Hodgkin Lymphoma (HL)

On May 1, 2021, my son Joseph was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma, and so our journey began. We were blessed with so much love and support throughout his treatment that we decided to raise money for those less fortunate. We joined The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) and Light The Night (LNT) and raised over $17,000.

In February of 2019, I was diagnosed with stage 4 Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). What started with a simple cough quickly turned into the most challenging year of my life. When you hear the words “you have cancer,” the world stops spinning. There is no way to prepare for the cold, dark fear that takes over when there are so many unknowns. At this point, I didn't even know what lymphoma was.

September 8, 2021: I didn’t know it at the time, but the mass I found in my neck the night before I started my senior year of high school would forever change my life.

My world started to turn upside down in January of 2019 after starting to exercise and trying to lose weight. At first, I thought I had pulled a muscle in my leg. The cramping continued to increase and turned into radiating bone pain. I went to get an x-ray to make sure nothing was broken. There were no broken bones or fractures, so they sent me on my way.

My name is Amanda, and I am a stage 4b classical multicellularity Hodgkin lymphoma (CHL) survivor. It all started after spring break of my junior year of high school. I was on a ski trip when I noticed my feet were more itchy than normal. I figured it was from the boots. After coming home and realizing it had gotten worse, we went to the pediatrician.

My name is Thomas, and I was diagnosed with stage 2 Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) two weeks after my 30th birthday. 

It’s been five years since my daughter was diagnosed with stage ¾ Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). She had just graduated college, and she had a lump on her right clavicle area. We went to the doctor, and then it all started, from CT scans to biopsy to telling us that it would be six months of chemo, and that’s it.

I was diagnosed in 1974 at the age of 24 with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). I had never even heard of it. The doctors did not know if I would survive as it was very aggressive. I had exploratory surgery (CAT scans and MRIs did not exist then as far as I know) and five weeks of radiation (I still glow in the dark, saves on night lights!!).

Initially, I joked with my boss at work about the lymph node swelling in my neck and about taking another sick day off. I finally decided to see my primary care physician about it, who is typically very jovial. That day he wasn't joking much and referred me to a local ENT. Every test and scan from that first opinion pointed to a malignancy.

In May of 2020, shortly after the first lockdown for COVID-19, I noticed a small lump on the side of my neck. Living in Southern Indiana during the spring, I usually get allergies from the fields, so I thought I just had a swollen lymph node from that. Considering I was only 15 at the time, the last thing that ever crossed my mind was the possibility of cancer.