Lymphoma

I want to share my blood cancer journey. It all started back in October 2019 when I was at Gonzaga University. I started to experience the symptoms that I’m sure we’re all far too familiar with ― stomach pain, digestive problems, nausea, chest pain, and fatigue, all of which I was dealing with in addition to 20+ hours a week of tennis practice and a 15-credit class load.

I noticed a bulge on my lower abdomen in December 2022. I had a negative ultrasound and CT. What was initially believed to possibly be a lipoma (benign tumor of fat) was later biopsied, and by May 2023, I was diagnosed with subcutaneous panniculitis-like T-cell lymphoma (SPTCL). It was a rare form of cutaneous lymphoma. I was young, active, and healthy, so I thought. 

Just a month before turning 60, I was diagnosed with follicular lymphoma (FL). I really had no symptoms. I had just finished a year of pretty much full-time, long-term substitute jobs at our local middle school. I’m a retired high school English teacher. I had also traveled with my family to both Williamsburg, Virginia and Las Vegas with my sister and her husband.

Michael and Ashlee have a unique mother-son relationship. They share a podcast about their cancer journey. They have a website and a YouTube channel, and, yes, they even do rap songs about their hospital experiences together.