Kasey is
Blood Cancer United

In August of 2020, I noticed a baseball size lump on my neck. I instantly freaked out and went to my nearest urgent care center. There they told me it was most likely a cyst or inflammation of some sort. I was told to put a hot compress on it and take an inflammatory medication. It wasn’t until December of 2020 that I went to get it looked at again as it has not gone away. It never caused me pain or discomfort but with it not going away I was concerned.

As an athlete I was/am the healthiest person in my family, so the thought of what it could be scared me. I ended up checking back in with my doctor and they scheduled an ultrasound which then came back inconclusive and abnormal looking. I then was ordered to get a ultrasound lead biopsy which that came back inconclusive as well. I was told it could be Hodgkin’s or mono. If I had mono, I didn’t know it.

Then I went for a deep tissue biopsy which I had to be put under for and that came back confirming I had Hodgkin’s lymphoma (HL). About a week later, I had a bone marrow biopsy and port placement surgery and two weeks later I started ABVD. I had 12 rounds of chemo that lasted almost nine months, eight injections of elagard and by the grace of God I never had any side effects or reactions to treatment.

By July of 2021, I had finished chemo and have been in remission almost a full year.  So far I’ve had clean scans, normal labs and port removal surgery. I am getting married this May (2022) and looking forward to what the future holds.