Search Results
Heather
The world works in mysterious ways, it truly does! When I first volunteered with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training (TNT) program in 2015, I never in a million years thought I would be fundraising in honor of my husband Dave. I started out fundraising for my step-grandmother Margaret and his grandmother Pearl. Eventually, the list of people I ran and fundraised in honor or memory of grew to way over 20! All that time it turns out I was fundraising for Dave, too, we just didn't know it yet!
David
We all have some absolutely remarkable story to tell in one way or another. The vital task we all have is to appreciate it, embrace it, and articulate it in a way somebody will relate to.
Kennetha
I found out about The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) through a peer at Brockport College where I attend the Healthcare Administration BSN program. My peer had many great things to say about LLS and was excited to be a volunteer intern. I'm grateful that I was given the opportunity to reach out to those who experience the life-changing event of having blood cancer and can provide them with the resources and support that LLS offers. I love volunteering for LLS because it helps me fulfill my passion for caring for others and making a difference in people's lives.
Tatijane
On February 19, 2021, I was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), both B and T cells, and given six to eight weeks to live. I was 24 years old. I was diagnosed alone in the ER because of COVID-19 protocols and unable to see my family and friends in person for a week or two because of testing, port placements, and biopsies. It was like an earthquake that shook up my life as well as all my loved ones’ lives, and all I wanted was to hug my mom.
Lori
Just a month before turning 60, I was diagnosed with follicular lymphoma (FL). I really had no symptoms. I had just finished a year of pretty much full-time, long-term substitute jobs at our local middle school. I’m a retired high school English teacher. I had also traveled with my family to both Williamsburg, Virginia and Las Vegas with my sister and her husband. We were only home for four days when I flew my daughter and two-year-old grandson here to Alabama for a week.
Kayli
My daughter Kayli is a remarkable 22-year-old, six-time cancer survivor of leukemia who is currently undergoing treatment for a relapse of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) that has been recurrent in her central nervous system (CNS) since she was 8 years old. We are hopeful that the upcoming bone marrow transplant will provide a much-needed, life-saving cure for Kayli.
I am an RN and a single mother of five daughters and one son. My only son, Kayli's brother, Markai, is a full match and will be her bone marrow donor. He just graduated high school in May.
Anna
I’m from Hungary. I’m 34 years old and just recently moved to Durango, Colorado, to marry my husband, Joe. For two years, we worked through a long-distance relationship during COVID and thought we would never face a tougher task in life than facing an uncertain future beset by travel restrictions, an eight-hour time difference, and thousands of miles. We wed in July, settled into our house we’d moved into in March, and I had just qualified for my work permit and landed a wonderful job as the Communications Specialist at a local non-profit.
Morgyn
June 18th, 2021. A day that I would never expect to happen never in a million years. I was 17 years old living my life like any other teenage girl would. Let me rewind back a few months to February 14th, 2021, yes Valentine’s Day. I was so sick that morning and with COVID-19 still running at its highest I decided to test myself. The test came back positive. I was so sick, the sickest I had ever been and as my quarantine was coming to an end I still felt as if I was still so sick with COVID.
Liza
I’m from Ghana, and I am a stage 4 nodular sclerosis Hodgkin lymphoma (NSHL) survivor! I was diagnosed in October 2018 right after my undergraduate diploma. Before being diagnosed, I was misdiagnosed for almost a year as the symptoms started in 2017 when I was still in school. Unfortunately, some doctors missed it, and others also tried to disregard my symptoms. As a result of the misdiagnosis, the cancer advanced from the early stages to an advanced stage where my bone marrow was infiltrated.
Agnes
On January 23, 2023, my whole world flipped upside down. After just starting the last semester of my senior year of college, I went to the ER with chest pain. A few scans and a biopsy later, I received the news that I had stage IV primary mediastinal B-cell Lymphoma (PMBL). What I thought would be a semester of parties, celebrations, and memory-making with friends turned out to be a semester of hospital stays, doctor’s appointments, and no hair!
Katharine
My mother, Nancy, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with a FLT3 mutation in March 2022. Over the next year and a half, she went through multiple rounds and regimens of inpatient and outpatient chemotherapy. At every step along the way, every member of my mom's care team kept mentioning how the outlook for patients like my mom was so much better now than it had been even 10 years ago thanks to advances in medicine.
Riley
On October 17, 2023, my life took a turn I never saw coming. My doctor sat me down and told me, "You have leukemia." It felt like the ground had shifted beneath my feet. I was scared, couldn't believe it was happening, and had no idea what the future held.
