John Smelcer, PhD, CAGS

Writing poems following my lymphoma diagnosis gave me hope and purpose as I endured chemo, helping me heal and share my experience with others.

After fully recovering from non-Hodgkin lymphoma, I’m ready to embark on my next chapter in life doing the things I love with the people I love.

Sometimes, laughter really is the best medicine, so I tried to maintain a sense of humor through my cancer treatments.

My experience with non-Hodgkin lymphoma taught me to be grateful for the people I love and who love me.

When a group of people told me my non-Hodgkin lymphoma cure was a miracle, I realized it was only made possible because of health care professionals.

One night, I had a dream that I played chess with Death and well, I won.

The day I found out I had cancer, my wife and I thought I would just be going in for a scan.

When I wore my street clothes in the hospital instead of a gown, I felt more like a person than a patient with cancer.

For patients with cancer, having a PICC or port can be convenient, but I got it removed the moment I was allowed to.

Writing poetry was something that got me through cancer and helped heal my soul.

I lived by Nike's motto, "Just do it!" and worked to gain my muscle back after cancer.

A cancer-related side effect I faced was constipation caused by pain medication.

After being diagnosed with lymphoma, I decided to supplement my cancer treatment with turkey tail mushrooms.

I spent a week during last Christmas in the oncology ward of a sprawling university hospital in the Midwest.

My life in poems - check it out!

After all these blogs, there’s still one side effect I haven’t talked about.

It’s been more than half a year since I rang the bell at the hospital signaling that I was free of non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.

Some topics are difficult to talk about. This is one of them.

We’ve all heard the jokes about hospital food.

The very first blog I ever wrote for CURE asked the question, “Why me?”

I don’t know about you, but music moves me. Literally. It makes me move.

Beginning in the long, cold winter of 2022, I began a series of hospitalizations to treat my stage 2 non-specific non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. For the next six months, I would spend a week in the hospital every single month.

One of the most common side effects of cancer treatment must be the chills, feeling cold all the time.

One side effect of chemotherapy that no one warned me about was frequent urination.

After chemo treatment, my nails were like tree trunks — showing ages and environmental stress with ridges.

Lymphoma treatment came with a number of unexpected side effects for me, including a runny nose.

When starting chemotherapy, I was expecting hair and weight loss, but was caught off guard when my mouth began to hurt.

Growing up, I thought that only “bad boys” used marijuana, but after my cancer diagnosis, my perception slowly changed.

After going through grueling cancer treatments, I thought I’d never be back to my old self again. But thankfully, that wasn’t the case.

I was surprised and saddened at how some of my friends were not there for me when I was undergoing cancer treatment. The oncology ward became a lonely place.