former cabinet minister opens up about lymphoma diagnosis

on wednesday, schulte will receive a stem cell transplant. “i’m really hopeful and very positive about it,” she told cbc news earlier this week.

follicular lymphoma is a form of non-hodgkin lymphoma, a cancer that impacts the lymphatic system (the organs that are central to the circulatory and immune systems). white blood cells, also called lymphocytes, fight infections — but in people with non-hodgkin lymphoma, the cells grow abnormally, mayo clinic explains . when too many abnormal white blood cells are produced, they don’t eventually die out the way healthy cells do. lymphocytes overcrowd the lymph nodes and can cause tumours.

about 43,335 canadians have or are in remission from lymphoma, according to the leukemia & lymphoma society of canada . most of them (about 36,000) have some form non-hodgkin lymphoma.

the kind of lymphoma schulte has — follicular lymphoma — is the second most common kind of non-hodgkin lymphoma, after diffuse large b-cell lymphoma. follicular lymphoma is named for the way lymphoma cells group together and cluster. it’s usually diagnosed in people who are 50 and older, and is slightly more common in women than men, according to the canadian cancer society .

“timing seems to be not brilliant on elections and chemo,” schulte joked to cbc . this september, she lost to the conversative candidate in a narrow race.

today i received the good news that my stem cell transplant is a go to give me a good chance for a long remission for follicular lymphoma. last week was the stem cell extraction, this weekend more chemo & next week stem cell replacement. thanks to our excellent health care system pic.twitter.com/56wruds5je

— hon. deb schulte (she/her) (@_debschulte) october 21, 2021