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Myra

At age 2, Myra began having fevers and joint pain. Her parents took her to their pediatrician where she had bloodwork done. The results came back normal except it showed she was a little anemic.

“Myra never had any bruising or any issues other than the recurring fever,” according to her father.

Logan

July 3, 2021, was the day that my life changed forever. I had been dealing with odd symptoms for months, and after multiple visits with dismissive practitioners, I finally had the ear of a doctor who believed me. A tumor located in my mediastinum was discovered via a CT scan. This news was devastating. I was due to be married in one month and how could someone who is just beginning her life possibly have something like this happen?

Stephanie and Amy

Stephanie: My journey with blood cancer began long before my diagnosis. In 2006, my world was shattered when my mom, just 52 years old, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). She was quickly isolated in a specialized hospital, enduring grueling rounds of chemotherapy. I was about to start nursing school and desperately tried to educate myself on her illness, knowing deep down that the prognosis was grim. They mentioned a bone marrow transplant, but she never made it that far. A fungal pneumonia took her from us in December 2006.

Juliana

Juliana is a vibrant, sweet, intelligent, and brave daughter to Judith and Jorge. She was born on May 24, 2017, in Houston, Texas. On December 30, 2021, Juliana was diagnosed with leukemia. On January 2, 2022, after three and a half days in the hospital and one full day in the ICU, her diagnosis was confirmed as B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

Follow-Up Care

Click here for information about follow-up care, including what to expect, long-term and late effects of treatment, survivorship clinics, and other resources such as The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) treatment guidelines.

 Use the Survivorship Workbook to collect all the important information you need throughout diagnosis, treatment, follow-up care and long-term management of a blood cancer.

Hairy Cell Leukemia

• Is a type of blood cancer that begins in the bone marrow
• Is a rare type of chronic leukemia 
• Hairy cell leukemia gets its name from the short, thin projections that look like hair on its cells.

• Many people with hairy cell leukemia live good-quality lives for years with medical care.
• Hematologists and oncologists are specialists who treat people who have hairy cell leukemia or other types of blood cancer.
• The drug cladribine is the initial treatment for most people who h

Long-Term and Late Effects of Treatment

Some side effects of cancer treatment, such as fatigue, can linger for months or years after therapy. Some medical conditions like heart disease and other cancers may not appear until years after treatment ends.

Follow-Up Care

All children treated for ALL need to receive follow-up care. Follow-up care involves regular medical checkups after your child has finished treatment. These checkups may include blood work as well as other tests to check for a possible relapse of the cancer. These visits are also a time for doctors to test for other physical or emotional problems that may develop months or years after treatment. Even if your child is feeling entirely well, it is very important to keep the follow-up appointments.

Grant

I’m a junior-ish chemistry major at Waynesburg University. The reason I say “junior-ish” is because on Mar 12, 2013, I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a blood cancer.  Because of this, I had to withdraw for two semesters of school during spring break of my junior year. I went through 23 weeks of chemotherapy, and after a few speed bumps along the way, I was declared in remission on Aug 15, 2013.

Aryanna

My daughter Aryanna was diagnosed with stage 2 non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) when she was two years old. Her treatment lasted three months, and she is a survivor of five years. As a young mom, I had no idea that this could happen to us. It all started with random nights of vomiting and fever. There were quite a few series of events that led up to her diagnosis. As a two-year-old, you think she’s just sick because she’s in daycare. She would get random fevers at night and would vomit, but it wouldn’t last.

Ashton

Finding out Ashton was sick started as a bunch of nothing ― small headaches, fevers, dizzy spells ― but you would never know she was not well. She was working, going to school, and caring for her son. Then the lumps came. They first started in her neck and abdomen. She refused to slow down for care due to trying to be a super mom, but one day the pain in her neck was so severe she finally went to the hospital. We then learned she had non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). Soon after, she had multiple surgeries and started her battle off fighting strong with chemo, but it didn’t slow down her spirit.

Trisha

On November 15, 2019 at 29 years old, my world changed forever. I was diagnosed with Plasma Cell Leukemia. It is basically a hybrid of Multiple Myeloma and statistically only shows in men over 60. I wanted to be special but not like this! At my 6 week postpartum appointment with my second babe, my stomach had not been shrinking like it should but I assumed it was because it was my second baby or the diastasis recti. My OB did a ultrasound and saw a lot of ascites and that my liver was massive so she instructed I go to the ER as that was not normal.

