Search Results

Selina

My story starts when I was just eight months old. In March of 1994, it was discovered that I had a cheek tumor. Doctors removed the tumor, and I was treated with chemotherapy. I relapsed at two years old in 1995. I was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Leukemic lesions had spread to my brain. I received intense chemotherapy and 14 days of cranial irradiation. I was very lucky that my little sister was born in June of 1995. Doctors had saved her umbilical cord (her stem cells). I underwent more chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant in October 1995.

Tasnim

What started as an internship opportunity turned into so much more for Tasnim Al-Smadi when she began working with LLS in the summer of 2021. Tasnim, who is pursuing her bachelor’s degree in Healthcare Management at the University of Texas at Dallas, was initially drawn to an internship at LLS because she is interested in working at a non-profit healthcare organization after graduation.

Damion

In 2020, at the age of 36, I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma (MM). To say this was out of left field would be an understatement. Historically, MM has been recognized as a blood cancer that impacts older patients. That research may be changing. Also, MM disproportionally affects African Americans. At the time of my diagnosis, I was a pretty healthy guy. I tried to eat right and even played in two basketball leagues each week. When I went to the doctor with stomach issues, I wasn't expecting to leave with a cancer diagnosis.

Roger

I'd like to share how when life looks dark, we never know what's over the horizon. Not quite eight years ago I was diagnosed with stage 4 lymphoma with a 50% chance to live 2½ years. I was blindsided, to say the least. I'm happy to say I've been in remission for over five years now. Once I received chemo, I never got the energy back I once had, and being a physical workaholic, this changed my life. I began practicing the guitar that I've had for years and put into this daily. I guess you could say it became a mental therapy for me as well as a new way to enjoy my life.

Alexandra

My dad was diagnosed with leukemia this past fall. Our family was left in utter shock as my dad was the epitome of health his whole life. From our yearly ski trips, hiking and biking excursions, and running four marathons (motivating me to run my first with him), there was nothing he couldn’t do. He still continues to be the strongest man I know five months into his battle. He continues to face every day with a smile on his face and his head held high.

Marty

My story is very unique. Christine and I got married in July of 1979. In August she was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). As we all now know, the prognosis at that time was not the best for an adult with ALL. There was a new procedure called a bone marrow transplant. Chris was not a candidate and seven months after we were married, she passed away at the age of 26. 

Stephanie

Ever since I saw my dad run the New York City Marathon in 2019, I knew it was something that I wanted to strive toward. When the pandemic hit in 2020, I put that dream on pause to start a full-time job as a clinical research coordinator for bone marrow transplants. 

Taylor

Hello! I am Taylor, and most people know me for being a human biology premed student at the University of California San Diego. However, what most people don’t know is I was diagnosed with a rare blood cancer in March of this year. I have systemic mastocytosis (SM) which leads to lots of anaphylactic reactions and hospital visits. I spend lots of time getting tests because my cancer is rare and infusions at the cancer center. I have had several types of chemotherapy drugs and many biopsies.

Katie

Ten days following the birth of my son in May, I developed a mass on my upper left thigh/groin area. After several weeks of being seen by multiple physicians, it was decided that I would need a surgical biopsy to determine if we were dealing with cancer or a benign growth.

Geoff

We went to our local hospital with what we thought was kidney stone pain! Fast forward 10 hours later and we had a surgeon tell us Geoff had stage 4 cancer, fast forward another 3 days, a hospital transfer, and he found out the monster we were dealing with was stage 4 Burkitts lymphoma and if we hadn’t come in he would have died in 3 weeks!

GiGi

When I was diagnosed in 2002 I was in such a fog, all that I can really remember is the doctor saying "You have..." I had acute myeloid leukemia and given 6 weeks to live. I just felt that could not be the end for me.

I went through the chemo, hospital stays all while trying to raise 4 small children and I made it through it all. Thank goodness, right? Fast forward to 2017 the day after my 48th birthday. I began to feel weak and extremely fatigued, without trying to "self- diagnose" myself, this feeling was all too familiar.

