My name is Tricia, and I am a two-time cancer survivor. In 2017, at the age of 27, I got a positive pregnancy test. We were elated! We already had a three-year-old daughter and couldn't wait to expand our family. I made an appointment with my OB-GYN to confirm the pregnancy and get a due date when she found a lump on my thyroid. I was constantly assured it would be nothing. Unfortunately, after a biopsy, it was confirmed to be thyroid cancer. I underwent surgery to remove half of my thyroid that had the tumor. It was very scary going under the knife since I was pregnant at the time. Luckily, that saved me and my baby. She turned six this summer, and it never affected her, thank God!
Fast forward to November 2022. We had since welcomed our third child, a boy. I was still nursing him and living my BEST life as a stay-at-home mom after teaching 2nd grade for nine years. I was feeling ill, but I assumed I had caught a cold from one of my kids. School germs are no joke! After two weeks of constant coughing and not being able to breathe easily, I went to urgent care. From there, they sent me to the ER where they found a tumor the size of a baseball in my chest. My first thought was that my thyroid cancer had come back. The next day I had a PET scan, MRI, biopsy, the whole works. I was then told the devastating news ― it wasn't my thyroid cancer returning. I had a very rare type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) called T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma (T-LL). I needed to start inpatient chemotherapy immediately. I know people say there's no such thing as "good" cancer, but I would take thyroid cancer over lymphoma any day! It was absolute hell on earth. After 12 months of intense chemotherapy, I then needed radiation as the lymphoma traveled to my trigeminal nerve on the right side of my face. The mass in my chest had been depleted, but a new battle began. This then led to me almost dying after becoming septic in October 2023. I was hospitalized for 20 days and spent many of those days in the ICU. It was a dark, treacherous time. I then had to go live in Omaha, Nebraska, for 108 days to receive more chemo, radiation, and then my life-saving stem cell transplant. Being hours away from my children was heartbreaking, but I fought hard daily so I could eventually return home.
I was born and raised in Dubuque, Iowa. I currently live in Ankeny, Iowa, and have received my cancer treatment in Des Moines at John Stoddard Cancer Center with Dr. Dan Buroker. I received a stem cell transplant in November 2023 at Nebraska Medical Center, and I am still recovering from that today. I received so much chemo that I am now disabled; they call it chemo toxicity. My biggest dream is to be able to water ski and rollerblade like I did all the years prior to my lymphoma.
My donor was a completely random, unrelated person. All I know is he's a 27-year-old international male who saved my life. I hope to connect with him someday as I am forever grateful to him!
I would love to share my story with others battling blood cancer. The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) has been very supportive during my battle by providing information, providing financial support, and creating a community. My first Light The Night (LTN) walk was moving beyond words!
Tricia
T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma (T-LL)
