Nearly 2 years post FL diagnosis

[ianjaynorrisart]

Hi all, I just wanted to say hi and share my story with you.

I’m a 44 year old graphic designer, been married for a few years and we had our first kid in Feb of 2024.

In May that same year I found a small lump on my neck, 2 weeks later I could see that it wasn’t going anywhere so I went to the GP, who put me on a 2 week fast track cancer check - which scared the heck out of me.

I went for Xrays, ultrasounds, biopsies and more, and was ultimately told that I have follicular lymphoma. It without a doubt the worst moment of my life, hearing that news alongside my wife and young child. Thankfully there was a lot of emotional support at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford in the form of Maggie’s, who helped me through that first day.

Having a lifetime of anxiety and depression, this news was tough to hear and understand. After many doctors appointments and research I finally came to understand that its more of a life-long condition and I’m relatively lucky.

I was offered rituximab at the start of 2025, and after a PET scan I was told that I was in complete metabolic remission, and that the FL shouldn’t really appear for another 10 years or so - if ever really.

I had a bout of neutrophenia in the middle of 2025, I was in the hospital for a couple of weeks, this was a side effect of the rituximab. Otherwise I’ve been doing fine and getting back to who I used to be and doing the things I used to enjoy.

I also went through a period of needing to frantically keep myself occupied. As a graphic
designer and illustrator, I decided to write and illustrate a comic book about my experience of
a lymphoma diagnosis. So far I have completed 140 pages and I have found that putting my
experience down in art has helped me process it, and one day I’d like to share my comic book more widely so people can understand what happens during the shock of an FL diagnosis.

Please ask me any questions, I’d be happy to chat about myself and my experience.

[Ceri_BloodCancerUK]

Hello @ianjaynorrisart, welcome to the forum.

What a whirlwind of a year you’ve had - new baby in February (congratulations!), diagnosis in May, and navigating all of that while dealing with anxiety and depression on top of everything else. I’m really glad you’re in remission and feeling more like yourself again.

And 140 pages - that’s incredible! I’m curious about how creating the graphic novel affected how you processed everything. Did it help while you were going through it, or was it more about making sense of it all afterwards?

I kept a blog during and after my own treatment for Hodgkin Lymphoma and found it quite therapeutic. There’s something about getting those overwhelming thoughts and feelings out - whether through words or art - in a ‘neutral space’, especially when you can’t find the words to talk to those closest to you about it.

Don’t suppose you can share a couple of ‘sneak preview’ pages here?

Take care,

Ceri - Blood Cancer UK Support Services

[ianjaynorrisart]

Hi Ceri, it definitely helped me to focus on creating something, rather than the “destruction” of cancer if you know what I mean? I recorded every meeting with the doctors on my phone and recreated it in my comic book, it helped to understand what was going on and keep things ordered in my mind. The doctors throw so much data and information and weird new words at you, so listening back to the recordings afterwards was really helpful.

My wife was also amazingly supportive, we spent many many evenings in the hot-tub drinking wine and discussing the diagnosis.

But at the same time our new son wasn’t sleeping and it made everything much more stressful. I feel l missed out on a lot of his early life because of all this.

I’ve attached a page from my comic, which is exactly how I felt when the doctor told us that I have FL…

[Willow]

Hello @ianjaynorrisart. Thank you so much for sharing your story and for giving us a sneak preview of your comic book. Thank you @Ceri_BloodCancerUK for suggesting you could do this. Your drawings and words are incredible! Such a good idea of yours, as apart from hopefully helping you, I am sure it will be helpful to others also. I have a different blood cancer but I have found it useful to express my thoughts and emotions in the form of poetry. I look forward to hearing more from you and to seeing the completed comic book in due course. Wishing you well, Willow x

[ianjaynorrisart]

you can find me on instagram if you want to follow the story, Ive only just started posting some pages there. I sat on releasing this into the world for a while, thinking I wanted to pretend that the whole thing never happened, specially now that I’m in CMR - but tbh thats fairly selfish of me since I think it really could be of use to someone going through something similar.

[Erica]

Oh @ianjaynorrisart your cartoon says it so well and for me better than in written form although @Willow has a brilliant way with words and they really touch me.

Time spent with your baby and being parents and also with your wife in your hot-tub drinking wine are perhaps priceless and also so bonding,

Perhaps your wife will be feeling similar thoughts and emotions as you. plus she will have the caring feelings of a wife and mother.

I really related to your cartoons as my father was a freelance cartoonist working in black and white for many years.

Be very kind to yourselves and please do keep posting.

[Kevan7]

I got the Churchill under the belt so to speak plus later the John Radcliffe and Nuffield Orthopedic when I first developed Mycosis Fungoides a rare T Cell Lymphoma.I would go to the Churchill for PUVA treatment,a kind of non ionizing radiation, and later had a finger amputated at the John Radcliffe due to a tumour plus a few tumours removed for biopsy at the Nuffield Orthopedic.I moved away from Oxford so don’t go to those hospitals now.I had to have to Stem Cell Transplant about 14 months ago but sadly the T Cell Lymphoma seems to have defeated it with a lot of plaques and patches coming on my skin at the rate of about 1 a day but thankfully no tumours.I may have developed a Melanoma too although it’s not been biopsied so we can’t be 100 percent sure but it’s very distinct and much smaller than a Mycosis Fungoides lesion.Biopsy of it on the 22nd and I will know shortly after that depending on how long the results take.

[Jules]

Morning @ianjaynorrisart

This is fantastic your creative approach to processing the diagnosis is truly inspiring. The idea of “creating” something to counter the “destruction” of cancer is a powerful way to reclaim the story.

I’ve written a book myself—originally intended for my family to read after I’m gone (hopefully in 30+ years!), but the process inspired me so much that I’m now on my third book and exploring publishing. It’s funny how these situations can unlock a creative side we didn’t even know we had.

I was particularly interested in your comic book approach. In my professional life in adult education, I actually worked with a company that helped adults learn through drawing comics. It was a really effective technique for breaking down complex ideas, so I can see exactly why it helped you make sense of all those “weird new words” and medical data from your recordings.

Heading to your Instagram right now

[ianjaynorrisart]

Hi @Jules “breaking down complex ideas” is exactly why I did it, I needed a way to put everything in order in my mind so I could understand it all. It really did unleash a lot of creativity in me. But the focus on creating did keep me away from my newborn kid, I’ll always feel guilty for that. But I think my wife understood that I needed something to focus on (besides the baby!) to help me cope.