Lorena
My journey began in early 2021 when I discovered some swelling in my left inguinal area. At the time, I did not think much of it but still was told by my primary to see a surgeon, which I did. I saw a surgeon who told me it was a swollen lymph node and that it would go away within a few months. After about six months, I still had the swelling, and it had started to bother me. I saw a second surgeon in mid-2022 who suggested I have it removed, so I did. I went for surgery in late August 2023, and on September 12, 2023, I was told that I had stage 2 non-Hodgkin follicular lymphoma (FL).
Courtney
In March 2022, I began experiencing unusual symptoms of fatigue, nausea, persistent infections, and bloody noses and gums, but I didn’t think much of it. Following a lucky-timed appointment with my primary care doctor and multiple blood tests, I was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Cancer isn’t something an otherwise “healthy” 27-year-old thinks will come out of a doctor’s mouth.
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.
Nevaeh
Nevaeh was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML+MLLr)+CNS chloromas on February 2, 2022, at 12 months old. Nevaeh first showed symptoms of high fevers, no appetite, and little to no energy. After a trip to the ER, a few tests, and x-rays, I was told Nevaeh had COVID and pneumonia. She was discharged with instructions to go back if her symptoms worsened. The following morning, Nevaeh’s health was declining. I called 911, and she was rushed to the ER and admitted to the pediatric unit.
Kristen
In the fall of 2012, Kristen Comer noticed her energy level wasn't as high as it had been, but she thought nothing of it. It wasn’t until the fall of 2013 when she had unidentifiable bruises on her body and no change in her energy levels, that her general practitioner drew labs to determine a diagnosis. After three panels of blood work, Kristen was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) on December 31, 2013.
Campbell
Hi! My name is Campbell Brandt. I am 9 years old and a student at Spring Run Elementary School in Chesterfield County, Virginia. I love to dance, play softball, ride my scooter, sing karaoke, listen to music and watch the Disney channel. I like to dance and sing to Katy Perry, Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood. I am a pretty typical 9-year-old girl, except that I have fought cancer.
Sophie
I was diagnosed with stage 3B Hodgkin lymphoma in February 2013. I was having unusual things going on with my body such as itching, weight gain, swollen lymph nodes and heavy breathing. As these symptoms continued, it led me to go see my general practitioner, who misdiagnosed me with scabies (a form of bed bugs). After another week of being miserable, and no change in my symptoms, I decided to go see my dermatologist. When I went in he knew right away something wasn’t right and sent me to get blood work done immediately.
Sandy
In the summer of 2006 I received a letter in the mail much like what you get around the holidays telling of the adventures over the past year. My friend had recently moved to Tucson with her family. She shared pictures of their kids and told about the transition from the Seattle area to Tucson.
Silma
My mother never had an easy life, but she is courageous and strong. She has never let any pitfall keep her from moving forward in life. She is a hardworking, independent single mother who has loved me, supported me, and always managed to be there for me. She is a force to be reckoned with, and a beautiful person. She is everything she is today because of one very special human being, my grandmother.
Jeffrey
My name is Jeff Kurowski and I am 35 years old. I have lived with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) for two years and Crohn's disease (CD) for 20 years. I have had three feet of my intestines removed. I now depend on daily bowel suppression medication, monthly B12 shots, biologic therapy for a quality of life, and a daily targeted chemotherapy pill to stay alive.
Betsy
My dad, my best friend, lost his short 15-day battle with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) on January 23, 2008. Dad was 72, but not just any 72-year-old man. He had so much life in him. He was very active in his community and loved his wife (they were married for 44 years), his daughters (my sister and I), and especially his three grandchildren! He lived every moment to the fullest and you knew he enjoyed life just by listening to his infectious laugh! He always had a smile on his face, a story to share, and those always needed words of wisdom to share.
Kris
Every survivor has a story. Mine started out on my way home from work one sunny June afternoon in 1983. My mom came to pick me up and we were riding in the car. I still remember the feeling of freedom as the wind blew through my long brown hair. Spring was always a season of rebirth to me after the long New York winters. I closed my eyes and smiled, completely unprepared to hear the next words spoken to me. “What’s that on your neck, honey”? Those words came from my mother as she noticed the lump embedded in my collarbone.
Kent
When Noah was born in 2005, we were surprised when the doctor told us he had Down syndrome. Soon after, we were informed about all of the things that Noah wouldn’t or couldn’t do in his lifetime. We were also given a laundry list of medical problems that he could potentially have. Two months after he was born, Noah went into heart failure and had open heart surgery to correct four holes in his heart. This was a tough time but boy did we have more to come and didn’t know it. He has since had multiple surgeries, tests, studies, etc. We were told that Noa