Dr. Courtney Howard went to the rheumatologist earlier this year for a regular appointment. Howard lives with Sjögren’s syndrome, an autoimmune disease that affects moisture-producing glands like tear ducts and salivary glands.

“My rheumotologist was doing her normal lymph node checks and felt a lump around my ear,” Howard told the Norwood News in a recent interview. “She thought it was a lymph node, wasn’t really sure, but thought I’d be okay”

Howard, a geriatric psychiatric fellow at Montefiore Medical Center and a resident of Norwood by way of Birmingham, Alabama, is well versed in the symptoms and traits of Sjögren’s. She decided to get a second opinion “to make sure it’s nothing.”

It was not nothing.

A trip to an ears, nose, and throat doctor revealed that the lump was likely cancer. A biopsy confirmed the doctor’s suspicions and Howard was later diagnosed with Stage I non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Individuals with Sjögren’s syndrome are five to nine times more likely to develop lymphomas than the general population.

“The hardest part was between the diagnosis and the staging, not knowing if the cancer spread,” Howard said. She had two weeks in between the initial diagnosis and the classification of the cancer as Stage I, the least severe stage. “I was mainly concerned about, like, would I be able to have a family? How much life do I have left?”

Howard, 31, has plenty of time left. Getting a cancer diagnosis is never ideal, but Howard’s treatment was the “best case scenario.” At this point, she believes she is now cancer free. Her final appointment is in January to confirm the lymphoma is gone. Howard underwent proton beam therapy, a targeted radiation treatment that has gained popularity since the 1990s and can cost nearly twice as much as traditional radiation therapy.

“[The doctor] said I could do regular radiation, however because regular radiation is not as focused as the proton therapy, I had the potential of injuring healthy cells so I could have greater side effects and things like that,” Howard said. There are potential side effects to proton beam therapy, as there are with all radiation treatments, but Howard only suffered from slight discoloration. Even then she felt little discomfort.

Beginning on Sept. 13, Howard underwent three weeks of treatment at a specialized proton therapy center called ProCure in Sommerset, N.J. Each evening, Howard would depart from work at Montefiore in Norwood and make the two-and-half hour commute on public transportation. On these trips, Howard was accompanied by her mother, who came up from her home in Atlanta for the three weeks of treatment.

There are currently no proton therapy centers in New York City, although a $300 million, 140,000 square foot facility in Harlem is set to open next year. Until then, New York patients like Howard will have to make the interstate commute. In Howard’s case, ProCure connected her with the American Cancer Society, a research and advocacy non-profit that set Howard and her mother up with hotel rooms and Lyft rides to her appointments.

“They were very helpful in securing hotels for us to stay in at night and also with transportation to and from appointments,” Howard said. “It really made what could’ve been, well what is already, something stressful, easier and so I want to figure out how I could give back.”

On Nov. 30, Howard will give back by hosting a night at Raises, a bar in Manhattan that specializes in charity fundraising. From 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., Raises will donate a portion of drink and food purchases to the American Cancer Society on Howard’s behalf.

As a psychiatrist, Howard has advice for those who undergo similar experiences, with the caveat that each person’s situation is unique and her case was not nearly as severe as it could have been.

“Stay off Google,” Howard said, laughing. “I’m a doctor, I know [not to Google medical concerns]… I was trying to get as much information as I can, but at the end of the day, a lot of what I read that kind of increased my anxiety, did not even apply to me.”

She also suggested finding distractions from dwelling on factors out of your control – Howard credits a wedding in California scheduled immediately after her initial diagnostic appointment with helping her stay out of an emotional funk. Getting support from friends and family is important but find the right person and wait for the full diagnosis before telling particularly anxious relatives.

“I originally started actually with my therapist,” Howard said. “It’s ideal to have a situation like that, where you can still find support, but their anxiety won’t increase your anxiety.”