I was first diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in June 1991, about a month shy of my 21st birthday. I was in school for cosmetology, had just signed divorce papers from my first husband and was dating the man who would become my second husband. Life was great for me.
In December 2007 my life completely changed. I had a biopsy done just four days before Christmas, and my oncologist called me on Christmas Day to tell me that I needed to come in and see him after the holidays to discuss my pathology report. I was diagnosed with Hodgkins lymphoma. I endured five surgeries in just four weeks and spent my 36th birthday in the hospital.
I had acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) in 2013. I went in to have surgery to remove all four of my wisdom teeth and never stopped bleeding after surgery. The doctor called those miracle teeth instead of wisdom teeth because that is how we found out I had leukemia and they saved my life.
In April 2015, Liam was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) when he was just one-and-a-half years old. After living in the hospital for four months of intensive treatment, Liam went into remission in July 2015!
In 1990, I was diagnosed with M3 acute myeloid leukemia (AML) - now known as acute promyelocytic cancer (APL) - when I was a twenty-year-old college student studying abroad in Northern England.
The last conversation I had with my daughter Sonny was one that I will never forget. As she sat there exhausted from the leukemia and CDiff and sepsis that was ravaging her body; we talked about how much of a fight she put up. She could only respond with a short, “I know Momma”. To which I replied, “You don’t have to fight anymore baby.” Again, “I know Momma”.
In March 2017, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma.
This came as a huge shock. I immediately starting thinking about how this might impact my wife and our two young daughters' lives.
Calvin and I are the best of friends, playmates, and hopeless romantics! We found each other in midlife, and we’ve decided to remain newlyweds because we can! We have the privilege of working together every day, and we really love it! Christ is the foundation for our marriage, so the adversities we have faced together made our relationship strong and stable.
After six weeks of experiencing excruciating pain, I was diagnosed with enlarged B-cell stage 4 gastric lymphoma in July 2016. My oncologist in Tarzana, CA was connected to a lead doctor in City of Hope and that COH doctor advised her to send my biopsy for further testing to see if it was double mutated. The test results came positive and my cancer cells had double mutated.
In September 2013, our six-year-old daughter, Jordyn was diagnosed with T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma— a diagnosis no parent ever wants to hear. Within a day of diagnosis, she already started chemotherapy. Numerous lumbar punctures and blood transfusions soon followed. Our life had changed in an instant.