Chemotherapy from an insider's perspective.

This paper is based on my experience of receiving chemotherapy from November, 1980, to July, 1981. I was well until Oct. 15, 1980, when I discovered a 3 cm mass in my left mid-neck. Apart from intermittent pruritus and an intertriginous fungus infection at the end of August, 1980, I had had no symptoms. I had not noticed any masses before Oct. 15, and I had not lost weight or experienced night sweats. A sonogram showed the mass to be cystic. With the preoperative diagnosis of cystic hygroma, I underwent a cervical exploration on Oct. 20, 1980, and was informed in the recovery room that the frozen section was malignant. Because of a normal bone-marrow aspiration, as well as a negative computerised tomographic scan of the abdomen and pelvis, I was designated stage IA, diffuse undifferentiated lymphoma. After sperm-banking had been completed I began, on Nov. 17, 1980, a 37-week course of chemotherapy (including bleomycin, adriamycin, cyclophosphamide, oncovin, dexamethasone, methotrexate, and citrovorum).