Young Adult

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.

When I was a senior in high school, my life changed forever. In my senior year, playing my last season of basketball and gearing up to play college softball that next fall, everything was looking up. I had great friends, and great family, not to mention that I had the best-looking curly hair there ever was. Back in September 2019, I noticed a knot in my right armpit.

In 2017, I was diagnosed with a rare and chronic form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). I was beyond devastated as I knew there was no cure for my condition, and I also knew my life would be altered in many ways. I was also finishing my last semester in graduate school and almost gave up my dream of graduating.

I am 28 years old and a two-time cancer survivor. My life has come full circle many times, and I am here to share my story to inspire and help others to heal themselves.

I'm the wife, Hannah. My husband is the fighter. I call him Mr. Steven, babe, and sometimes even Esteban. We fight together, of course, but he's the one throwing the punches and kicking cancer's butt.

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.”