Leukemia

I was born in the inner city of Philadelphia, PA in 1951, I currently live near Dallas, Texas. My professional career in the Information Technology Industry lasted over 40 years prior to my retirement in January 2019. In 2002 I was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and many aspects of my life changed forever.

In 2016 I received one of the scariest calls. My 9-year-old niece had just been diagnosed with leukemia. I live on the opposite side of the country. I was by her side in under 12 hours where I spent the next month trading shifts with her mom as we watched her struggle through treatment. During her hospital stay, we learned of several children from our small community battling the same cancer.

I started noticing some things were "off" with my body. In early August 2022, my daughters noticed several large, unexplained bruises on my legs. I just brushed them off as being clumsy or running into something. Then, while lying in bed reading to one of my daughters, my lower jaw and lip went numb, like when you have Novocaine. I got up and moved around, and it got better.

I would like to introduce everyone to my little warrior, Hunter. When he was just four years old, he had an enlarged stomach that just kept getting bigger and bigger with no answers as to why. Well, finally in October, his doctor sent him for more testing to hopefully finally get a diagnosis that could be treated. We were thinking appendicitis, which would be an easier cure than leukemia.

Hello! My name is Madison, but that's not what you need to remember. The name you need to remember is Brodie. You see, I am joining the 2023 Student Visionaries of the Year campaign in honor of my childhood friend, Brodie. In November 2018, Brodie was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) while only in the 6th grade.

I experienced extreme nausea and slight shortness of breath for a week prior to being diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), clots in my lungs (PE), kidneys, and a valve of the heart on April 16, 2022.

Hello, my name is Nikolas. I am 16 years old, almost 17, and have been battling acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) for eight years.

Sofia’s story starts in November 2022. Actually, it starts on March 17, 2019, when she was born. She has been my fierce, independent, strong-willed little girl from the get-go. Once she started walking, she was an unstoppable force. Contrary to her cautious, older brother, Sofia seemed fearless. She loved to climb to the top of the playground structure meant for kids twice her age.