Search Results

Jill

My world changed forever in April 2021. Life was going so well . . . I was 35 years old, my kids Henry (9), Olivia (7), and Ruby (5) were getting excited about summer break (and all the trips we had planned), my insurance business was in full swing, and all my plants and flowers were in bloom. I was doing what I loved most, working in the yard, when I noticed my right pinky finger was going numb, and I began having trouble walking. We immediately went to the ER. The doctors initially thought it was a stroke, but luckily a fantastic neurosurgeon was on call and saw the MRI.

Yaneiry

Certain things come into your life to show you how strong you are. Life is so fragile, and we don’t know if we will be here on this earth in the future. This process shows me that the most important thing in life is having health and making beautiful memories with loved ones. 

Ryan

At 22 years old, I was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). My first hospitalization was a month long which was followed by four more hospital stays for my chemotherapy treatments. In between each of those hospitalizations were home nursing visits, blood transfusions, doctor’s appointments, and even more hospitalizations to treat potentially life-threatening infections. I lost a total of 40 pounds throughout those months. Despite the many struggles I encountered during those months, I was able to successfully complete my treatments.

Ariel

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. I went to an urgent care clinic and described these symptoms, and the doctor gave me an antibiotic and sent me home. I’ll never forget his face before he discharged me. I could see he was unsure.

Drew

One thought that never crossed my mind as a parent was the fear of a cancer diagnosis for my five year old son.

A few months shy of his 6th Birthday, Drew had very typical cold symptoms, but they were persistent and he was extremely fatigued.  After a two visits to his primary care physician, come over the counter medicines and finally a trip to Urgent care, we had a lot of questions but no answers.  My husband took him to his primary care Dr on Monday and we insisted on a blood test. 

Kendra

I first learned of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) when I participated in a Team in Training (TNT) event to walk a half marathon in San Francisco in October 2004. My friend in Michigan had lost her dad to lymphoma earlier that year, and she was training for the event from her home in Michigan. My training and participation were a way to support her during the loss of her dad. I never thought I could walk that far, and, through the support of the trainers and the motivation to support my friend, I had an awesome time completing that walk.

Zoraa

Being a cancer survivor was never on my bucket list.

Dylan

I was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) the summer of 2017, right before the start of my junior year in high school. Due to slow immune recovery after chemotherapy, I experienced many delays in treatment. By spring of the following year, I had a CNS and marrow relapse, requiring me to have a life-saving bone marrow transplant in June of 2018. Following the transplant, my body struggled to produce enough T-cells, which put me in medical isolation for the entirety of my senior year in high school.

Mia

As Mia started her third grade year at elementary school she began complaining of pain in her legs. At first, her mom just thought it was normal growing pains. But then Mia started sleeping a lot more, lost her appetite and just didn’t have her normal level of energy. Mia’s parents, Alma and Ernesto, decided it was time to take her to the doctor.

Amanda

"He was selfless, unbelievably selfless," said Amanda about her father, Andrew. "He did everything for everybody. He worried enough for our family plus more. And never showed it. He worked extremely hard to provide us with everything we could possibly need." 

Shelley

I went from being in the best shape of my life to battling cancer in only a few short months.

Three years ago, I made the choice to change my lifestyle, and I lost 100 lbs., which I can honestly say has saved my life. Prior to my cancer diagnosis, I was sharing my weight loss journey online to help others make positive choices. Little did I know that I was about to fight the biggest battle of my life!

Zeena

As an oblivious 14-year-old, I never imagined that I would soon go through the most difficult journey of my life. While on summer vacation with my family, we quickly realized I was not my energetic, joyous self. My favorite activities seemed like energy-draining tasks, and my large appetite had suddenly disappeared. The once quick trip up the stairs turned into a painful trek up a mountain and a walk down the street to a treacherous marathon with no end.

Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a cancer of the bone marrow and the blood that progresses rapidly without treatment. AML mostly affects cells that aren’t fully developed, leaving these cells unable to carry out their normal functions. It can be a difficult disease to treat; researchers are studying new approaches to AML therapy in clinical trials.

