What to Know About Chemotherapy for Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
Chemotherapy is the use of drugs to kill or slow the growth of lymphoma cells. A big benefit of chemotherapy is that it is systemic. That means that the drugs travel throughout your whole body. Here’s why that’s good: It may be able to kill lymphoma cells that have spread beyond the first place it occurred.
The doctor who treats you with chemotherapy is called a medical oncologist or hematologist. Chemotherapy for non-Hodgkin lymphoma often uses more than one drug. That’s why it’s called combination chemotherapy. You may want to know what drugs you’re taking and how you will take them. You may also want to know their common side effects. Your doctor and chemotherapy nurse will give you those details.
The Different Ways You Can Get Chemotherapy for Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
Your doctor has several options for how to give you chemotherapy drugs.
You get chemotherapy in cycles. This reduces the damage to healthy cells and helps the drugs kill more lymphoma cells. This cycle also gives you a break between treatments. Your doctor will decide if you need to get treatment daily, weekly, every few weeks, or monthly.
Chemotherapy is usually given in an outpatient setting. That means you get it at a hospital, clinic, or doctor’s office. You don’t have to stay the night in the hospital. You will be watched during your treatments to make sure you don’t have a reaction. Some types of chemotherapy treatments last a while. So you may want to take along something that is comforting to you. Some people bring music to listen to. You may also want to bring a deck of cards, book, or crossword puzzle.