We often hear about lymph nodes when we talk about how cancer spreads. That’s because when cancer starts to spread, it often goes to the lymph nodes first.

Physicians use a diagnostic method called sentinel lymph node biopsy when treating breast cancer, melanoma, and – increasingly –head and neck cancers and gynecologic cancers. A sentinel lymph node biopsy looks at a patient’s lymph nodes to determine whether the...

When I learned that I had non-Hodgkin lymphoma in June 2011, an acquaintance said that he knew people who’d received treatment for that disease and still carried on their day-to-day lives without any problems.

That made me feel like I couldn’t talk to anyone about what I was going through — which was sometimes really hard! Instead, I put on my best brave face. I didn’t want to be a burden to anyone, especially my family.