Young Adult

In the fall of 2014, I was living my dream. I had just finished my freshman year at NYU, where I was studying musical theater. I was living in the East Village, experiencing everything that New York has to offer. Even though I was a long way from my family in Miami, I absolutely loved it.

My name is Brianna Ciambra I live in New York and this is my story. When I was eleven, I was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. I went through two-and-a-half years of chemotherapy which consisted of IV meds, spinal taps, steroids etc. I lost my hair during the chemo, which was very hard. I also developed a condition called Avascular necrosis.

On December 29, 2011, I heard those numbing words “you have cancer.” I was 23 years old, about to turn 24 and my whole world came to a screeching halt. After months of feeling “off,” multiple visits to all kinds of doctors, repeat blood work, scans and biopsies, it was finally determined that I had non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

May of 2017, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma following my 19th birthday. The news of cancer shook my reality as I’d just began establishing my life. I was forced to give up my independence and lean on my community.