Young Adult

I am 25 years-old, and I am a two-time cancer survivor. I was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma at 16 years-old. It all began with chest pains that increased over time, only later to find a tumor the size of a fist in my chest. After three rounds of intensive chemotherapy and 28 sessions of radiation, I became cancer free in June 2009.

In 1990, I was diagnosed with M3 acute myeloid leukemia (AML) - now known as acute promyelocytic cancer (APL) - when I was a twenty-year-old college student studying abroad in Northern England.

When the doctor calls you and says, "I need to speak to you as soon as possible," you know the news can't be good. I was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of leukemia, blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN). Most doctors have never even heard of it.