Search Results

Roger

I'd like to share how when life looks dark, we never know what's over the horizon. Not quite eight years ago I was diagnosed with stage 4 lymphoma with a 50% chance to live 2½ years. I was blindsided, to say the least. I'm happy to say I've been in remission for over five years now. Once I received chemo, I never got the energy back I once had, and being a physical workaholic, this changed my life. I began practicing the guitar that I've had for years and put into this daily. I guess you could say it became a mental therapy for me as well as a new way to enjoy my life.

Georgia

On August 18, 2021, after months of complaining about severe knee pain, I was diagnosed with mixed phenotype acute leukemia (MPAL). I was 16 at the time of my diagnosis and was supposed to be starting my junior year of high school that same day. (It was the first time everyone went back to school since COVID). The diagnosis was unexpected, and I started treatment right away at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Since COVID was still around, I was unable to see anybody other than my parents. It was a very scary, lonely time.

Stephanie

Ever since I saw my dad run the New York City Marathon in 2019, I knew it was something that I wanted to strive toward. When the pandemic hit in 2020, I put that dream on pause to start a full-time job as a clinical research coordinator for bone marrow transplants. 

Taylor

Hello! I am Taylor, and most people know me for being a human biology premed student at the University of California San Diego. However, what most people don’t know is I was diagnosed with a rare blood cancer in March of this year. I have systemic mastocytosis (SM) which leads to lots of anaphylactic reactions and hospital visits. I spend lots of time getting tests because my cancer is rare and infusions at the cancer center. I have had several types of chemotherapy drugs and many biopsies.

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.

Avery

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. I had great friends, and great family, not to mention that I had the best-looking curly hair there ever was. Back in September 2019, I noticed a knot in my right armpit. At the time, I was playing high school softball and was just moved to a new position. I thought the reason for my underarm pain had been from soreness, so I put it off until the season was over.

Joshua

Just three days after Christmas, my world was turned upside down. I was admitted to the hospital because I was unable to keep any food down and felt terrible overall. Upon admission, I had a multitude of issues, just a few being extremely high uric acid levels, severe dehydration, pancreatitis, and nephrosis. They also discovered that I had lost 20 lbs.! Later in the hospital, I would lose 20 more. I remained in excruciating pain for three weeks while multiple branches of the hospital were trying to find out what was wrong with me.

Tricia

My story is truly about the little family that could. In 2002, I felt I had it all: a loving partner, a new job offer, and plans to start a family. Upon my return from a business trip in May, that feeling shifted as a large lump appeared on the side of my neck. Several doctor visits, tests, and sleepless nights later, I received a phone call on the way to a meeting from a doctor. He asked me to pull the car over. He told me I had cancer. Everything stopped.

Mike

It started with a cough that would not go away. A cough so bad that it would stop him in his tracks and he'd have to rest afterwards for a few minutes just to catch his breath and regain strength. This was in March 2016. My husband, Mike, was like any other 31 year old "healthy" person. He figured the cough was allergies or a stubborn cold. He finally agreed to go to urgent care because of course he didn't have a primary doctor. The doctors had the same thoughts: allergies or a stubborn cold. They treated him for these things and none of them helped.

Joshua

Just three days after Christmas, my world was turned upside down. I was admitted to the hospital because I was unable to keep any food down and felt terrible overall. Upon admission, I had a multitude of issues, just a few being extremely high uric acid levels, severe dehydration, pancreatitis, and nephrosis. They also discovered that I had lost 20 lbs.! Later in the hospital, I would lose 20 more.

Jane

In October 2015, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). After growing up never getting sick, I had cancer. It was incredibly difficult to comprehend at the age of 13 that I was about to endure something most people won’t experience in a lifetime. I went through four rounds of chemotherapy and was in remission in January of 2016. Once you’re in remission, you believe that that’s the end. You’ll have a few check-ups here and there, but in your head, you envision no more cancer.

