Hodgkin Lymphoma (HL)

I am currently 30 years old and was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (PMBCL) when I was 27, almost 28 years old.

This cause is dear to me because my grandmother, Anne Zavorskas, passed away several years ago from Hodgkin’s disease—a form of leukemia. Also, many years ago, my mentor’s son, Ryan Hurley, had a recurrence of leukemia, which he was first diagnosed with at the age of three. He died at the age of 19.

I was diagnosed with stage 3 Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) right before my 27th birthday. I had just finished my Master’s degree and was engaged to get married the same year. I was a special education teacher and wasn’t sure what to do with the news.

My daughter Ariana is a cancer survivor of stage 3 Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). When she was 13, she was diagnosed. After all the hospital and doctor visits, they finally found the tumors inside her body.  

I was diagnosed in August 2018 with stage 4 Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), and at that time, I was seven months postpartum with my daughter who was only 7 months old, and my son was 8 years old. It was a surprise to hear that I had stage 4 cancer! But after my oncologist explained to me what HL was and what the treatment was, I knew that it was treatable.

Prior to my diagnosis, I was a much-loved daughter to my parents, a dedicated dog mama to my Golden Retriever, a loyal friend, and an enthusiastic high school history teacher. After my diagnosis and seven-year battle with refractory Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), I was still all of those things and somehow so much more.  

I often said that cancer showed up at the worst time for me. I was finishing my first year of medical school and was in the midst of a very busy season finishing all the planning for my upcoming wedding. But honestly, is there ever a good time for cancer to show up? Would it have been better five years later as a busy, working doc? Or even later on with kids to take care of? Likely not.

I am a 3-time Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) survivor. I underwent two stem cell transplants. The first transplant was my own stem cells, the second transplant was a donor transplant. My baby sister was my donor (she was a 6/6 match); I was very lucky. I underwent three years of radiation and chemotherapy and have been in remission now 12 years.

Christian Macias survived two battles with cancer, the first being in 2010. He was diagnosed with stage 2 Non-Hodgkin Burkitt’s lymphoma (NHL). He fought long and hard. Unfortunately, a few years later in 2017, his cancer came back in a different form. This time he was diagnosed with stage 3 Hodgkin lymphoma (HL).

In September 2017, I was diagnosed with stage 2 Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), which is cancer that starts in the lymphatic system. My oncologist went over my treatment protocol, which included six months of chemotherapy treatments with one of the side effects of that regimen being hair loss. I was set to start chemo the morning afte