Hi Lucy...I am 52 (53 in a few months), married 34 yrs. with no children. I couldn't have radiation either because of various eye issues ... I have astigmatisms in both eyes and my right eye has what I call a "deformed pupil"...I'm not sure what it is called, the pupil is bigger than my other one and lets in too much light or something and night blindness.
Also, I had an eye injury in my left eye 13 yrs ago...on a really windy day a tree limb flew off a tree and hit me in the eye and cut the cornea, and they lasered it shut and there is some scarring on it, plus I have wore glasses and used to wear contacts
since I was about 12 yrs. old.
The lump under my left eye is still there and they think that it is a cyst and scar tissue that grew to protect a broken blood vessel from the eye injury and the lymphoma went into it because of that weakness and then went to my other eye.
And too, since I had a spot under my stomach my Onc wanted to be sure and "get it all". After the two treatments of CHOP I had a PET Scan and a CT Scan and it showed that it was all gone...if it was still there I was going to have to have two more treatments. PET Scans don't always show the indolent lymphomas but it did mine.
I am lucky because there are only 2 PET Scan places in our state and my Cancer place has their own! I had PET Scans and CT Scans before and after and in Jan. of this year.
My Onc has had several cases of MALT Lymphoma and I was the second "eye person"...he did CHOP on the other person too almost 10 yrs. ago and hers hasn't came back or moved anywhere else.
I was the same way, the mental part of the cancer was the hardest plus losing my hair! The treatments were not bad at all.
The only time I cried, but only for a minute, during the whole thing was when my husband shaved my head, but after I got used to it, it wasn't bad at all! So much easier! I feel fine now except for getting tired easy and every little thing that is different or if my lump that is still there looks different or puffier, I think "Oh No...it's back"...but I think that is probably normal because nothing feels normal anymore. I think now we just have to have a new normal!! I try to stay positive but it's not easy sometimes.
I see my doctor for checkups every two months for blood work and he is keeping an eye on my "big lump" that is still there just to be on the safe side. Now there is a "puffy line" over my right eye that has been there for about a month, but it might be from the scar where I had the biopsy done there that showed it was MALT. I have an appointment in the morning so hopefully it is nothing.
Thank you for telling me about yours and I hope that your tenderness and soreness around your temple turns out to be nothing!! Let us know what you find out, ok!
Take Care and Hugs to you!
A (NHL-MALT)
