Recognizing the Subtle Symptoms of Lymphoma
- Allie Reece, a 23-year-old from Georgia, learned she had Hodgkin lymphoma after what she assumed was routine shoulder pain led to an emergency room visit and the discovery of a chest mass. Following multiple procedures and chemotherapy, she now encourages others to trust their instincts and get checked when something doesn’t feel right.
- Lymphoma is a cancer of the immune system that affects infection-fighting cells called lymphocytes. And there are more than 40 different types of lymphoma. Non-Hodgkin lymphoma and Hodgkin lymphoma are the two most common types.
- When it comes to treating Hodgkin lymphoma, your doctor will tailor your treatment to the stage of your cancer, as well as other factors, such as how aggressive it is. Chemotherapy is generally part of the treatment at every stage. But in the early stages, radiation may be added, because stage I and II lymphomas tend to respond well to radiation.
- Treatment depends on the type of lymphoma you have and how advanced it is. Treatment options typically include chemotherapy, radiation, and a bone marrow transplant.
- When it comes to your health, be a little pushy. You know your body better than anyone else. When you see a doctor for a problem, don’t hesitate to make sure that your question is fully answered and that you are comfortable with the plan moving forward.
- From a doctor’s perspective, every problem should have a diagnosis, a treatment, a plan for follow-up, and a plan for what happens next if the treatment doesn’t work.
Reece, who admits she’s “somewhat of a hypochondriac” and always gets checked when something feels off, explained in one of her TikTok videos, “My symptoms were things I had felt for years, that weren’t out of the ordinary for me. Obviously I didn’t have this cancer for years … I think I had it at least a year, maybe longer. Doctors say typically it’s pretty aggressive, so I don’t know, I think I had it for a while, but there is no way of telling.
Read More@big_.al I FORGOT to mention PET scan before 3rd biopsy‼️‼️ turning my tik tok into my video diary. Watching videos like these took away a lot of anxiety and isolation that I felt around my diagnosis, so hoping to help other people that are in the same boat😁😁😁 #cancer #lymphoma #hodgkinlymphoma #cancersucks #cancerawareness
By April 2025, she went golfing and noticed some soreness afterward, which she dismissed since she isn’t very physically active. Later, while sitting upright in bed, she suddenly experienced a sharp, stabbing pain in her shoulder.
About two weeks later, she developed a different kind of shoulder pain and informed her mom, who went with her to the hospital.
“We go to the ER, they think I may have a blood clot in my lung,” she recalled, admitting that she informed the doctors of the new shoulder pain but did not mention the pain she believed resulted from golfing, fearing it would be dismissed as a pulled muscle.
After five hours in the hospital and testing, she was told she had a mass in her chest “the size of an orange” on the front wall of her chest and that she needed to go to an oncologist the following day.
Reece, who mentioned her blood work was completely normal during her ER visit, said,” I hadn’t felt that shoulder pain since I left that ER … I had that mass in me for about three more months and never felt anything else.
“So I think it was just God telling me to just go to the hospital.”
Expert Lymphoma Resources
- 6 Symptoms of Lymphoma & How to Spot Them; Radio Host Dan Bongino Recently Said He May Have This Type of Cancer
- Age, Race, and Exposures Might All Factor Into Lymphoma Risk
- Could Your Lymphoma Come Back? What Happens When You Relapse
- Did You Know Mr. T. Was Diagnosed with Lymphoma? Here’s His Inspiring Story
- Double-Hit and Triple-Hit Lymphomas May Need More Aggressive Treatment
- Exciting New Options Are Available for Lymphoma Recurrence
- How Do You Know if Your Lymphoma Has Changed Into an Aggressive Form?
Reece, a graduate of Kennesaw State University, recently shared her story with People, admitted she’ll “never forget” the “disbelief” she felt when she was told she had a mass in her body.
@big_.al in all seriousness I was SICK all day waiting for my brother to get home from work so we could do this. emotionally, I feel so much lighter and I wish I would’ve done it sooner. When I was diagnosed, I dreaded the thought of doing this. I genuinely feel relieved and so happy that I don’t have to watch my hair fall out anymore😁😁 I know so many other girls will watch this just like I did after being diagnosed, and TRUST ME it’s not as scary as you think it’ll be🤍🤍🤍🤍 #cancer #chemohair #shavedhead #hodgkinslymphomaawareness #cancersucks
“Even knowing it could be treatable, the fear is overwhelming,” she told People, saying she had three surgeries after being diagnosis because her biopsies continued coming back as benign.
