Search Results

Bob

It has been five years since Bob had his stem cell transplant to get him remission from acute myeloid leukemia (AML), but his journey started over seven years ago when he was first diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS).

Renata

The best thing and the worst thing to ever happen to me happened at the same time. On my birthday, I found out that I was pregnant. That explained (I thought) why I felt so run down and lethargic. My husband and I were over the moon as this was our first child. 

As weeks went by, what I thought was morning sickness hit me hard. I couldn’t keep food down. My doctor gave me meds; nothing helped. 

Miriam

I was extremely fatigued. I suspected that I had leukemia since I knew a lot about cancer. I saw my primary care doctor and described how bad I felt and my suspicion. He immediately ran blood tests and then referred me to a hematologist oncologist.

Charles

I was alone with my doctor in the hospital when she told me I had no bone marrow matches in the world. I cried a lot that day. I was admitted two weeks prior, after relapsing from acute myeloid leukemia (AML), an aggressive blood cancer. As a husband, father and criminal prosecutor, I’ve dedicated my life to caring for my loved ones and protecting my community. Now, leukemia was threatening my life and there was no one that could protect me from it. 

Chaneta Juliet

Hi, my name is Chaneta, I like to go by Juliet. This past year has been an interesting one, to say the least. I’m a singer-songwriter who wrote and released an album in October 2017. I thought the year was going to be an amazing one–promoting and performing–unfortunately, I performed one time and I began to literally unravel. In December 2017, I caught the flu. Normal stuff, not too bad right? Well, about three weeks in, it got worse. It turned into walking pneumonia. Chest X-rays revealed a blood clot lodged in my right-side lung.

Addie

Charles Esten, an actor/musician who plays Deacon Claybourne on the TV show “Nashville,” is this year’s Light The Night Walk National Honorary Chair. Esten’s 15-year-old daughter, Addie, was diagnosed with leukemia at age 2 1/2 and, thanks to advances in treatment, is thriving today. Because of their personal connection to blood cancer, Charles, his wife Patty, and the entire Esten clan are strong supporters of LLS.

Jimmy

My journey with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) began in the summer of 2020. My 17-year-old, two-sport athlete son Jimmy came to me complaining that he had pulled a muscle in his neck lifting weights for football and baseball. However, after many doctors’ appointments and tests, on June 12, 2020, in the middle of a pandemic, I received a call that his biopsy was indeed cancer, stage 3 advanced Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). I now had to tell my 17-year-old son that his worst fear was now a reality.

Christa

I was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) at three years old. I experienced two and a half years of chemotherapy, lumbar punctures, blood transfusions, hair loss, and surgery. Since then, I have not wasted a single day. I live each day to the fullest, remembering a time when my future was unsure. I want to make the most of my second chance by striving to achieve what may seem like a challenge. My goal is to become a psychologist and specialize in the behavioral and cognitive development of children. I want to continue to be a part of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS).

Jaime

My name is Jaime Fernandez and I am a Clinical Social Worker with UCI Health. I have the pleasure and honor of working with individuals diagnosed with blood cancers. Supporting my patients and their loved ones as they navigate these diagnoses has become my driving force. I have been a social worker for nine years now and it wasn't until I moved to UCI's Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, and began working with this population, that I gained a new appreciation for what I do.

Lidia

I am still in treatment for leukemia, a diagnosis my mom was devastated to hear when I was just four years old.

My dream is to meet Roman Reigns and tell my story because his story makes me keep going. 

I watch WWE and I even went to a WWE fight. I want to try to going to one next year!

I love seeing Roman and LLS fighting blood cancer!

Dr. George Yagmour

Nora

Nora was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) on August 20, 2018. This is the day our lives were turned upside down and forever changed. Nora was about three weeks away from her second birthday, and we were in utter shock that she would now be fighting an unfathomable battle. After all, this was Nora, our go-hard, go-fast, ray of sunshine. Never did we imagine anything could get her down. But yet, here we were.

