Inspirational Stories

At 31, I was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), a rare children’s cancer. Four months into treatment, I had a stroke and seizures and went into a medically induced coma for three days. I had to relearn how to use the entire left side of my body (yes, walk, talk, and function) while still going through treatment. My treatment protocol was 18 months long. Seven weeks after I finished, I relapsed. My body was no longer responding to chemotherapy, so we tried an immunotherapy that sent me into a cytokine release storm (your body starts to attack itself). In and out of consciousness with 105-degree fevers for four days. After that failed, I was supposed to go on a clinical trial which a week before I was scheduled to start was shut down. I had another clinical trial which was already full, and there was no line skipping. So, I waited. I was being kept alive with blood and platelet transfusions. During this time, I settled affairs, had hard conversations with friends and family about dying, and sat with them in tears, just holding space. I waited four months before the letter of compassion that we had to write to the FDA and drug manufacturer was approved because it was an immunotherapy not yet approved to use for my cancer.

I had four rounds, and by some miracle, it worked. After that, I had a stem cell transplant. Yes, I have two different types of DNA now. Yet, about six months later I relapsed again.

Another four rounds of immunotherapy, and we waited to see if it would come back.