As far as I know (and admittedly my knowledge of lymphoma is limited), chemo is the only option because you can't remove all the lymph nodes/lymph fluid from the body and radiation to the entire body would be too much. The type of chemo will probably be dependent upon exactly what type of lymphoma shows up after they do all the pathology tests.

Please do not be so scared of chemo. There are so many anti-nausea drugs on the market today that most people can go through chemo without any major side effects. Ideally, one is given intravenous anti-nausea medications (Zofran is one) prior to the chemo medication being injected. Then they usually send you home with compazine as well.

Of course, each individual chemo regimen can have different side effects, and even the same regimen on different people can have different effects. However, your oncologist should be able to work with you to minimize discomfort.

My mother was on and off chemo for nearly eight years due to advanced breast cancer. In that entire time, she only missed one day of work! I myself had chemo a few years back and had no nausea, although I did have generalized pain, but it only lasted for a couple of days and was manageable with pain meds.

The term "cancer" can be very scary; yet many cancers are totally curable nowadays, and even some which are not curable are completely manageable (where you might need further treatment, but could live a long and otherwise healthy life for many years).

Wait and see what the pathology results are; then you'll know a lot more and can perhaps get more specific answers.

Ruth