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Coping Issues

Life With Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma: One Woman's Story

Summary & Participants

Fighting non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) can be a tough battle. Eileen Merle-Rao is a person with NHL who tried two different rounds of therapies, which ultimately failed her. Then her doctors suggested a unique form of radiation therapy called radioimmunotherapy. The best news is that Eileen has seen a marked improvement in her disease and now is looking forward to a future filled with possibility.

Medically Reviewed On: July 15, 2008

Webcast Transcript

ANNOUNCER: Eileen Merle-Rao is many things: a singer as well as the driving force behind an annual medieval festival in New York City. She is also a 37-year-old woman with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

EILEEN MERLE-RAO: When I was diagnosed with the non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, all three doctors that I saw agreed that I had had it for about four and a half years, which meant at this point now, I've had it for nine years.

ANNOUNCER: With the support of her husband, Eileen started on Rituxan, a therapy using antibodies, which circulate through the bloodstream and attack foreign substances. These were specifically created to target cancer cells. The therapy seemed to have relatively few side effects.

EILEEN MERLE-RAO: I would sort of get, flulike symptoms for about a half an hour during it, but by the time I got home I was fine. I don't think I really started seeing side effects until the chemotherapy.

ANNOUNCER: Eileen's treatment combined Rituxan and chemotherapy. The chemotherapy was an upsetting wakeup call.

EILEEN MERLE-RAO: I figured if the hair fell out because of the chemotherapy, I could handle two inches of hair on the pillow. I could not handle two feet worth of hair on the pillow. And I literally cut off 22 inches of hair the night before. Obviously — Sorry. It's an emotional thing.

ANNOUNCER: The chemotherapy's other side effects were difficult, especially for a singer.

EILEEN MERLE-RAO: I have a tendency to have very, weak vocal cords, and I got such a case of bronchitis. I didn't speak, literally did not speak a word for nine weeks. So it was not only the physical side effects, but the emotional side effects, as well, and not knowing what your future is going to be, saying, "How long is this going to take to get my life back?"

ANNOUNCER: That first round of treatment put Eileen in remission for almost two and a half years, but it didn't last.

EILEEN MERLE-RAO: On September 7th, 2001, I found out that the cancer had come back, and I was just at the point when I thought the doctor was going to give me the OK to get pregnant. That was emotionally a mess, too.

ANNOUNCER: The second round of Rituxan with chemotherapy only held off the cancer for eight months. It was then that Eileen's doctors suggested a radioimmunotherapy called Zevalin. Like Rituxan, this new form of treatment also uses antibodies specific to the cancer cells. The difference is this therapy has radiation particles attached to it, which provides an extra punch in destroying cancer cells.

STEPHANIE GREGORY, MD: The patient who is appropriate for radioimmune therapy is essentially a patient who has relapsed following initial therapy for a low-grade lymphoma. The FDA has actually approved Zevalin for rituximab-refractory patients, which means that they have been exposed to Rituxan, perhaps did not respond to that, and then they are a candidate for Zevalin.

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