RELATED: Related: 7 Sneaky Symptoms of Hodgkin Lymphoma
It wasn’t until a PET scan was authorized that cancerous cells were confirmed to be found and a procedure known as a thymectomy via median sternotomy or robotic thymectomy led to her entire mass being removed, and her diagnosis of Hodgkin Lymphoma.
She was subsequently started on the ABVD chemotherapy protocol, which includes doxorubicin (Adriamycin), bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine. This combination is commonly used as the initial treatment for Hodgkin lymphoma.
WATCH: Dr. Jason Westin explains symptoms associated with lymphoma
Reece, who decided to freeze her eggs before treatment and ultimately completed chemotherapy in December 2025, hopes her story will encourage others to “feel seen, heard or understood, then it’s worth sharing.
She concluded to People, “Cancer changes you, but it doesn’t define you. It’s about what you do after, how you live and who you lift up along the way. Even when symptoms seem minor, don’t ignore them. It’s better to check and be safe. Early detection can make all the difference.”
Reece also urged in another TikTok video, “Just because your healthy, doesn’t mean that something bad won’t happen to you, and you are not the exception to anything.”
@big_.al my health rant for the day. schedule your yearly dr appointment rn🤨 #cancer #hodgkinlymphoma #health #doctor #cancersucks
What is Hodgkin Lymphoma?
Lymphomas are a type of blood cancer that begin in lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell. They are separated into two categories: Hodgkin Lymphoma and non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, with non-Hodgkin Lymphoma being the more common type.
Hodgkin Lymphoma usually starts in a part of the lymph system called B cells, which make proteins called antibodies that help protect the body from germs. With those cells compromised, it’s more difficult to protect your body from germs may may increase the risk of infections.
The disease predominantly is diagnosed in people between the ages of 20 to 40, and over 55. Symptoms include severe itching, swelling in lymph nodes in your neck, night sweats, fever, unexplained weight loss, daily fatigue, decreased tolerance to alcohol or experiencing pain in lymph nodes after consuming alcohol.
Despite being relatively rare, progress in research and treatment means there’s a good chance many patients will make a full recovery.
It’s also interesting to note that there are more than 40 different types of lymphoma.
“Lymphoma is split up into a number of different categories,” Dr. Elise Chong, a medical oncologist at Penn Medicine, tells SurvivorNet.
“The first distinguishing breakpoint, if you will, is non-Hodgkin lymphoma versus Hodgkin lymphoma,” she adds, “and those sound like two different categories. But non-Hodgkin lymphoma comprises the majority of lymphoma, and Hodgkin lymphoma is a single specific type of lymphoma.”
What Kind of Lymphoma Do You Have? Why Your Type Matters
Hodgkin lymphoma has giant cells called Reed-Sternberg cells. The presence of these cells, which can be seen under a microscope, will help your doctor determine which of the two lymphoma types you have.
Another difference between these two types of lymphoma is that non-Hodgkin lymphoma is more likely to spread in a random fashion and be found in different groups of lymph nodes in the body, while Hodgkin lymphoma is more likely to grow in a uniform way from one group of lymph nodes directly to another.
These two different types of lymphoma behave, spread and respond to treatment differently, so it’s important for you to know which type you have.
Your doctor will tailor your treatment to the stage of your cancer, as well as other factors, such as how aggressive it is. Chemotherapy is generally part of the treatment at every stage. But in the early stages, radiation may be added, because stage I and II lymphomas tend to respond well to radiation.
Dr. Chong also told SurvivorNet, “The one thing that I always reassure people about when they are diagnosed with advanced stage lymphoma is that, unlike other cancers, where advanced stage is a death sentence, that’s certainly not the case for lymphoma.”
Spotting the Symptoms
The first lymphoma symptoms can be so subtle that you might not even notice them. It may not be until you visit your doctor for a check-up that you discover there could be a problem.
“People say, ‘But I feel completely fine,’ and that’s very normal,” Dr. Chong explains. If a lump is found, often “it’s only because either someone palpated a lymph node and felt some swelling in their neck or in their groin or under their arm.”
If you are at risk for this cancer because you had cancer or an organ transplant in the past, you have an autoimmune disease, or you have an infection such as HIV or Epstein-Barr, it may be worth watching out for symptoms like these:
- Swollen lymph nodes in your neck, armpits, or groin
- Weight loss
- Tiredness
- Fevers
- Swollen belly
But keep in mind that these are more likely to be symptoms of something far less serious, such as a run-of-the-mill infection.
There are also a group of symptoms doctors refer to as “B symptoms.” Those include a fever, night sweats, or weight loss.
