Adults

In 2008, my primary doctor noticed that my white blood cells were high (12,000 range) and referred me to a hematologist. The hematologist decided to "wait and see" for a while. From 2008 to 2018, we watched as my white cells slowly grew from 12,000 to 207,000. The oncologist then prescribed an eight-hour infusion of Rituxan. As I sat in the recliner

My story starts in March 1983. I was lucky to have been chosen to attend Squadron Officer School in residence at Maxwell, AFB, Alabama. I was, I thought, a healthy 28-year-old and newly married with a promotion to captain the following month. Then, a worrying symptom suddenly occurred. Everything was going dark briefly under physical exertion.

I am a 26-year-old cancer survivor and am about to begin my first year of law school.

I was diagnosed with stage 3 diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) in the summer before my senior year of high school in 2020. It was a tough adjustment dealing with the treatment and the aftereffects of treatment while going into my final year of high school.

I was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) on January 24, 2019. I hadn’t been feeling well for a while. I was having very odd symptoms. For example, I was having joint pains, I kept hearing this whooshing noise, my gums were bleeding, and the biggest symptom was I would get out of breath so easily. Walking up the steps of my apartment building felt like running a marathon.

My pawpaw, Archie, raised me my entire life. He was in the Air Force and stationed in Korea. He didn't have to, but he took me in as his own. And when I was 11, they got legal guardianship of me. My Dad was still in my life because he was raising my little brother, so I saw him often. but he just didn't raise me. Sometime around 2010, my Pawpaw was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL).

In November 2016 I was tired. TIRED. I had a 20-month-old and a 4-year-old, had just come off the busiest month of the year for work, and I figured I was tired for no other reason. But then tired became not having the energy to take care of my 20-month-old. Tired became going to be my best friend's wedding and needing to lay down in between steps. Shower, lay down. Makeup, lay down.

During the start of the pandemic, my boyfriend began working out from home with all the gyms being closed. While working out, he discovered a lump under his arm. We both waved it off as nothing to worry about, but he still asked his doctor about it just in case. His doctor wanted him to get it biopsied. I dropped him off for surgery, still naive that anything would actually be wrong.