There's a Panda in my Bellybutton

Lymphoma Treatment - Side Effects As a result of the steroid chemotherapy that Ryan has been on for his Lymphoma treatment, he has developed Adrenal Insufficiency. This is hopefully a temporary condition that will improve once chemotherapy treatment has finished, however, only time will tell. There are two types of Adrenal Insufficiency. Primary and Secondary. Ryan’s type is secondary and can be traced to a lack of ACTH, a hormone which causes a drop in the adrenal glands production of cortisol but not aldosterone. This form of secondary adrenal insufficiency has occurred after receiving a glucocorticoid hormone, in Ryan's case, Dexamethasone steroid as part of his cancer treatment. Cortisol is normally produced by the adrenal glands, which are located just above the kidneys. Cortisol has many functions, but its most important job is to help the body respond to stress. The high dosage use of Dexamethasone to treat Ryan's lymphoma has caused a hormonal imbalance which hopefully

Adrenal Insufficiency Ryan's lymphoma is being driven by the Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) which causes glandular fever. The EBV invaded his T-cells whilst he had Glandular Fever and turned them cancerous causing dysplastic lymph cells to grow in his throat resulting in a soft tissue tumour forming. The good news at the start of chemotherapy cycle 4 was that his EBV plasma readings had come back as zero for the second month, which tells us that no more cancerous cells are being made in his bone marrow.  There are still EBV cells in his blood so hopefully, this cycle and next 2 cycles will finish killing off the cancer cells that are still in his blood. Ry will be given remission status when the EBV plasma has been zero for 6 months and still faces at least two years of maintenance ahead after the six chemo cycles have finished.  The week of SMILE chemotherapy went well although he had some impressive fluid retention on day 4. This can be a sign that the kidneys are not working as well a