“If people are having any of these symptoms, it’s really important that they tell their physician early so that the proper testing can be done,” Dr. Chong says.
Finding Lymphoma With Imaging Tests
Sometimes the first sign of lymphoma appears not as a symptom, but as a clue on an imaging test that’s done for another reason. “I have patients who’ve gotten into car accidents and said, ‘I had a scan of my body and they saw these lymph nodes,’ and that’s how initially the lymphoma was found,” says Dr. Chong.
If your symptoms appear first, your doctor might send you for an imaging test. An x-ray or computed tomography (CT) scan can identify the cause.
RELATED: Age, Race, and Exposures Might All Factor Into Lymphoma Risk
The only way to confirm whether you have lymphoma is with a biopsy. Your doctor will remove a piece of tissue from a lymph node, or the entire node. Then, a specially trained doctor called a pathologist examines the sample in a laboratory to see whether it contains lymphoma cells, and if so, which type of lymphoma they are.
A biopsy can either put your mind at ease by letting you know that you don’t have cancer, or give you a sense of direction by giving your doctor a launching-off point to plan your treatment. If you do have lymphoma, you can get at least some comfort from knowing that there are a number of good treatments to help manage it, even if you’re diagnosed at an advanced stage.
Avoiding Provider Bias – Is Your Doctor Understanding You?
While your doctor has undergone years of training and practice, they are still human, and may come with their own set of biases that can impact how they treat patients.
To combat these biases and really get the most out of your interactions with your doctor, you should provide her or him with plenty of information about your life and ask plenty of questions when things aren’t clear. To better understand how you should approach conversations with your doctor, we previously spoke with Dr. Dana Chase, gynecologic oncologist at Arizona Oncology.
According to Dr. Chase, physicians, like many of us, can be a bit biased when seeing patients. She made it clear that these biases are rarely sinister, but rather unconscious and more subtle.
She explained, “We have certain beliefs that we don’t know about. We might look, for example, at an older woman, and just by the way she looks we might make certain assumptions, and we might not even know that we’re making these assumptions.”
Let’s Talk About Provider Bias
Clearing up misconceptions is important, but so is understanding what your doctor is telling you, Dr. Chase noted. Overall, she advises women to speak up and ask questions when they don’t understand something.
“It’s never a bad thing to ask for something to be repeated, or to ask the doctors to explain it in different terms.”
So next time you go to your physician, speak up if you need clarity, so your doctor can understand you and you can understand them.
The Importance of Advocating for Yourself
Standing up for yourself is important. If you feel that you’re being dismissed or mistreated by a doctor. Getting a second opinion is crucial if something doesn’t feel right. Experts tell SurvivorNet that no one knows your body better than you, so if you feel like something is wrong, keep pushing for answers.
Dr. Zuri Murrell, a colorectal surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, previously told SurvivorNet that sometimes, patients need to be pushy.
“From a doctor’s perspective, every problem should have a diagnosis, a treatment, a plan for follow-up, and a plan for what happens next if the treatment doesn’t work,” Dr. Murrell said.
And as a patient, “If you don’t feel like each of these four things has been accomplished, just ask! Even if it requires multiple visits or seeing additional providers for a second opinion, always be your own advocate.”
Ultimately, patients advocating for their health can lead to better patient outcomes. This is especially important when you find your doctor has misdiagnosed your symptoms.
A component of advocating for yourself in healthcare includes going back to the doctor multiple times and even getting multiple opinions.
Dr. Steven Rosenberg is the National Cancer Institute Chief of Surgery, and he previously told SurvivorNet about the advantages of getting input from multiple doctors.
Cancer research legend urges patients to get multiple opinions.
“If I had any advice for you following a cancer diagnosis, it would be, first, to seek out multiple opinions as to the best care. Because finding a doctor who is up to the latest of information is important,” Dr. Rosenberg said.
Questions for Your Doctor
If you are dealing with a lymphoma diagnosis, it’s important to ask your doctor a series of questions so you will have an idea of what your next steps will look like. To help you during this difficult time, SurvivorNet has some questions to kickstart your conversation with your physician.
- What type of lymphoma do I have?
- What does my pathology report say about my diagnosis?
- Should I get a second opinion before I explore possible treatment options?
- Based on my diagnosis, what do you anticipate my treatment path?
- What common side effects should I expect when I begin treatment?
- Will I be able to continue working and performing normal daily activities during treatment?
- Where can I get help working with the insurance company regarding treatment costs?
- Who do you recommend I get mental health help from during my treatment?
Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff
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