On 18 February, I noticed a large lump on my left leg. I was frightened and went to the Emergency room of my health centre. The doctor who saw me said it looked like a cyst, but asked me to have a scan. Two days later, I had the scan, and several days after that, I took the report to a surgeon. He did not agree with the report, so he asked me to have a second scan done.
I took the second scan to the surgeon, and this time he agreed with it. He told me that it looked like something malignant —although he thought it could be a hernia---. But he told me not to worry because, if it was something malignant, it would be very treatable with chemotherapy. Despite his attempt to reassure me, I was very scared that day and the following days. Then he asked me to have a CT scan and a biopsy.
As they couldn't do the biopsy in Algeciras, I went to Marbella and had both tests done there, at a clinic, on 10 March. I had to wait at least eight days for the results. Imagine how scared I was.
And then the day came... I received an email with the worst news: they had detected grade 3 lymphoma. I collapsed. It felt like my life was ending that day... But, luckily, my wife comforted me, telling me that this experience could help other people who were as scared as I had been, now that I had overcome that fear.
I immediately took the reports to my family doctor at the National Health Service in Algeciras. The next day, he sent these reports to his boss so that Punta Europa Hospital could call me.
A few days later, the hospital called me to make an appointment with a haematologist.
At the consultation, she told me how the treatment would begin: blood tests, medication, an initial PET scan and six cycles of chemotherapy.
I was afraid of the side effects of chemotherapy, but on the other hand, I was starting to become mentally strong because I had overcome the fear caused by the uncertainty and not knowing what the lump was at first. However, I started the chemotherapy sessions, in April, and saw that I did not have the side effects that I had imagined with such fear.
In August, I finished the chemotherapy cycles and stopped taking almost all of the medicines.
But the last PET scan showed that the lesion in my right hip bone had not improved, so my haematologist told me that I had to undergo six more cycles of chemotherapy, but with a different treatment.
I have already completed a two-day cycle. I have five cycles left, but for now I am feeling better than I did after the first six cycles.
That's why, even though it's a long and difficult illness, I would like to convey my hope and mental strength to anyone who needs it, because I have overcome my initial fear (the uncertainty, the possible side effects...), I now know that the large lymphoma in my leg — and another small one I had in my left armpit — has been cured, and I just have to do what the hospital tells me to do to finish healing the lesion in my right hip.
I know my case is not as serious as many others, but I am very grateful to Punta Europa Hospital for all the care they have given me. My haematologist is doing a good job of curing me. And the nurses, as well as being very professional, are very humane. I also appreciate how modern and bright the chemotherapy room is, which was renovated a few months ago.
That is why, after so much time, feeling scared and discouraged at first, but fighting to stay mentally strong and be able to accept the hospital's treatment, after the difficult moments I have overcome, I think that we humans do not really know our capacity to endure pain or fear. I believe that our survival instinct helps us.
That is why I encourage those who need it to trust in medicine, but also in themselves and, of course, if you are a believer like me, in God.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)