Vocab Time

Lately I've been realizing that there is medical lingo pertaining to non-Hodgkin's lymphoma out there that people should be more aware of. Today, I'm going to outline a few of the key phrases that seem to mystify people when I talk about my sister, Lucy's condition.

• Hematology: the field of medicine that studies blood and blood diseases


• Hematological Malignancies: cancers of the blood, bone marrow and lymph nodes (This include non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.)


• Lymphocyte: a type of white blood cell


• Lymphatic System: the system of tubes and glands in the body which filters body fluid and fights infection. Made up of the lymph glands, lymphatic vessels and the spleen.


• Remission: the state of absence of disease activity in patients with known chronic illness that cannot be cured. For cancer, you are never really "cured" because it could always come back; instead, you say that the cancer "went into remission."

There! Now you can sound a little bit more informed when discussing these issues!