Hypocellular all 3 lines and have lymphoma - now what? HELP!

[kidsandliz]

Hi

I am in the middle of a follicular non hodgkin's lymphoma cancer diagnosis. They did a bone marrow biopsy last Tuesday and it came back that I had hypocellular trilineage marrow with 10-20% cellularity. I am presuming that means failure of all three lines and if you go by 100-age, I should be 44%. I had read elsewhere that under 30 for my age (56), is cause for concern.

So does anyone know if non-hodgkins lymphoma can cause this or am I probably dealing with 2 different problems?

Also with cellularity levels this low, what is normally done? My blood work is "off" a bit, but not spectacularly so.

In the last month I have gotten progressively more tired, have a chronic "fuzzy" headache and always feel like I am about ready to come down with something. Now that being said, it could also be lymphoma symptoms as it can cause fatigue as well.

The wait to see my oncologist is way too long for my mental health and sanity. I'd eat lots of chocolate to cope but the nausea (lymphoma symptom) prevents that - just when I had a good excuse <grin>.

Since I seem to have misplaced my magic wand LOL, any help is appreciated in understanding how, if at all, these two are linked, what one does for the marrow levels this low, if anyone knows if you can be treated for both conditions at once or how treatment for one impacts the other...

Thanks,
Liz
breast cancer 2010, 2003 (both sides no chemo either time due to caught early), very early colon cancer 2010, now this Oct 2010. I am so done with cancers and new health problems!!!

[Lisa V]

Liz, I'm not sure what "hypocellular trilineage marrow" means. Your marrow cellularity is one thing, but "trilineage" seems to refer to your blood lines, which is something else. Did you get a CBC? Your blood counts in combination with your cellularity will help your doctor make a diagnosis, but without knowing that, it is really hard to know what is going on.

Even with that, it sounds like you may have a fairly complicated scenario going on. Have you called your oncologist and asked for an explanation of the test results? That would be the first thing I'd do. I couldn't even begin to guess how all of these things could be connected, or which thing is a symptom of what. I do know that a bone marrow transplant is a possible treatment not only for AA and MDS, but also non-Hodgkins lymphoma-- if you are a suitable candidate, but that is something you really need to talk to your doctor about.

Best of luck!