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Lindsey is
Blood Cancer United

Lindsey, smiling standing on a sidewalk in front of a house

On Monday, February 8, I found out that I was pregnant. It was very early, but there it was two lines. On Wednesday, February 10, I told my parents and mother-in-law, and we were all so excited, so excited that on Saturday, just for fun, we went to BuyBuy Baby. On Sunday, February 14, I went to a nice Valentine’s dinner with Ethan, and when we got home, I noticed a tiny drop of blood on my underwear. By Tuesday, I called the doctor because I was still spotting, but everything else was fine, and it wasn’t a lot. On Wednesday, February 17, at 4:30 p.m., intuition told me I was having a miscarriage.

By that Friday, it was confirmed. From there on out, there were times I felt so tired, my body felt heavy, my vision would go black, and when I closed my eyes, I would see bright colors and weird shapes. There were times that I was so cold that I felt like I had a fever, and then in the morning, I was fine. I had been in contact with my doctor, and I was showing signs of being anemic. He took blood tests, and he didn’t have answers. So, finally on Tuesday, March 30, I had an appointment with a blood specialist. He drew more blood, and on March 31, I got a personal call from the doctor. He asked if I would be okay being admitted to the hospital for a blood transfusion because I had lost almost four units of blood. He also wanted a bone marrow sample to make sure my body was producing blood.

However, the tests found something else. On Thursday, April 1, I was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) that was attacking my blood and bone marrow. We caught it early, and I started chemo on Friday, April 2. They decided to take the pediatrics route, which is very intense. I ended up falling two weeks later because I became chemo toxic from lesions on my liver that were caused by birth control medicine that I had taken over the years. I was unable to do my last round of chemo. After five weeks in the hospital, I was sent home only to come back and be readmitted two days later for a staph infection. We had to treat that for six weeks. In the meantime, we talked about a bone marrow transplant. I ended up receiving a 10/10 unrelated donor match on October 1. I’m currently in remission and just trying to live my life during a crazy time.

Lindsey

Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL)

We are Blood Cancer United.

Everyone affected by blood cancer—patients, survivors, caregivers, researchers, advocates, fundraisers, everyone—has a story. Share yours.

Kayla

T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL)

Sara

acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)

Paul

acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)

Maggie

volunteer and caregiver

Eliza Cate

acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)

Yesenia

acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML)

Sofia

pre-B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (pre-B-ALL)

Jess

acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)

Kim

Parent and Caregiver

Maverick

B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL)

Rex

Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph+ ALL)

Nevaeh age 2 standing outside in a lacy white summer dress, cowbow boots and hat, and a huge smile

Nevaeh

acute myeloid leukemia (AML+MLLr)

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) is now Blood Cancer United. Learn more.