Adults

Twelve years ago, I found out I had stage 4 grey zone lymphoma (GZL), a hybrid lymphoma that only about 10 people have had and only about three people have survived. Getting this news as a 28-year-old man just getting started in life was like having the weight of the world on my shoulders, and I didn’t even know how to deal with it. Luckily, I found a lymphoma specialist, Dr.

I was diagnosed with stage 3 follicular lymphoma (FL), a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), at the end of 2017, and our world was turned upside down. I lived a pretty healthy lifestyle, stayed active, and ate well. I never thought I would be diagnosed with cancer until I received the phone call from my hematologist/oncologist late on a Friday night.

I had been feeling very tired and dealing with massive headaches for about a month. Friends and family started to notice my pale skin and that all I wanted to do was sleep, and I felt cold all the time. That’s not like me, and everybody knows that I don’t usually carry sweaters when it’s cold because I love the cold weather. But during this time, I felt very, very cold.

My awareness of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) began years ago when a close family member was diagnosed with leukemia. In the wake of such devastating news, I felt compelled to lend a hand.  I am honored to join the LLS family in their fight to cure blood cancers.

At age 60, I stopped working as a full-time physical therapist and started working PRN at two different facilities. My reasoning was I could help my elderly but healthy parents when needed and help out with my grandkids. Everything was going great until the COVID-19 pandemic hit. I was laid off from both jobs.

I was diagnosed with stage 3 Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) right before my 27th birthday. I had just finished my Master’s degree and was engaged to get married the same year. I was a special education teacher and wasn’t sure what to do with the news.

My daughter Ariana is a cancer survivor of stage 3 Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). When she was 13, she was diagnosed. After all the hospital and doctor visits, they finally found the tumors inside her body.  

I was diagnosed in August 2018 with stage 4 Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), and at that time, I was seven months postpartum with my daughter who was only 7 months old, and my son was 8 years old. It was a surprise to hear that I had stage 4 cancer! But after my oncologist explained to me what HL was and what the treatment was, I knew that it was treatable.

I was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) on December 4, 2003, at the age of five. As a young child, I was very energetic and loved to do anything outdoors and active, and I especially loved a good competition with my older brother Harrison.