Search Results

Mackenzie

I am a recipient of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) 2022-2023 Dreamers and Doers Scholarship for Blood Cancer Survivors.

I was initially diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) at age 4, and after a successful two years of treatment, I went into remission. Unfortunately, at age 8, I relapsed. I am now 19 years old and a sophomore at McDaniel College. I am majoring in biology. I’m also a part of the honors program, and I play NCAA Division III Tennis.

Cory

I was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) in February 2022. I'm an avid skateboarder, artist, and assistant chef. All this past year, I underwent chemotherapy every two weeks, and one year later, I am now cancer-free.

I’m looking to use my gift and help others now. I've started a project called "canvas4cancer" to offer detailed art pieces, art therapy, and classes, along with other related goals, all non-profit. Any proceeds go toward the purchase of more canvases for patients!

Lily

Hello, my name is Lily and I am 14 years old. In November of 2022, I was diagnosed with stage 3 Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). At the beginning, I was completely shocked because there was no sign that anything was wrong with my health. It was the hardest news I’ve ever heard in my life. The only thing that I was worried about was if I was going to die or if I was going to lose my hair I am now 2 cycles into my chemotherapy.

Jonathan

It was July of last year, I had a cold I was getting over and thought I had a sinus infection. I went to an ENT who told me everything was okay. Days later I had swelling in my gums and went to a dentist. They took two X-rays and didn't like what they saw and sent me to an oral surgeon. He did a CAT scan and saw major bone loss. He proceeded to do a biopsy, and days later I had cancer. It turned out to be large B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). The pathology took a long time, and I was literally dying waiting to get treatment. It was aggressive and stage 4. Life-changing.

David

My name is David, and I am a personal trainer/sports performance coach. I have had the privilege of working with youth athlete Zac in the gym for the past couple of years. Last year Zac was diagnosed with leukemia, which was very heartbreaking for me to hear. However, I have been extremely touched and inspired by Zac and his fighting mentality and positive spirit as he has battled cancer. He has made it a priority to continue exercising while fighting something greater than himself.

Doug

In July 2014, my defibrillator fired while I was at a diner. Upon testing at the hospital I found out I have acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). Much to my surprise, it was discovered by a simple blood test.

Joyce

We have been involved with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) since Steve's diagnosis with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in May of 2002. Steve's CML continues to be successfully treated with a drug called Gleevec, which was funded in part by LLS. This year we celebrated his 15 years of remission from CML by taking a trip to Florida with family. Thank God for survivorship AND cancer research!

Joshua

I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in March 2014, had chemotherapy treatments for six months and was found to be in full remission by October 2014.

I continue treatments every 60 days at the Florida Cancer Center in Gainesville, FL with my doctor, Dr. Lucio Gordan. This summer, between treatments, I hiked the 486-mile Colorado Trail and my daughter set up a GoFundMe site to raise money for LLS. I completed the hike in 38 days and found it to be a fantastic adventure.

Kymani

In December 2017 only a couple days after his 10th birthday Kymani Davis was diagnosed with Non- Hodgkins Lymphoma with a mass on his chest. This was very heartbreaking for Kymani and his family as hearing the word "cancer" for your loved one is very terrifying. With the support and encouragement from his mom and family, Kymani remained hopeful. His faith in God was very important during this journey. He was treated at the Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital. After two chemotherapy cycles, his lymph nodes were shrunken to half their sizes.

Hannah

As a busy college student, Hannah is focused on attending her business and art classes - a very different world than the cancer one she was a part of just a few short years ago. At 13 years old, Hannah was diagnosed with Burkitt lymphoma and went on to battle it successfully a second time.

Dixie

I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) in 2019 when I developed a lump under my left chin line. They removed the lump, and then I went through radiation therapy for several months (only four days per week). After more tests, it was determined I was cancer-free. But then a few months later, on the right side of my face by my ear, another lump appeared. The PET scan showed another lump under my right armpit, one behind my ear, and another on my right collarbone. So, I started on chemotherapy for two years (every three weeks at first, then every other month until it ended).

Disease- and Treatment-Related Pain

People with cancer can have pain caused by the cancer itself, its treatment, or both. They may also have pain caused by other health problems that are unrelated to cancer (like arthritis or diabetes).

Increased pain does not mean that the cancer is getting worse, but you should always tell your healthcare team if you have increased pain.

It’s important to remember that no matter what the cause, pain can be treated.

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.

