'I thought it was just a winter bug' - Wicklow teacher Cormac Dredge (29) on Hodgkin lymphoma diagnosis

Last Christmas, Cormac Dredge had one goal: get through a quick GP appointment for a niggling cough and make it home in time for Christmas Eve.

Instead, he found himself sitting in A&E, surrounded by worried family members who stopped in on their journey home for Christmas.

"I just wanted to be home with my family," says the 30-year-old primary school teacher from Wicklow. "People were travelling back for Christmas, everyone was getting together, and suddenly I was in hospital having tests."

At the time, cancer never crossed his mind.

Cormac had developed a persistent cough around Halloween 2025. As someone with asthma, chest infections were nothing new. Antibiotics and steroids helped temporarily, but the cough lingered. Then, just before Christmas, he noticed a lump on his neck.

"My GP said because the cough hadn't cleared up and because of the lump, I needed to go to A&E for an X-ray."

Doctors discovered enlarged lymph nodes and admitted Cormac for further tests, scans and blood work. By Christmas Day, he was told he would need a biopsy.

"I remember thinking in the hospital, 'I'm not having Christmas dinner here.'"

Cormac was able to return home to spend Christmas with his family while waiting for the results.

But as the decorations came down and a new year began, the uncertainty lingered.

"We all make plans and predictions for the year ahead. I was turning 30 and I thought 'this is going to be my year'. But when you're waiting on those results, everything changes."

In January 2026, Cormac was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system, which is part of the immune system.

About 155 people are diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma in Ireland each year.

"I went into complete shock".

Cormac started six months of chemotherapy at Tallaght University Hospital which he says was a whirlwind.

"You have to tell the people you love most this awful news. Then everything moves so quickly. You don't really get a chance to stop and think."

At the hospital, a nurse at the Irish Cancer Society's Daffodil Centre handed him a leaflet for ARC Cancer Support Centres. He brought it home and stuck it on the fridge.

"I looked at it every day, but I wasn't ready. I was so lucky that I had amazing parents, sisters, my partner Nadine and so many friends who really rallied around and supported me."

In May, Cormac turned 30, but it wasn't the milestone birthday he had imagined.

"I was so unwell we just had cake at home. A few weeks later, my partner Nadine turned 30 so we celebrated together with friends and family. Looking back at the photographs now is emotional. I barely recognise myself. You don't realise how sick you are until you're looking back."

It wasn't until halfway through treatment that the emotional weight of the diagnosis finally caught up with him.

"Physically, I was getting through treatment, but mentally I hadn't dealt with any of it."

When he eventually picked up the phone to ARC, it became a turning point.

"I had an incredible counsellor who helped me begin processing what had happened."

"I felt like I was failing in every role. As a teacher. As a partner. As a son."

"I learned to have compassion for myself. Even something as simple as walking through the gym doors became a success because six months earlier, I couldn't have done it."

"I realised I was grieving the person I was before cancer. I kept wanting to get back to normal, but eventually I understood there isn't a going back. There's a new normal. And maybe that new normal can be better."

After a few counselling sessions, Cormac said the emotions he had been holding in for months finally surfaced.

"It just all hit me at once. I cried harder than I had cried throughout the whole diagnosis. It was such a relief. Talking to someone helped me to process and to release everything I had been carrying."

Cormac said that there can still be a stigma around counselling, especially for men.

"I used to wonder how I was supposed to talk for an entire hour. Then the counsellor asks you one question and suddenly the hour is over. The hardest part is making the phone call to ask for support."

Cormac also attended ARC's workshop on sleep which gave him the tools to deal with his insomnia.

"I've completed my treatment and I'm doing well now. I'm waiting on final scans to see where things are at but I'm very hopeful that 2027 will be a better year for me."

"When you're going through cancer, people focus on the physical treatment, and that's obviously so important. But you also have to process what's happening to you emotionally. ARC was there for me and I'll always be so grateful."

Symptoms of Hodgkin lymphoma:

• A painless swelling in the lymph nodes, in your neck, armpit or groin. These lumps may come and go
• Night sweats – these can be drenching
• High temperatures or fevers
• Loss of appetite
• Unexplained weight loss
• Feeling tired all the time (fatigue)
• Itchy skin
• Skin rash

This Men's Cancer Awareness Month, donate to ARC Cancer Support Centres to help provide free supports to those who need it most.