Adults

In October 2015, I was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). I had my first round of chemo then I was hospitalized for three months. I had various complications such as acute respiratory failure and difficulty with incubation. I also experienced a cardiopulmonary arrest for which I required resuscitation and intubation and my heart temporarily stopped for 5-10 minutes.

In 1985 at four years old I was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Luckily, my sister who was two at the time was a bone marrow match so I underwent a bone marrow transplant. The house of chemotherapy and radiation left me nauseas to the point I couldn’t bear the smell food. But thankfully, I was soon in remission.

In 2011, I was given two months to live after I was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

I had to stay at the Bone Marrow Transplant Center at the Salt Lake City Hospital for a very long time and undergo a very hard fight.

My aortic valve failed this year from the chemo, but I had open heart surgery in May 2017 and I am grateful to be alive!

I want to tell you about my hero, my wife, Melissa. She is service-focused from the time she gets out of bed until the time she returns. She's been a part of Team In Training for the past three years and has raised well into five figures to help others. That's what made her Hodgkin lymphoma diagnosis all the more ironic.

My story start’s the week after Christmas, I went to my family physician for my yearly physical and blood work. All came back good. I also schedule my first colonoscopy. All was good again except I been getting out of breath doing minor activities and short walks. My family physician suggested that maybe I try more exercise and walking during my breaks.

Larry Loose, a great big bear of a man with a penchant for classic cars, off road racing, dirt bikes and living large. This man, my husband of twenty five years, had worked 12-hour days for decades in hopes of being able to retire early, move to the desert and spend our later years as snowbirds in beautiful Arizona.

Jim and Leslie Donigan have been married for almost 50 years. Currently retired with three adult children, they have both faced a cancer diagnosis but are in remission today.