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I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin diffuse B-cell lymphoma on Aug. 14, 2015, and since then, I have undergone three rounds of chemotherapy, 22 radiation treatments and an autologous stem cell transplant.

Today, I show no evidence of disease, but the side effects from my treatment were and still are challenging. I¡¯ve had everything from nausea, neuropathy and hair loss to chemobrain and hearing problems.

Mitigating side effects through dosage adjustments

Hearing loss was probably the most alarming side effect from my B-cell lymphoma treatment. It happened while I was undergoing my first round of a chemotherapy ¡ª a combination of drugs called R-DHAP (rituximab, dexamethasone, cytarabine and cisplatin).

One of the drugs (cisplatin) is known to cause hearing loss sometimes, so when I had a ringing in my ears, , gave me a hearing test. The results came back normal, but the test did show slight hearing loss in the higher frequency range, so Dr. Westin lowered my cisplatin dose by 20% before I started the second round of chemotherapy.

Simple solutions worked best before my autologous stem cell transplant

While hearing loss was the most alarming side effect, the worst side effect I experienced was mucositis -- painful inflammation in your gastrointestinal tract. That happened right before my autologous stem cell transplant, after I¡¯d done one more round of chemotherapy before my stem cells were harvested.

Every day for five days, my temperature spiked to 102 and then dropped down again. The nurses couldn¡¯t do anything about it other than give me ice packs. I put them everywhere: under my arms, around my neck, between my legs ¡ª you name it, and I had an ice pack or cold compress there. But it worked. Eventually, the fever broke, and I recovered.

Using breathing exercises to control stress

The most persistent side effect I experienced was stress. School was about to start when I was diagnosed ¡ª and I would be seeking treatment in another city. I was worried about who would take care of the children and how my daughter would handle the start of middle school without me there to support her.

It was a very stressful time, but my husband and I both got help from our families. Meanwhile, I tried to focus on my breathing. I would take a deep breath in, hold it and then blow all the air out as hard as I could. As I was doing this, I pictured the cancer leaving my body. It helped to calm me down.

¡®Where your mind goes, your body will follow¡¯

When you take your system down to zero and rebuild, as cancer patients do through chemotherapy, that means rebuilding everything: your muscles, your energy, your attitude ¡­ everything. And I can tell you funny stories about forgetfulness, like when I made brownies and forgot to add the eggs, or about weakness and how I bent down at the grocery store to get something off the bottom shelf and couldn¡¯t get back up again. But everything is manageable, and as I like to say, ¡°Where your mind goes, your body will follow.¡±

, once told me, ¡°It¡¯s what¡¯s between here (pointing to her ears) that will determine how bad your side effects are.¡± And that¡¯s the truth. If you believe you are sick, then you will be sick. So, were there side effects? Yes. Were they manageable? Absolutely! Some I managed with medication, some I managed with courage and some I managed with meditation and prayer. But no matter what they were, I consider those side effects a small price to pay for gaining a long life with my family.

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