'I first consulted my GP for a swelling under my left arm in 1999 (no other symptoms). He said he thought I was hitting the golf ball too hard, so it wasn't until the next time that they did a scan and a biopsy (bone marrow) on me.

'The news of the diagnosis was a huge shock: low-grade indolent lymphoma, stage III. It was all over my lymph system.

'I had the standard six-cycle treatment, plus cortisone shots and injections to get my blood cell levels back to normal. I had nausea and hair loss, but it was manageable. At the end of the first cycle, I was relieved to hear that there was no sign of the cancer, but the oncologist elected to continue with light chemo treatment plus interferon A injections. I hated that: nausea, mental confusion, fatigue. I only did it for 3 months, as I couldn't take it.

'I was disease free until I noticed a small swelling on the back of my neck in December 2005 (I felt great otherwise). The lymph node biopsy was positive, though my bone marrow was not. This time the spleen was slightly affected, as was some part of my throat. So I'm grade 2, stage III follicular B cell lymphoma like the last time.

'They finally decided to give me just the monoclonal antibody therapy without chemo. I had four treatments once a week for 4 weeks. Other than drowsiness from the antihistimine they give you, I had no side effects whatever. After the first treatment, I relaxed that evening. The following treatments were such a breeze that I went to lift weights in the evening!

'I noticed after 10 days that the lymph node on the back of my neck was reducing. Once the treatment was over, it was gone, so I knew I was on the right track. A recent PET scan confirmed that there was no more detectable cancer.