Hello. My name Jonathan Sams. This is my journey with Hodgkin's Disease.
I was twelve years old when my mother noticed the first Hodgkin's tumor. She sat below some maple trees and touched my neck after I climbed out of my grandparents' pool on a hot day in North Carolina. The tumor was below my left jaw and was possibly 4 cm long. My mother thought it was swelling from swimmer's ear. But it didn't go down.
For the next 2 ½ years I was seen by a number of doctors: Multiple pediatricians, an allergist who tested me for over a hundred allergies, an Ear-Nose-Throat specialist, even a chiropractor who tried to treat the tumor with oil and ultrasound. As the tumor grew, no one ever suggested that it might be cancer. At age 14, in 1981, I asked that the mass be removed for aesthetic reasons. The tumor had grown to over 8 cm long. As soon as it was removed, the surgeon recognized it for lymphoma.
I was diagnosed with Stage IIIA Nodular Sclerosing Hodgkin's Disease. My prognosis was "poor." I was treated with surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. I went into remission in 1982.
For the next 24 years, I lived.
In 2006, I was managing partner at my law firm, had been married for 9 years, had 3 year old twins, our third child had just been born.and had a recurrence.
I underwent treatment, and went into remission in November 2006. I had two more treatments thereafter, the last in December 2006. In January 2007, I went in for a PET/CT and.Recurrence.
I have lived with this disease through 28 years and 3 occurrences.
Through it all, I have been the most blessed of all people. I hope to stand firm. I hope to be a good example.
This is my story, and I share it with you.
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