Leukemia

Most Capital Region 16-year-olds are well into the routine of the school year by now. But Kamal Havercombe hasn’t started his junior year at Albany High School. He hasn’t set foot in a classroom yet.

Hello, my name is Mary Kay Hettick. I've always thought I was in good health until, in October 2013 when I was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). My life was never the same after that.  I endured many days in the hospital doing chemotherapy and having a bone marrow transplant.

At nine years old I received the devastating news that I had leukemia. I didn’t know exactly what this meant and little did I know that it meant years of treatment, hair loss, loss of friends, and learning who I was meant to be. I was a patient at St. Jude and received treatments for two and a half years. I lost my hair, I had SVTs, I had seizures, and everything that could happen did happen.