Search Results

Brianna

My name is Brianna Ciambra I live in New York and this is my story. When I was eleven, I was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. I went through two in a half years of chemotherapy which consisted of IV meds, spinal taps, steroids etc. I lost my hair during the chemo, which was very hard. I also developed a condition called Avascular necrosis. Avascular necrosis is bone loss in the joints, since 2009 I have had full bilateral hip and shoulder replacements. I also had my right knee fully replaced and two spinal surgeries.

Brianna

My name is Brianna Ciambra I live in New York and this is my story. When I was eleven, I was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. I went through two-and-a-half years of chemotherapy which consisted of IV meds, spinal taps, steroids etc. I lost my hair during the chemo, which was very hard. I also developed a condition called Avascular necrosis. Avascular necrosis is bone loss in the joints, since 2009 I have had full bilateral hip and shoulder replacements. I also had my right knee fully replaced and two spinal surgeries.

Haley

I was diagnosed on February 21, 2020, with stage 3B nodular sclerosing Hodgkin lymphoma (NSHL). I was attending UNLV and working on finishing my prerequisites to apply to the nursing program. One month later, COVID hit the U.S. and shut everything down. I had to go to all of my appointments alone. I was able to freeze my eggs before starting treatment two days later on April 3, 2020. I felt like my entire world had been turned upside down, just for the entire world to descend into chaos. It was a very scary and stressful time.

George

I was born in the inner city of Philadelphia, PA in 1951, I currently live near Dallas, Texas. My professional career in the Information Technology Industry lasted over 40 years prior to my retirement in January 2019. In 2002 I was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and many aspects of my life changed forever.

Casey

At 31, I was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), a rare children’s cancer. Four months into treatment, I had a stroke and seizures and went into a medically induced coma for three days. I had to relearn how to use the entire left side of my body (yes, walk, talk, and function) while still going through treatment. My treatment protocol was 18 months long. Seven weeks after I finished, I relapsed. My body was no longer responding to chemotherapy, so we tried an immunotherapy that sent me into a cytokine release storm (your body starts to attack itself).

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.

Joy

My mother, Joy, was diagnosed in 2015 with follicular lymphoma (FL) in her stomach. She went into remission after chemo treatment. Six months later, it came back, this time more aggressive and on the outside of her organs. They did CHOP chemo and then a bone marrow transplant. She went into remission for a second time. Eight months later, she wasn't feeling spectacular, so we took her back to the doctor. She was diagnosed with large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). The mass was in her uterus and had grown so fast and massive that it blasted through her bladder.

Mackenzie

At nine years old I received the devastating news that I had leukemia. I didn’t know exactly what this meant and little did I know that it meant years of treatment, hair loss, loss of friends, and learning who I was meant to be. I was a patient at St. Jude and received treatments for two and a half years. I lost my hair, I had SVTs, I had seizures, and everything that could happen did happen. I was so sick throughout my entire treatment, and I didn’t get to do very much. I was in the hospital most of the time, and very seldom was I had home or not in patient.

Sarah

In August of 2014, after a routine medical procedure, doctors suspected that Sarah may have a lymphoma type cancer. Soon thereafter, with her husband by her side, doctors confirmed that Sarah indeed had cancer, stage 2 Hodgkin lymphoma.

Treatment Outcomes

Among patients with MF, the prognosis (meaning the likely outcome of the disease) varies widely. Each patient’s risk factors are evaluated individually to determine their prognosis.

The approximate median survival for MF patients is as follows, based on their risk category:

Work, School & Finances

Some people continue to work or attend school through cancer treatment, but others are not able to do so. Talk to your healthcare team to know what to expect from treatment so you can make the decision that is best for you.

Hospice

Hospice embodies a philosophy that delivers compassionate care to people, including children, who are approaching the end of their lives and provides emotional and physical support to them and their loved ones. Hospice offers medical care that focuses on maintaining and improving quality of life for someone whose disease or condition is unlikely to be cured. An interdisciplinary hospice team provides medical care, pain control and emotional and spiritual support that is tailored to the individual needs of each patient and his or her family.

