Explanation of the Disease I had

Lymphoblastic lymphoma is a type of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer that starts in lymphoid tissue.   To understand this disease, it is important to know something about cancer and the lymphoid system. Every part of your body is made up of tiny building blocks called cells. Every day, some of these cells are dividing, or splitting in half, to make new cells. Cancer begins when one of your cells starts dividing out of control.  Eventually, these cancer cells can form lumps, called tumors, and can spread throughout the body.   Lymphoblastic lymphoma arises from lymphoid tissue.  Lymphoid tissue is the main part of your immune system, and this tissue is found all over the body – in the lymph nodes, tonsils, adenoids, spleen, thymus gland and inside the bone marrow.

Lymphoblastic lymphoma can start in any part of the body that has lymphoid tissue. Something goes wrong inside a normal lymphoid cell, and that cells starts dividing out of control, forming cancerous cells called lymphoblasts. Clumps of these lymphoblasts form tumors.  The symptoms of lymphoblastic lymphoma depend on the location of the tumor(s).  Sometimes the first sign of the illness is a lump or swelling, which might be found in the neck, groin, or under the arm.  Sometimes lymphoma cells cause lymph nodes inside the chest to swell – this can make it difficult to breathe or cause chest pain.  Sometimes lymphoma cells cause lymph nodes in the abdomen to swell, causing pain.  Sometimes the lymphoma cells are in the bone marrow and can cause pain in the bones.  Lymphoma cells can hide in the spinal fluid (the fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord).  These cells can be detected by looking at the spinal fluid through a microscope after doing a spinal tap.  In boys, lymphoma cells can also hide in the testicles, causing the testicles to become swollen, hard, or lumpy.