My daughter Aryanna was diagnosed with stage 2 non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) when she was two years old. Her treatment lasted three months, and she is a survivor of five years. As a young mom, I had no idea that this could happen to us. It all started with random nights of vomiting and fever. There were quite a few series of events that led up to her diagnosis. As a two-year-old, you think she’s just sick because she’s in daycare. She would get random fevers at night and would vomit, but it wouldn’t last. Then she was on antibiotics, and we were told her stomach was just hard because she needed to be on a probiotic. She may just be backed up from the antibiotic. After another trip to the doctor, they did an X-ray where they found a mass. They did multiple scans to confirm she had a tumor that was connected to her right ovary. The biopsy came back as NHL. She did three rounds of chemotherapy, one blood transfusion, multiple spinal taps, and multiple scans. She is now eight years old, and at least once a year, she wants to hear her cancer story all over again. She is a true inspiration to our family.
Aryanna
stage 2 non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL)
