Hodgkin Lymphoma (HL)

Nobody ever expects to be diagnosed with cancer at 28, but that’s exactly what happened to me. It came completely out of the blue. I had zero symptoms. My cancer was found through a chest X-ray after I got my port placed (yes, I had my port before cancer!). Prior to cancer, I had been receiving IV therapies for other conditions I had, and I needed a port for that.

When I was diagnosed with stage 3B Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), I was only 26 years old. The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) was one of the first organizations I found with the information I was looking for. I was on their website nearly every day when I saw that they would be hosting the first Blood Cancer Conference in Georgia that summer.

My name is Alana, and I’m 17 years old. Here is my story. 

I was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) in May of 2019. I first noticed something was wrong in January of that year when I noticed lumps in my neck. I shrugged it off, being in college at that time. I progressively got worse, getting sick nearly every day, sweating profusely at night, and losing weight quickly. The tipping point was when I got home from college after the spring semester.

I am a cancer mom. I WAS a cancer mom. My youngest son, Will, was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) at age 19 in April of 2019. He, his dad, and I were beyond shocked when we heard the news that the swollen lymph nodes that came up out of the blue one March morning were indeed HL. We didn't really know anybody personally that had it.

In August of 2020, I noticed a baseball size lump on my neck. I instantly freaked out and went to my nearest urgent care center. There they told me it was most likely a cyst or inflammation of some sort. I was told to put a hot compress on it and take an inflammatory medication. It wasn’t until December of 2020 that I went to get it looked at again as it has not gone away.

“I just wanted to let you guys know that I’m so supportive of everybody who likes my stuff even though not a lot of people like my stuff – like I’m not huge or anything – I’m pretty small. I just want to show you guys support, and even though I know most of it is just my friends, people I know, who I’ve met, that really helps when you see appreciation for things that you do.”