My story begins back in 2012. I remember it like it was yesterday. I was sitting in Orlando traffic with the window down. It was a beautiful afternoon. I was driving home from work. I scratched the side of my neck and felt 3 tiny pebbles underneath the skin. I though it was odd, but didn’t think much of it. I brushed it off and forgot about it.
In 1996, at the age of 16, I found a lump in my neck that quickly grew to an alarming size. After ruling out illnesses such as cat scratch fever and tuberculosis, the lump was biopsied at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, TN and I was diagnosed with stage 2A Hodgkin's Disease (now called Hodgkin lymphoma). I went through 6 months of chemotherapy, followed by 2 months of radiation.
I was diagnosed with mantle cell lymphoma in August 2019 at age 64. It was an accidental find while scanning for a kidney stone. I was late stage 3 at diagnosis with no prior symptoms.
In April 2019, Kyle, a 17-year-old football star at Glenn Hills High School in Hephzibah, Georgia, noticed a large lump on his throat while taking a shower. After a trip to the hospital and several tests, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma and began intense treatment right away.
As a popular entertainment anchor on the “Good Day LA” morning show in Los Angeles, Amanda Salas has always kept busy. But after she was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in June 2019, she has had to refocus all her energy and time on fighting for her life.
