Inspirational Stories

My daughter, Emily is my hero! She is 25 years old and was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma in June 2018. Her initial symptoms started with a cough and her losing weight while we lived in Texas, which we assumed was from her working her new job, which was very physical. We left Texas May 26 and drove from Fort Hood to Massachusetts, almost 2000 miles. None of us knew Emily was so sick. It took us four days to get back home.

Her cough got worse and she developed a huge lump on her neck, she finally couldn't take the pain and asked to go to the ER. We spent the whole day with testing and most came back as lymphoma, they were not sure whether it was Hodgkin or non-Hodgkin lymphoma. After numerous cat scans, X-rays and lab work, they were able to tell that Emily had an enormous amount of fluid around her lungs and her heart. They also noticed a 14 mm mass in the center of her chest and some on each side of her neck.

I am still shocked that my daughter has cancer. I watched her take needle after needle, to remove the fluid from her around her lungs. They ended up draining almost 800 cc from her lungs. An IV bag holds 1200cc, so you can imagine how much was in there. That was the day I knew she was a strong cookie and she was going to make it through this.

She has an amazing spirit and the only thing she is worried about is her bills. She's not worried about losing her hair or any of that. Just her bills. We had a shaving party for her after she started losing it. I am hoping we can get her some help financially. This would greatly ease her mind and worries.