Splenectomy

The spleen is an organ on the left side of the body, near the stomach. CLL cells can collect in the spleen, causing it to become enlarged. Sometimes, the spleen becomes so large that it presses on nearby organs, causing pain. Also, an enlarged spleen may lower a person’s blood cell counts to dangerous levels. An operation to remove the spleen is called a splenectomy. Splenectomy is helpful for select patients. The operation may reduce pain and help improve blood counts.

Side Effects

The side effects of treatment for essential thrombocythemia (ET) will depend on many factors, including the type of treatment and dosage, the age of the patient and coexisting medical conditions.

Management of side effects is important. Patients should discuss any concerns about side effects with their doctor. Most side effects are temporary and resolve when treatment is completed

Other Disease Studies

Another type of study that blood cancer patients and their relatives can participate in is a nontherapeutic study. Nontherapeutic studies aren't considered clinical trials because they don't involve the study of new diagnostics or treatments for diseases. Instead, they're developed to gain a better understanding of disease-incidence patterns or the consequences of specific treatments for a specific disease.

In all cases, you should be asked to sign a consent form that defines the study's purpose and what's expected from the participants.

Radiation Therapy

This treatment, which uses high-energy rays (x-rays) to kill cancer cells, is used selectively in myeloma treatment to kill myeloma cells. For example, radiation therapy is the main treatment for solitary plasmacytoma and for carefully selected patients whose bone pain does not respond to chemotherapy. Radiation therapy may, however, be impractical if there are widely distributed areas of painful bone involvement in the body.

Lauren

To be healed by the miracles of modern medicine and prayer was the most profound experience of my life. It is difficult to articulate the gratitude my family and I feel in our hearts for the people who made it so. There is no scenario where I would be here today, writing this account, without the research made possible by The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS).

Hispanic couple both dressed in black se is kissing him as he rings the bell and holds balloons

Andres

I want to start off by saying that my husband is amazing. My father passed away suddenly in September 2023, and my husband was my rock. He does/did everything he could to help me through my grief and still does. My husband had been complaining that he felt like something was stuck in his throat, but he would clear his throat, and it would go away. The week before Thanksgiving 2023, my husband was watching a funny video on YouTube and laughed so hard he couldn't catch his breath. He leaned forward trying to catch his breath but cut off his airway and collapsed face forward onto the floor.

Donna

I was first diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) in my 20’s. I had a three-year-old daughter and a husband. I went through six months of chemo and continued working full-time as a nurse in homecare the whole time. I was told that if I was to have a reoccurrence, it would come back as leukemia within 10 years. I harvested my bone marrow after chemo and saved it for the 10-year time frame. I thought I would never get cancer again. However, in 2018, I started not feeling well and was diagnosed in July with acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

Anna

I was a recipient of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) Scholarship for Blood Cancer Survivors this year. I was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) on December 23, 2014. I received over 80 doses of chemotherapy, 40 blood product transfusions, and had six infections. One of these infections landed me in the pediatric intensive care unit for seven days with acute respiratory failure and sepsis. I spent 133 days in-patient at the hospital. In May 2015, I left the hospital for good and am celebrating seven years in remission.

Lily

Alana

My name is Alana, and I’m 17 years old. Here is my story. On June 29, 2021, I was out having dinner with my family, and my smartwatch told me that my heart rate was really high. So, after we got done with dinner, we went to the ER. There they told me that they had found a mass in my chest and that I needed to be transferred to the children's hospital in Austin, Texas. They did some bloodwork, and then they noticed the swollen lymph node in my neck. That’s when they did the biopsy, and it was confirmed the next day that I had classic Hodgkin lymphoma (HL).

Callie

In January 2016, I was diagnosed with stage II Hodgkin lymphoma. I was four months pregnant at the time, and it was decided to carry to term because this type of blood cancer is a slower spreading cancer.

In May 2016, I had a healthy boy and 10 days later began my first of many chemo treatments. The following October I had my last treatment and I was excited to get back to "normal" life.

Camdon

My name is Camdon Cherry. I was 14 hours away from graduating with a BS in microbiology from Oklahoma State University when I was diagnosed with acute lymphblastic leukemia (ALL).

I presented to the hospital with staphylococcus infections in my blood and developed COVID-19 while in the hospital so my treatment was delayed for weeks. I am still very early in my treatments as I was only diagnosed on Dec. 1, 2020 and I am currently in induction phase 2 of chemotherapy.