both, how can I know for sure?” – not to worry, we got you covered! Our partners offer genetic screenings, so if you are categorized as high risk, you can consult with specialist and plan your journey well in advance.
Reference
https://www.medicinenet.com/bleeding_easily/symptoms.htm