Russ

(As told by Russ Parker’s wife Karen A. Parker) In the fall of 2004, Russ was looking forward to a surfing trip to Fiji with his son Rusty and a group of good friends.  He was a real estate developer, surfer, soccer coach, swimmer and runner.

Cayden

In April 2020, three-year-old Cayden began experiencing leg pain and developed an unusual limp that alarmed his mother, Courtney. Soon, the pain progressed to a stiff neck and loss of appetite. Just two weeks later, after multiple tests and doctor appointments, Courtney and her husband would hear the words that every parent fears, "your child has cancer". Cayden was diagnosed with a high-risk form of blood cancer, Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

Childhood AML

Because of new and better therapies, cancer survival rates for children with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) have improved dramatically during the last several decades. Scientists continue to search for the causes of childhood leukemia so they can develop better treatments with less toxic side effects.

Find statistics for Childhood AML and other blood cancers.

Heather

My name is Heather and I was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) +FLT3/ITD on December 14th, 2017. That morning I noticed I was extremely pale and I had large bruises over my body. My doctor ran blood work STAT and within an hour I knew my platelets were below 20 and I needed to rush to the ER. I was pretty near death at that time. I was in Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation (DIC), which has a pretty high mortality rate.

Melissa

We really want to be someone else’s story of hope.

My husband, Thomas, was diagnosed in February 2022 with blood cancer, specifically, multiple myeloma (MM). He was in the hospital in Mallorca, Spain, where we live, for 16 days, getting dialysis and chemotherapy. After that initial stay, he was discharged but continued to go to the hospital three days a week for four months until his kidneys started working on their own again.

A. Timothy Lunsford-Stevens JD

In 1970, I was playing baseball in high school as a freshman, playing second base. A bully made a hit and ran from first to second base, tackling me. I got into a fight with him because of the pain I was feeling in my left hand. After the fight, I needed to go to the hospital. In setting my broken hand, they also did a blood test. The results showed why my hand was so fragile; I had acute myeloid leukemia (AML). I had chemotherapy but no radiation or other treatment. I lived in Georgia and went to MD Anderson in Houston for chemotherapy.

Dana

I was diagnosed with stage 4 non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) in January 2018. I was lucky enough to get into City of Hope which is about 25 minutes from my house. I received all my treatment there. The first treatment was R-CHOP chemotherapy which required me to be in the hospital three to five days every three weeks for six months. I relapsed after six months and did an autologous bone marrow transplant in March of 2019. After about eight months, I relapsed again and prepared for an unrelated donor transplant.

Miranda

A little over a year ago, I finished a treatment that saved my life and gave me purpose. In October 2016, I was diagnosed with stage IV of Hodgkin lymphoma and was fortunate enough to receive medical care that allowed me to conquer my cancer journey.

Callie

In January 2016, I was diagnosed with stage II Hodgkin lymphoma. I was four months pregnant at the time, and it was decided to carry to term because this type of blood cancer is a slower spreading cancer.

In May 2016, I had a healthy boy and 10 days later began my first of many chemo treatments. The following October I had my last treatment and I was excited to get back to "normal" life.

Pilar

My name is Pilar, and I am 34 years old. I used to work for the workforce board of Philadelphia, working with youth, until I was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) back in October 2020. It has been a hard battle, but I am positive and blessed to have the support of my family and friends. Additionally, I was very fortunate my sister, Marcela, was a match to be my donor.

Juvenile Myelomonocytic Leukemia

• Is an uncommon blood cancer that have overlapping features of two other types of blood cancers.

Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy uses your own immune system to fight cancer. There are several types of immunotherapies, and each works to help the immune system in a different way. Some boost your body’s immune system. Others train your immune system to attack specific cancer cells.

Immunotherapies being used or studied to treat blood cancer include:

Jamaal

Jamaal Simmons had non-Hodgkins lymphoma (NHL). He was such a brave person. He worked at Publix supermarket and he went to Clark Atlanta University. He was about to graduate from college when he passed away.

It is now 14 years since he's been gone. But I still donate and collect donations and I've been doing this for many years. I will keep on doing it to help fight this blood cancer.

- Jamaal's mom, Sharon Williams.