Inspirational Stories

In 2019, at 32, several symptoms culminated and, in hindsight, were red flags to the disease progression of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). I was less than 90 days into a new job in residential construction. I did not pay attention to what my body was telling me (extreme fatigue, excessively bleeding gums after a dental exam, bruising, and petechiae on my chest and upper extremities & chest). After a busy weeknight trip to the grocery store, my body made me stop to pay attention with a 103.2-degree fever.

With that, I drove myself to the local emergency room. A complete blood count painted a perplexing situation: my body was overproducing white blood cells and had a near zero platelet count. A swift admittance into the hospital turned into a thirty-five-day stay. The morning after, the news was slowly filtering in of a type of blood disorder, and the day after that, it was confirmed to be a leukemia diagnosis.

It was aggressive, and action was needed. At that time, I was informed if I had waited to seek treatment for another week or two, I may not be writing my story today. Early in my cancer journey, an allogeneic stem cell transplant was sought as a curative treatment option, along with several clinical trials to stem the tide of my IDH2 and STAG2 genetic mutations. The treatment and trials were markedly successful, and I am celebrating five years of survivorship.

My first exposure to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) was through The Patti Robinson Kaufmann First Connection® Program, and I had a sliver of hope of a truly good and fulfilling life after cancer. I spoke to two AML survivors, one of whom had been out of active treatment for twenty-five years and thriving! As the average age of diagnosis for AML is one's late 60s, I hesitatingly navigated data and statistics geared toward a much older population. I found a large gap in the research. I am most grateful LLS is making large inroads in blood cancer survivorship (especially in the pediatric and elderly populations). Still, there are many of us in-between who must speak up to know one is never alone during their treatments. To that end, I am proud to volunteer with LLS in roles such as The Patti Robinson Kaufmann First Connection® Program, Patient and Community Outreach, and advocacy at the state level & hope to continue this important work as long as I can.