My mom thought it was the flu, maybe mono. After I spent five days lying in bed, she took me to an Urgent Care Clinic. I knew it was something far more serious after they called an ambulance. My mom wouldn’t believe the Urgent Care doctor when he told her he suspected it was cancer. Unfortunately, he was right. I was 11 when I was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).
On the plus side, I was on the news! I was the very first patient to be treated at the Diamond Children’s Medical Center in Tucson, so the local news stations made a big deal about it. I didn’t know it at the time, but I’d spend the next two-and-a-half years in and out of that hospital for treatment.
My faith and my family got me through. My mom was there for every treatment I had. Cancer brought us closer than we’d ever been before. I’m grateful for that part at least.
I was cancer-free by the time I started high school. When graduation was only two months away, I got sick again. It felt like the flu but worse. My mom and I knew the cancer had come back as soon as my doctor walked into the room.
I was angry. I had already been accepted to Northern Arizona University. I had already given cancer almost three years of my life, and the last thing I wanted to do was go through that again. I felt like my life was over, and I wasn’t even 18 yet.
After a month of chemo, the doctors told us it wasn’t working. During one appointment, after my mom left the room, I asked the doctor what my mortality rate was. She said I had a 40% chance of survival. I struggled for a long while, and still do, with the fact that I could have died. I just put all my faith in God. All of a sudden, everything just fell into place.
Immunotherapy and a bone marrow transplant were my only options. My older brother turned out to be a perfect match. We were never super close, but now we’re connected, literally. On September 30, 2016, I got my “new birthday.” I spent a month in the hospital after the transplant and isolated for another year to recover. Luckily, my brother has a great immune system. My recovery, my survival, was a miracle.
Today I am 23 years old, and in December of 2021, I graduated from the University of Arizona with my Bachelor of Science in Nursing. Going through cancer is the reason I decided to become a nurse because the nurses I met were my heroes. I want to become a pediatric oncology nurse because of the love and care those nurses had for me. I will soon be working as a nurse in the same hospital where I received treatment, where my new life began.
Throughout high school, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) held a special place in my heart. I loved having my own walk team and raising money for Light The Night. I started volunteering for the LLS Community Council last summer. I love their values and what they do for the community. LLS helped my family financially when I was in the middle of my treatment and even gave me a bike once at an event. My goal is to give back. That’s really what I’ve taken away from this whole experience. I just want to give back. Everyone who was a part of my story really made a difference in my life, and now it’s my turn to make a difference in someone else’s.
Zoie
acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)
