In December 2015, our son, William, started complaining of leg/knee pain. William had always been an active boy, so we figured that he must have just hurt himself doing something physical. After a few days of the pain continuing, my husband thought that maybe it was “growing pains.” We continued to keep an eye on it but weren’t too concerned at this point.
I am passionate about Team in Training (TNT) because I am a cancer survivor, diagnosed with ovarian germ cell cancer (27 years ago at age 31). I had surgery, several rounds of chemo, and was then CURED! I joined TNT the following spring to ride El Tour de Tucson, a 111-mile bike race in Arizona (November 1997).
I walked into urgent care with a cough, they took an X-ray and discovered a mass in my chest that was 18x14x13 cm. I was hospitalized that same day and then was officially diagnosed with stage 3 mediastinal B-cell lymphoma (PMBCL). This occurred in 2018 just days after my 23rd birthday and only seven months after I moved to New York City.
In March 2022, I began experiencing unusual symptoms of fatigue, nausea, persistent infections, and bloody noses and gums, but I didn’t think much of it. Following a lucky-timed appointment with my primary care doctor and multiple blood tests, I was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).
My mother, Nancy, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with a FLT3 mutation in March 2022. Over the next year and a half, she went through multiple rounds and regimens of inpatient and outpatient chemotherapy.
It was my senior year of high school, and I was thriving: MVP of the soccer team that went to the state finals; strong academics with an offer to study Natural Sciences at Durham University, one of England’s finest; fantastic friends who were to become even more important to me.
I am Cooper, and I am a leukemia survivor. I am 26 and creating businesses around the creativity space. I am a healer and author of multiple books. I was diagnosed with leukemia at the age of seven. I did treatment for 2½ years with chemotherapy. I have been in remission for 16 years.
