I was diagnosed with stage 4 T-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (T-NHL) nearly 20 years ago in March of 2002. By the grace and power of God and modern medicine, I have been cancer-free for the last 20 years!
On August 24, 2017, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). It turns out, after much back-and-forth and a second cervical excision, that I actually had diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). And for good measure, kidney cancer as well.
When I was a senior in high school, my life changed forever. In my senior year, playing my last season of basketball and gearing up to play college softball that next fall, everything was looking up.
In 2017, I was diagnosed with a rare and chronic form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). I was beyond devastated as I knew there was no cure for my condition, and I also knew my life would be altered in many ways.
The first time I remember hearing of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) was through Team In Training (TNT), specifically from a brochure I picked up at a bike shop that invited one to train for a 109-mile bike ride with TNT. It was 2007, and I thought it sounded like a blast.
At age 69, I was diagnosed with stage IIIA nodal marginal zone lymphoma (NMZL) following a neck lymph node biopsy, PET scan, and a bone marrow biopsy. It’s a rare form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). I had enlarged lymph nodes in my neck, axilla bilaterally, and groin bilaterally.
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.
After 16 years, my oncologist still calls me her Miracle Patient. At diagnosis, I had Stage 4 mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), and 90% of my bone marrow was a cancerous mush. After months of punishing inpatient chemo, I was emaciated, bald, and “against all odds” in remission.
I was first diagnosed with stage 4 diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) in December 2017. I got through Christmas very weak and started chemo the first week of January 2018.