Lyndi

In March 2019 I began feeling off...I didn't know what it was. I thought perhaps it was a loss of relationship that broke me to my core, or that fact that an old friend had asked me to be kidney donor for someone I had never know. I agreed to be tested to see if I was a possible match. Fast forward to October when I was tested a possible blood clot that had formed from all of this. I was having continual pain in my right shoulder blade.

Nathaniel

In 2015 at just 15 months old, Nathaniel started to get sick on a regular basis. He started running a fever and his blood count was really low and we pushed for answers when he wasn't getting better until we were told to go to the Children's Hospital. He was extremely pale, wouldn't eat, and lethargic at this point.

Peter

My story starts a year and a half before diagnosis when a serious body surfing accident led to blood tests showing significantly low red and platelet counts. My primary care physician (PCP) retested several times in a short period, and when the counts came back closer to normal, she chose to stop her inquiry without scheduling further tests or redoing the same test, say, six months later to see if the lower values were actually correct. There was no discussion of what it would have meant if the lower counts were, in fact, an accurate representation of my blood health.

Auden

Eight-year-old Auden was diagnosed with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in May 2015 – one month after him and his twin sister, Emery, celebrated their third birthday.

Immediately, Auden underwent aggressive treatment causing him to have blood stream infections, anaphylactic reactions, kidney stones and broken bones, just to name a few. But he kept a positive attitude through it all and Emery has been by his side, cheering him on at every stage of his cancer journey.

Auden’s treatment continued until August 2018, and today, he is proud to say he is cancer-free!

Complications of CLL or CLL Treatment

People with CLL are more likely to get infections.  

Cindy

Our church choir had put on a big Easter program in 2002, lots of practices and multiple performances. After the fact, several, including me, came down with an upper respiratory infection. All my friends got better, but I didn’t. Then I started having low energy to the point that I couldn’t do my daily workouts. Next came the appearance of big, ugly bruises on my legs. At that point, I thought I was anemic. When I called to get a doctor’s appointment, the only opening was with his nurse practitioner.

Tim

It was December 2006. I was 28 years old, and I discovered some purple bruises on my leg. I had never seen anything like these on my body before, so I went to my primary care physician. He took some bloodwork, then called me to say I needed to go to the hospital at once. My parents’ friend drove me and my parents to the hospital, and I ended up staying at the hospital for four days.

Lashi

Lashi, a Chesterfield native, was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma in 2011 at 26 years old after discovering a lump under the left side of her chin. Luckily, her lymphoma was detected at an early stage. After going through painful radiation treatments and losing her hair, she received an all-clear report in March of 2012. Lashi credits her support system for helping her during that difficult time: "Throughout my treatment, I had great support and constant encouragement, which I know was important for me.

Victor

Our father Victor was diagnosed in 1998 at the age of 30 with Burkitt non-Hodgkin lymphoma (BL). He was living in Los Angeles, California, at the time and had just gotten engaged to my mother, Debra. He began not feeling well and was diagnosed with a small mass in his stomach. He was told it was non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). He contacted The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), and in coordination with MD Anderson, he went to Texas, and a protocol was set in motion to fight this disease.

Alyssa

My story begins with a diagnosis of hypothyroidism but they noticed something unusual with my white blood cell count, which was elevated but I had no infection. Further tests revealed that it was lymphoma. My initial diagnosis was incorrect so I went for a second opinion at the University of Kansas Cancer Center. They performed extensive bloodwork and my official diagnosis was primary splenic marginal zone lymphoma (SMZL).

Andreas Strasser, Ph.D., MSc, FAA

A Pioneering Researcher Developing Targeted Therapies for Leukemia, Lymphoma and Myeloma

A cancer researcher trained in cell biology, immunology and molecular oncology, Dr. Strasser has made major contributions leading to discoveries that have found that defects in cell death can cause cancer and impair responses to chemotherapy. With this knowledge, his research team is able to develop new treatments. 

Celia