u/Confident-Mango2606

Hello!

My mother was diagnosed at 46 with DBCL after thinking she had bronchitis which turned out to be an anterior mediastinal mass. This was discovered Feb '24. Biopsy in April then treatments began in May '24 with 6 rounds of R-CHOP. Completed this in October '24. 6 month PET scan in April '25 showed still NEOD (no evidence of disease) in her mass that has shrunk significantly. At the 1 year PET in October of '25 it showed her cancer had came back.

At this point her oncologist reccomended POLA-BR 6 rounds. It was very hard on her compared to RCHOP. This go around she has had multiple blood transfusions due to low Hgb (her lowest was 3 in November 😳) and few other side effects. At the PET scan half way through treatment it showed shrinkage of her mass and some response to treatment. At the end of treatment her PET scan shows partial response to treatment but now she has what seems to be gastric involvment with new evidence of disease there. Her oncologist has referred her to a different center waiting on CAR-T evaluation.

Along with all of this my mother was diagnosed at 39 with ESRD and began on peritoneal dialysis which led to hemodialysis in '22. She still receives that twice a week amd her oncologist was able to manage that with her chemo regimen. She was fairly healthy otherwise before the cancer.

I guess I am posting this to find anyone else who has had a similar story and can give us some insight or hope on what to expect. I am one of her main caregivers/medical overseers. I am a nurse myself although with no oncology experience but I feel that makes it worse trying to be there for her while also knowing the worst of some scenarios.

Her last treatment was April and we got the results from her PET the beginning of May but her next appointment isn't until the first week of June. She has no appetite and is barely eating and has no energy whatsoever. What can I do to help?

What can we expect with CAR-T? I've done research that she can still recieve this even tho she has ESRD.