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Lauren

After being diagnosed Hodgkin’s lymphoma at age twenty-two, my battle with cancer led to a very unexpected journey in my life: becoming an author. I’m very grateful to share that I’ve now been cancer-free for eight years, and my debut fantasy novel The Memory Thief was published by HarperCollins in October of 2019.

Ethar

Refugee Family Gives Back to LLS after Daughter Survives Leukemia

Sixteen-year-old Ethar and her family moved to the United States from Iraq in 2015. Just one year later, she was diagnosed with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

“It all started when my lymph nodes began to swell and the pain became very intense,” said Ethar. “It was at this point, that I went to the emergency room with my father so we could try to make sense of what was happening to me.”

Erin

The night of May 21, 2014, looked like any other that my roommate, Erin, and I would have in our San Francisco apartment. I was busy making the next day's lunch when Erin came home and joined me in the kitchen. We caught each other up on our days, cooked, laughed and planned our next fun adventure. I casually asked how her doctor appointment had gone that day.  That’s when she told me that she had been diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma. A day that looked so normal was anything but.

Cynthia

Cynthia was on a family vacation in 2015 when she began experiencing back pain so severe that she had to be in a wheelchair for the rest of the trip. When she returned home, Cynthia went to see her doctor who referred her to an oncologist. After several tests, Cynthia was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. She was devastated. Chemotherapy and radiation soon followed, along with horrible side effects, sleepless nights and countless blood transfusions. But Cynthia was not going to let cancer defeat her.

Gina

In November 2016, Gina was diagnosed with Stage II Hodgkins lymphoma (nodular sclerosis). She had just started her second year at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences where she studies diagnostic medical imaging in the sonography program which is an accelerated three year bachelor program. In addition to being a full time student, she works Friday evenings and 10 hour shifts on Saturday and Sunday at an Urgent Care Center.

Kessler

Kessler McLaughlin’s life change forever on July 13, 2006. In the months leading up to that day, he was a typical 14-year-old kid, except that he was in pain all the time. Doctors couldn’t figure out why his joints were in so much pain. 

Starlet

When I was born, I was healthy and hardly ever got sick. Well, when I turned one, I had fevers that would come and go and then my mom started to notice I would limp and bruise easily. My mom decided to take me to the hospital after a persistent fever and the limping and bruising got worse. The doctors then referred us to Valley Children’s where they did blood work on me.

After the results came in my parents heard the words no one ever wants to hear: their one-year-old daughter is now diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

Lillian & Jerry

In 2011, our son, Jerry, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) at three years old, and he has gone through two bone marrow transplants. Though he has been in remission since 2014, he has developed many other diseases due to the treatment and drugs, such as kidney failure, low vision, a compromised immune system, and heart issues. While Jerry was going through cancer treatment, his little sister, Lillian, was born and grew up to be a vibrant and sweet girl. Yet, in an unimaginable twist of fate, the same devastating cancer diagnosis shattered our hope.

Lynn

In 2013, I heard the words that no one wants to hear, "You have cancer." I was 37 years old, healthy, and an active mom of two. After being sick and misdiagnosed for six months, I finally got some answers: stage 4 Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), and I started chemo immediately.

Your mind goes to places that you are never prepared for. Two young children that depended on you . . . all the what ifs, what will happen ifs . . .

Izarhea

First of all, I want to thank God for keeping me sane as he forced me to grow this year. On June 25, 2023, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), and to be honest, I wasn't tripping at first because I had no idea what that meant. Then my mom explained to me that I had cancer. I went from ending my junior year to celebrating my 17th birthday to getting my port installed and starting chemo all in the same month. I remember telling my dad how scared I was for my whole life to change, but I eventually saw how necessary that was.

Linda

My blood cancer story began in 2015 with a diagnosis of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). It was scary, and there were so many unknowns. Today it’s 9½ years later, and I know a few more things about blood cancers.

First, today my cancer is undetectable! But as my doctors have told me, it’s chronic, so I’ll always have to be proactive and take medication.

How to Enforce Your Legal Rights

If you suspect that you are being treated differently at work because of your cancer history, consider an informal solution before leaping into a lawsuit. You want to stand up for your legal rights without casting yourself as a troublemaker.

