Mr. Hodgkin's Who?

Hands up who has ever heard of Hodgkin's Lymphoma... that's what I thought, barely any of you! (Unless you, like myself were hit with Mr. Hodgkin's cancer stick!)

Part of the reason I wanted to write a blog in the first place was to raise awareness of Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Naturally we don't sit googling all types of cancer, just in case one day we are one of the unlucky ones but with the very sad and real statistic of 1 in 2 of us being touched by cancer at some point in our lives it's probably worth discussing on social platforms and raising awareness where we can.

HL (Hodgkin's Lymphoma) is quite an aggressive blood cancer that forms in our Lymphatic system and spreads around the body pretty speedy. The symptoms of HL can be brushed off as other issues so easily because it runs in our immune system and shows itself in colds, coughs and fatigue that we ignore. By the time our bodies flash the red lights and say 'hey buddy! We're in trouble down here' it is usually progressed to stage 3/4.

Now I am no doc, but the common symptoms to look out for are:

• Lumps or swellings
• Weight loss
• Repeated infections
• Easy bruising
• Extreme tiredness
• Bone / joint pain
• Itchy skin (*this one I had for about a year and had no idea) 
• Night sweats

Blood cancer affects over 240,000 humans in the UK, largely hitting young adults and is the 5th most common cancer. Every 20 minutes, someone in the UK is diagnosed with a blood cancer and 2,000 of those will end up needing a lifesaving blood stem cell donation.  To become a blood stem cell donor all you have to do is send a cheek swab to DKMS (free) to be put on the registry. Go check out their page for more info!!

It took well over a year to learn that the symptoms I was experiencing were related to cancer. If I had been more aware of what to look out for, I would have been able to catch it sooner. My hope is that none of you ever need to know this information but if it helps anyone spot the signs sooner, that's a plus!