Childhood Hodgkin Lymphoma

Because of new and better therapies, cancer survival rates for children have improved dramatically during the last several decades. Scientists continue to search for the causes of childhood lymphoma so they can develop better treatments with less toxic side effects.

Aiden

I am writing to share about my son, Aiden, who is our real superhero and has superpowers that shine bright through his love of dance. From a very young age, we considered Aiden to be our gifted child. He has a free spirit and loves to connect with the world and others in it. His parents have taught him to "dream big" and "reach for the stars" and he can do whatever he puts his mind to.

Pauline

I was diagnosed with chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) in February 2023. I was shocked, never having heard of this disease, and having always considered myself a healthy person. At my annual physical in January 2023, I told my PCP that I seemed to be getting colds more often and they tended to linger. My PCP ordered a CBC. When she got the results, she said they didn't seem quite right and ordered another blood draw. She then called me and told me to see a hematologist oncologist.

Nicole

I first became involved in Team In Training (TNT) and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) in March of 2020 because I was very interested in running the New York City Marathon. I knew that I wanted to run for a charity that meant something to me, so I knew I had to be a part of this team.

Chemotherapy and Drug Therapy

Chemotherapy drugs kill fast-growing cells throughout the body, including both cancer cells and normal, healthy cells.

Chemotherapy is typically given in cycles. Each cycle is made up of a certain number of days of treatment, followed by a certain number of days of rest. The rest days allow the body time to recover before the next treatment cycle begins.

Stem Cell Transplantation

Allogeneic stem cell transplantation has been used to treat and sometimes cure chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) patients. However, because of the high, sometimes life-threatening risks associated with stem cell transplantation, doctors rarely use it in elderly patients or patients in poor health.

Jim

My brother Jim was an amazing man. He was a person for whom family was everything. He ran a plumbing business with his brothers and took pride in its success, but he was so much more than his work. We called him “The Renaissance Plumber” because he was so knowledgeable on so many topics ― history, literature, music, politics, sports. He was also a wonderful cook and a genial host. He lived life to the fullest. His leukemia diagnosis was a terrible blow, coming within months of the tragic death of our younger brother.

Boyd

Greetings from a friend in Canada! I am a two-time blood cancer survivor and marathon runner all because of the love of friends in The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS)! I had a life saving stem cell transplant from an American Naval Serviceman named Nathan Barnes who was in Japan when he saved my life. (2011-12). My stem cell transplant was May 2012!! A year after my stem cell transplant a friend took me to Alaska and ran a marathon for me with Team in Training! (2013).

Katherine

Hello! My name is Katherine and I was diagnosed in January 2020 with stage IV classical Hodgkin's lymphoma. My diagnosis came after months of fatigue and diffuse body pain. Initially I was evaluated for lupus or RA, but those diagnoses didn't quite fit. After discussing with my PCP again and noting a persistent cough, a CT and PET-CT showed diffuse lymphadenopathy and lesions on my liver and spleen.

Rino

This is the story of Rino La Paglia, a son, brother, boyfriend, uncle, cousin and friend to many who knew him.

Rino was first diagnosed with T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma in February 2008. He was 33 years old at the time, and was in remission by 2010. Everything was great, Rino went back to being a electrician, softball player and living life to his fullest. Then, in October 2015 Rino found out, his cancer came back, he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic lymphoma (ALL).

Follow-Up Care

Follow-up care is important with both aggressive and indolent forms of NHL because if the disease recurs, curative options are still available for many people. Follow-up care needs to be individualized and should be based on several factors, including how the disease initially manifested. Patients who are in remission should continue to be monitored by clinical assessment as determined by their doctor. In the past, computed tomography (CT) scans or other diagnostic imaging were done routinely in an attempt to detect relapse.

Tiffany

I was first diagnosed in July 2015. The doctors in Joplin kept saying I had strep (which I did, at first) and it never got better. Appointments after appointments and I kept getting this. Despite the several medicines they had me on, I was still not feeling good. Nothing helped. Finally my friend forced me to go back to the hospital, where I had been four days later, and I was FINALLY diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Unfortunately, they did not have any doctors to treat it there.

Lillian & Jerry

In 2011, our son, Jerry, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) at three years old, and he has gone through two bone marrow transplants. Though he has been in remission since 2014, he has developed many other diseases due to the treatment and drugs, such as kidney failure, low vision, a compromised immune system, and heart issues. While Jerry was going through cancer treatment, his little sister, Lillian, was born and grew up to be a vibrant and sweet girl. Yet, in an unimaginable twist of fate, the same devastating cancer diagnosis shattered our hope.