If you face discrimination, consider the following suggestions:

Relapsed and Refractory

Some patients have residual leukemia cells in their bone marrow even after they receive intensive treatment. In these cases, the disease is referred to as being “refractory” (or “refractory ALL”).

Other patients achieve remission but later have decreased numbers of normal blood cells and a return of leukemia cells in their bone marrow. This is referred to as a “relapse” of the disease (or “relapsed ALL”). 

Treatment

It's important that your doctor is experienced in treating patients with chronic leukemia or works in consultation with a chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) specialist. This type of specialist is called a hematologist oncologist.

Current therapies do not offer patients a cure for CLL, but there are treatments that help manage the disease. Doctors use several types of approaches and treatment for adults with CLL, some at different stages:

Side Effects

Therapy for CLL sometimes produces side effects. Side effects from kinase inhibitor drugs and monoclonal antibody therapy are generally milder than side effects from chemotherapy. 

For most patients, treatment side effects are temporary and go away once therapy ends. For other patients, side effects can be more severe, sometimes requiring hospitalization. Some patients never have side effects. 

Stem Cell Transplantation

For certain patients with CML, allogeneic stem cell transplantation (the infusion of donor stem cells into a patient) is their best treatment option. However, this type of transplant can cause serious or even life-threatening complications and side effects. In addition, it is often not a good option for older patients or for patients who have other health problems.

Treatment

It's important that your doctor is experienced in treating people who have chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) or works in consultation with a hematologist oncologist who has experience treating CMML patients.

In most cases, CMML can't be cured, but it can be treated. Doctors use several types of treatment for adults with CMML, although there's no one standard drug therapy for the disease:

Follow-Up Care

Those who have been treated for MDS are encouraged to:

Signs and Symptoms

Essential thrombocythemia (ET) is often detected during a routine blood test before an individual has any symptoms.

The signs and symptoms of ET are linked to high platelet counts that cause the development of a thrombus (blood clot). The symptoms include:

Resources for Survivors

Use this Survivorship Workbook to collect all the important information you need throughout diagnosis, treatment, follow-up care and long-term management of a blood cancer.

Long-Term and Late Effects of Treatment

While treatments for ALL have led to increased survival rates, some may cause significant long-term or late effects. Long-term effects of cancer treatment are medical problems that last for months or years after treatment ends. Late effects are medical problems that do not appear until years, or even possibly decades, after treatment ends.

The long-term and late effects of childhood ALL treatment can include:

Graham

I am joining former England and Crystal Palace footballer and leukemia survivor, Geoff Thomas, and 23 other teammates to cycle the full Tour de France route one week ahead of the professionals to raise funds for the UK charity Cure Leukaemia. It's three huge goals — riding the Tour de France, raising $40,000 myself, and the team’s goal of $1 million. But with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) help, I know I can achieve it. 

Whitney

I am delighted to be a new member of the Clinical Trial Support Center team at The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS)! After eight years as a clinical nurse, charge nurse, and assistant nurse manager at various oncology hospitals across the country, I am honored to now work with blood cancer patients as a Spanish-speaking, CTSC nurse navigator.

Ellise

In November 2015, I began experiencing persistent hives, severe fatigue, and chest pain that I couldn’t explain. At the time, I was managing a demanding schedule, and I initially attributed my symptoms to stress. But as the symptoms worsened, I knew something was wrong. I visited multiple doctors and even saw a dermatologist who performed a biopsy and ruled my condition as eczema. I researched tirelessly, determined to find answers, but my concerns were dismissed. One doctor even told me I was “too young to have cancer.”

Coy

My son, Coy, was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) on May 5, 2023. He was a junior at the United States Coast Guard Academy (USCGA) and had just won national runner-up in the NCAA Division III national wrestling tournament in March. He was a 4.0 student and had just been selected as Regimental Commander for the fall of his senior year. He returned home to secure and begin treatment. It was a challenge getting him into treatment, however, with great persistence, he was able to secure treatment with Dr. Allison Rosenthal at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, Arizona.