Lymphoma

I'd like to share how when life looks dark, we never know what's over the horizon. Not quite eight years ago I was diagnosed with stage 4 lymphoma with a 50% chance to live 2½ years. I was blindsided, to say the least. I'm happy to say I've been in remission for over five years now.

I was truly honored to be a recipient of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) Scholarship for Blood Cancer Survivors. After fighting two different types of cancer, both forms of lymphoma and leukemia, I was unsure what my collegiate education would look like.

I was diagnosed on February 21, 2020, with stage 3B nodular sclerosing Hodgkin lymphoma (NSHL). I was attending UNLV and working on finishing my prerequisites to apply to the nursing program. One month later, COVID hit the U.S. and shut everything down. I had to go to all of my appointments alone. I was able to freeze my eggs before starting treatment two days later on April 3, 2020.

On February 2nd, 2019 my youngest daughter, Harper, was diagnosed with leukemia. Three and a half years later as I'm writing this I have a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes.

I was first diagnosed at 12 years old when I didn’t even know what the word cancer meant. I remember sitting at the kitchen table with my family, laying my head down and sobbing because they told me I would lose my hair. I have lost my hair five times since.