Young Adult

To be of service to others comes naturally to the Yarnalls. Bob is a 25-year Marine Corps veteran and a teacher. Kim is a chiropractor for over 22 years.

March 8, 2020: The day my life changed forever. It was the Sunday before my third year of medical school started back up after spring break. It was also the day I found out I had cancer ― stage 2a Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) to be exact. Nothing that I learned in the past 3-½ years of medical school prepared me for being a patient myself.

In 1970, I was playing baseball in high school as a freshman, playing second base. A bully made a hit and ran from first to second base, tackling me. I got into a fight with him because of the pain I was feeling in my left hand. After the fight, I needed to go to the hospital. In setting my broken hand, they also did a blood test.

Joey Renick is a three-time acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) survivor. He was first diagnosed at the age of 3, then 18, and again at 22. Joey has received years of chemotherapy, radiation, and a bone marrow transplant.

On May 24, 2020, at 23 years old, I started getting dizzy out of nowhere. I thought maybe I needed to eat and sleep better, but it got worse. I went to the ER, and they said I was anemic and sent me home. I bought a bunch of food that’s supposed to help anemia, but I kept getting worse, to the point where I couldn’t get up to eat. I would throw up and get dizzy and almost pass out.

In June 2018, I was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) while living in Italy. I was shocked. After six months of mysterious rashes and illnesses, the pieces finally came together at a walk-in clinic off Piazza di Spagna. Sounds romantic, huh? It wasn’t.