Jan

We were living the American dream. I married my college sweetheart Michael, and we celebrated our 32nd wedding anniversary last fall. We have a wonderful son, who is engaged to a fabulous young woman, and they have launched their life together in Indianapolis.

Amanda

In 2015 at the age of 21, I went to my local ER three times for lower back pain and was sent home every time. After a wonderful Disney trip, I went to my local ER with severe back and stomach pain. After several tests, the doctors told me it looked like I had large tumors in both lungs. Eventually, I had a biopsy which confirmed my worse fear — I had stage 4 large B cell non-Hodgkins lymphoma. My whole world turned upside-down.

Quade

Quade “Q” Marks is a 14-year-old freshman at East High School in Denver, Colorado.  He loves to play lacrosse, ski, snowboard and aspires to be a trauma surgeon. He is also a blood cancer survivor.

Aleta

I was diagnosed on August 13, 2013 with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. It was totally out of the blue. I had been married for just a year at the time of my diagnosis and sadly my husband couldn't handle a wife with cancer and we divorced.

Doug

On July 16, 2014 I had just finished eating out at our local diner. When standing at the register to pay, my defibrillator fired and an ambulance was called. Within two hours of arriving at the emergency room I found out I had leukemia. I had had no symptoms other than the lab work that showed the disease. I was in disbelief when I heard the words "very aggressive form of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL)." By the next afternoon I was started on a heavy regiment of arsenic and ATRA chemotherapy treatment.

Elsie

In November 2013, after experiencing several severe nose bleeds, I was diagnosed with a rare type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma cancer called Waldenstrom’s Macroglobulinemia. It was in stage IV and I started chemotherapy treatments immediately.

Kevin

My brest friend, Kevin McDowell has dreamed of going to the Olympics for triathlon since he was 13 years old. Shortly after winning bronze at the ITU Junior World Championships and three days after his first professional race in 2011, Kevin was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Johanna

I am a teacher from Texas. My journey to Team and Training wasn’t immediate. I moved to Texas from Louisiana. When I moved to Texas, I decided to start running to meet people and to help with my homesickness.

Kasey

In August of 2020, I noticed a baseball size lump on my neck. I instantly freaked out and went to my nearest urgent care center. There they told me it was most likely a cyst or inflammation of some sort. I was told to put a hot compress on it and take an inflammatory medication. It wasn’t until December of 2020 that I went to get it looked at again as it has not gone away. It never caused me pain or discomfort but with it not going away I was concerned.

Katie

Twenty years ago I did two things that shaped my life.

Lauren

In the fall of 2022, my cousin lost her battle with leukemia. She was the most lovely (a word that makes me think of her) and kind person, and at the memorial service, Kate's sister said Kate had said, "There is nothing better than to be young and to run." This sentiment stuck with me for a long time as I am also a runner, and I started thinking about how I could honor her in my own way. The family had directed those who wished to donate to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), so I researched and discovered Team In Training (TNT).

Georgia

On August 18, 2021, after months of complaining about severe knee pain, I was diagnosed with mixed phenotype acute leukemia (MPAL). I was 16 at the time of my diagnosis and was supposed to be starting my junior year of high school that same day. (It was the first time everyone went back to school since COVID). The diagnosis was unexpected, and I started treatment right away at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Since COVID was still around, I was unable to see anybody other than my parents. It was a very scary, lonely time.

Julian

I was a 10-year-old kid when I was diagnosed with leukemia. I was a happy, energetic kid who loved being outside and was a straight-A student. However, my whole childhood was put on hold indefinitely once I had cancer. Rather than having sleepovers at my friend’s houses, I was sleeping over at the hospital. It was hard to lose my energy, smile, confidence, and hair as treatment took over my life. It was really hard to understand as I was just a kid getting injections, procedures, chemotherapy, and surgery without truly understanding why.

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.