Blood Cancer and Treatment Options

After your child is diagnosed with a blood cancer, you will work with members of the healthcare team to determine the best treatment plan. Treatment options vary depending on the patient's diagnosis, age, overall health, and other factors. Your child’s treatment plan might include

Steven

My name is Steve. My purpose is to give others hope and the possibility of tomorrows. I am a leukemia survivor, specifically myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). Today, one year after my bone marrow transplant, I am 100% cancer-free!

Krisha

I started noticing some things were "off" with my body. In early August 2022, my daughters noticed several large, unexplained bruises on my legs. I just brushed them off as being clumsy or running into something. Then, while lying in bed reading to one of my daughters, my lower jaw and lip went numb, like when you have Novocaine. I got up and moved around, and it got better. This started to be a daily occurrence, and about a week or so later, I woke up and could not open my mouth. I thought I had TMJ, so I called my dentist. He had me come in and looked at my mouth/jaw.

Peter

My story starts a year and a half before diagnosis when a serious body surfing accident led to blood tests showing significantly low red and platelet counts. My primary care physician (PCP) retested several times in a short period, and when the counts came back closer to normal, she chose to stop her inquiry without scheduling further tests or redoing the same test, say, six months later to see if the lower values were actually correct. There was no discussion of what it would have meant if the lower counts were, in fact, an accurate representation of my blood health.

Welcome to LLS Community

Choosing a Blood Cancer Specialist or a Treatment Center

Taking an active role in making decisions regarding your treatment can have a positive effect on your health and quality of life. One of your first choices as an active participant in your care is to either select a specialist to manage your treatment or to choose a treatment center.

You may be seeking a blood cancer specialist or a treatment center because you:

Cancer Drug Therapy and Nutrition

Some drugs used to treat cancer can interact with food in ways that your treatment team will inform you about. When you begin a new treatment or start using a new drug, tell your doctor about any food allergies you have and ask:

Israel

I am 39 years old, a father of two boys and one girl ― Abdias, 12 years old; Ester, 10 years old; and Ben, 9 years old ― and a husband to my wife Erin for almost 14 years.

On August 14, 2021, I suffered a serious knee injury playing basketball which inadvertently led to revealing I had a blood cancer called chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Suddenly, instead of prepping for knee surgery, I was sent to the hospital and received an official diagnosis on September 9 after a bone marrow biopsy and what felt like a million tests.

Aryan

Hello, my name is Aryan. I am 13 years old. I was almost five years old when I first got diagnosed with cancer. It started as a normal summer like always, and we were planning to go somewhere. My dad was always traveling because of work, so it was just me and my mom. I would mostly spend time at my grandparents’ house because I could play games with them. One day my dad saw a bump on the back of my head, and our pediatrician told us that it was a lymph node. My pediatric doctor told my parents that it's normal, part of recovery from a fever or cough and to monitor it.

Steve

"This is just for now; I will get past this." Being diagnosed at age 56 with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) was the biggest surprise of my life. I was active, healthy, and strong, and had just "married off" my daughter days earlier. Oddly, I didn't experience much fear; I knew my life was changing greatly and that there would be challenges ahead that I'd never imagined. But I never thought to myself, "If I survive this." It was always, "When I'm cured of this." I had this optimism and countenance that everything would be okay and that I would live to be a grandfather.

Making Treatment Decisions

Adults living with blood cancer must make decisions about treatment, family, work or school and finances. If your child has been diagnosed, you must make similar decisions for your son or daughter.

You'll need to choose:

Denisse

Denisse Cervantes is a pre-med student studying neuroscience, in her senior year at the University of Texas in El Paso. She is studying to be a doctor, specifically in the field of pediatrics. She was looking for volunteer roles that would give her the opportunity to make a difference in her community.

Heather

Heather Banks draws her inspiration from her good friend, who has been fighting non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma for the past 10 years and her college best friend who is a survivor. She is motivated by her friends’ strength, determination, and positivity. In times of feeling helpless, she channels that energy and puts it into her sewing machine.