Inspirational Stories

I was diagnosed with stage 4 Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) in June 2023. This was after months of testing, worrying, praying, and worrying some more. Honestly, the testing period was so stressful that it was almost a relief to know exactly what was going on when I was diagnosed. This is because while I was testing, I was taking official visits to prospective universities every weekend. I am a football player, and at the time, I was trying to decide which scholarship offer I was going to accept ― which university I was going to pin my hopes and dreams on. It was a stressful time. Fortunately, the school I decided to commit to, Stanford, ended up accepting me even knowing that I had cancer.

I started chemotherapy around the start of August. Four cycles and about three months later, I was cancer-free. A month after that, I was officially in remission. I moved to Stanford at the start of January 2024 ready to start living my real life again. All was well until my first routine checkup in February. I was not supposed to get any tests or scans, but I decided to request a CT scan just for my peace of mind. The nurse I was talking to booked a blood test too. Both the scan and the test came back with suspicious if not outright damning results. Two months and a chest biopsy later, I find myself looking at the prospect of going through chemotherapy again. Indeed, I am writing this the day before I start chemotherapy back up again. This time around will not be like last time, I know that. I will be doing an autologous bone marrow transplant and a different type of chemotherapy. Nonetheless, I know I can get through this just like I did last time ― with hope in my heart and a smile on my face.