Kathryn

My symptoms became pretty intense in December 2017. I was 21 at the time and living a healthy and active lifestyle, but my symptoms were starting to interfere with my quality of life. I was experiencing a cough, fatigue, unexplained weight loss, and pretty intense back pain, along with several swollen lymph nodes primarily on the left side of my collarbone.

Erin & Meghan

I always loved fall. It is such a special time. My birthday is the first day of fall. I love unpacking my favorite boots, lighting pumpkin spice candles, and making warm soups. Fall always signified that special holidays and quality time with family were quickly approaching. These were events to get excited about! But in the last few years, fall has taken on a new meaning for me.

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.

End-of-Life Care

Awareness and discussion of end-of-life issues is an important aspect of care for any serious illness and helps improve quality of life. Talk to your child’s healthcare team about treatment goals and any concerns you have related to prognosis, treatment outcomes and end-of-life care.

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.

Denisse

Denisse Cervantes is a pre-med student studying neuroscience, in her senior year at the University of Texas in El Paso. She is studying to be a doctor, specifically in the field of pediatrics. She was looking for volunteer roles that would give her the opportunity to make a difference in her community.

Michael

My journey started in 2002 with a lump in my right arm pit. After a year of testing, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma. I was 30 at the time. After 18 months of treatment, including radiation and 15 rounds of chemo, I was cleared in 2005 after two pet scans. In September of 2012, things changed. I was working part-time for a medical transport company and took a patient to my doctors’ office. The nurse asked me why I didn’t come back; so, I made an appointment for February 2013. The blood work looked great so they scheduled a cat scan and it showed enlarged nodes.

Marty

My story is very unique. Christine and I got married in July of 1979. In August she was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). As we all now know, the prognosis at that time was not the best for an adult with ALL. There was a new procedure called a bone marrow transplant. Chris was not a candidate and seven months after we were married, she passed away at the age of 26. 

Jim & Leslie

Jim and Leslie Donigan have been married for almost 50 years. Currently retired with three adult children, they have both faced a cancer diagnosis, but are in remission today.

In October of 2003, Leslie was diagnosed with a stomach cancer called GIST (Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors) and was told it was terminal. But then her doctor tried a medication intended for blood cancer—and it worked.

Savanna

Hi! My name is Savanna. I am 20 years old, and I am a 2x Hodgkin lymphoma survivor. After being sick for nearly a year and half my freshman year at college, I was unfavorably diagnosed, Stage IV in November 2017.

I had every symptom in the book. I saw every doctor imaginable, but still wasn’t given a diagnosis. So, I became my own advocate, and took myself to walk-in clinics and ERs until I had an answer.

Chrissy

My name is Chrissy, approx. a year ago I had kidney stones and went to hospital for treatment. They sent me for scans and the CT scan showed a spot/mass on my spleen. Being that size it was at that time doctors told me to leave it be. But either a higher power that be or my body truly speaking out, this past Jan came and I had more kidney stones , same thing went to same hospital same radiology place , but this time things change so drastically. They told me the mass is solid and suspicious and more than doubled in size in less then a year.

Brian

Brian was diagnosed with a rare form of Burkett’s related, high-grade B-cell lymphoma in May 2019. He currently receives both in-patient and out-patient chemotherapy, with cycles where he receives chemo for seven days in a row 24 hours a day. Between these cycles he has anywhere from 2-3 weeks off, though he still travels to the hospital for appointments three times a week (blood transfusions, blood work, IV’s, spinal taps etc.).

Emily

One night in August 2017, I had sudden and extreme back pain. My husband took me to the hospital where they told me I was fine and sent me home. Three other hospitals later, they finally did blood work and diagnosed me with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. I was only 26 years old at the time and otherwise very healthy.

I did not fully understand the severity of the situation and asked the doctor if I would be back to work the following week. I started my first round of chemo within 24 hours of diagnosis. However, my leukemia was resistant to the induction therapy.

Jaiden

My son, Jaiden was diagnosed with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) on November 21, 2018. Prior to his diagnosis, Jaiden was a very well-rounded athlete and he played almost every sport, until one day during a football he fractured his arm and was done for the season. Needless to say, he was in a cast for 6 weeks.