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Yesenia

My name is Yesenia and this is my story. I began my first semester of university in fall 2017. While I was away for college I started experiencing some symptoms. It started off with nausea, after the first couple weeks of fall semester I would experience this sensation that left me bed ridden. This led me to go back to my family home so I could be better taken care of. I knew at that point that something wasn't right, so I took a trip to Urgent Care where I was told I was Anemic, but with a better diet I would go back to normal.

Lori

Lori’s journey to becoming a Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) volunteer began back in 2002 through her own experience with being diagnosed with Myelofibrosis. Lori had just embarked on a new job as a real estate agent to a new home builder when she began to feel extremely tired and have pain in her hands. She chalked up her sickness to a case of the flu; however, after deciding to go to her doctor, he recommended some blood work which came back showing high white counts. Her doctor referred her to an Oncologist who did a bone marrow biopsy. The results showed she had Myelofibrosis.

Barbara

While enjoying a 2021 spring vacation with my husband in Kentucky, I began to feel severe pain in my right arm. Over several hours, the pain increased, but I didn’t want to interrupt our vacation plans with a hospital visit. By late evening, my husband could tell that we must get to an emergency room PRONTO! But where in this large city can we find one? We finally stopped at a Home Depot store and asked for directions.

Dating, Sexuality & Intimacy

As a young adult you may be dating, in a relationship, or married. Cancer can make navigating romantic relationships complicated.

Dating can be intimidating no matter your situation. Remember, every date before your diagnosis probably did not go perfectly. You may have bad dates after your diagnosis as well. You may also meet incredible, new people.

Treatment

Polycythemia Vera (PV) is a chronic disease: It's not curable, but it can usually be managed effectively for very long periods. The goal of therapy is to reduce the risk of thrombosis and to ease symptoms by lowering the number of extra blood cells. 

Many treatment options are designed to manage PV by lowering hematocrit levels below 45 percent for men and 42 percent for women. Careful medical supervision and therapy is important to keep the hematocrit concentration at normal levels. 

Infections

Cancer patients, especially those undergoing chemotherapy, are more likely to get infections because of their weakened immune systems. Cancer and certain cancer therapies can damage the immune system by reducing the number of infection-fighting white blood cells. Patients with a low white blood cell count are at a higher risk of developing infections, and these infections can be more serious and harder to treat. In severe cases, infections can lead to death.

Pain

A cancer diagnosis does not mean that you will have pain. Still, many people with cancer do have pain at some point. Good pain control is part of proper cancer care.

Managing pain may result in better treatment outcomes, so patients should talk to their healthcare team about their pain right away. Left untreated, pain can:

Mark

My wife, Linda, and I celebrate and lament our first anniversary; I was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) on June 5, 2023. While death is not impending, our future has radically changed. There are losses, namely a more predictable and imaginable future. Certain certainties are broken that cannot be fixed. We search for new norms that require reimagining hopes, dreams, and aspirations. Of course, we will not give up on illness-specific hope that remission comes sooner than later and that side effects subside. No proof exists that we will get what we hope for.

New Drug Approval Expands Options for Patients with Triple-Class Refractory Multiple Myeloma

Diana

My introduction to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) began in the early 2000s. I joined a Light The Night Team to support research and programs for cancer patients. I then discovered Team In Training and ran my first marathon and my second as a Team Mentor. At the time, I knew cancer was a terrible disease, but it wasn’t until 2012 that cancer became more personal. In May 2012, my cousin Richard, who was like an older brother to me, passed away from pancreatic cancer. Just two years later, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Myles

I’ve always known that I wanted a career in sports in some capacity. My dream since I was in the third grade has been to become a professional football player, but I also was taught the reality of that dream. When you’re little of course you just want to be what you want to be, but as you get older you start to learn what can be in your reach and what the true reality is. As I grew older, I started to think about life after high school football and even college football, if I am blessed with that opportunity.

Naomi

My story begins when I was 11 years old, and I remember it being the summer after my sixth-grade year. I had just made the volleyball team and was so excited about that and the upcoming school year. I don't know if you remember middle school, but it was a bit of an awkward time, so I was looking forward to getting older, becoming surer of myself, and making more friends. Unfortunately, at some point during the summer, I started to feel fatigued.

Stem Cell Transplantation

Blood stem cells are produced in the marrow of the bones and can become any kind of blood cell the body needs. Stem cells are constantly dividing and maturing into different types of blood cells, replacing older and worn-out blood cells in the body. They produce billions of new blood cells every day. If the stem cells cannot make enough new blood cells, many serious health problems can occur. These problems may include infections, anemia or bleeding.

Low Blood Counts

Cancer therapy can lower your blood cell counts and chemotherapy especially can affect rapidly dividing bone marrow cells. This hinders the marrow's ability to supply new cells to the blood during treatment and for some time after. Patients receiving treatment for blood cancer can develop

Integrative Medicine and Complementary Therapies

Integrative medicine (IM) is a form of medical therapy that combines practices and treatments from complementary medicine (yoga, acupuncture and massage) with conventional medicine (surgery, chemotherapy, radiation treatment and immunotherapy). Many cancer patients are using integrative medicine (IM) to help ease their cancer symptoms and reduce the side effects of cancer treatment. By integrating complementary therapies into conventional treatment plans, healthcare providers are better able to address the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of their patients.

Allie

On July 18, 2020, I rang a bell in the lobby of the Cincinnati Children's Hospital that signified the end of my chemotherapy treatments and the beginning of my remission. At age 15, I was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). I entered the hospital on December 1, 2019, with dangerously low red blood cell and platelet counts.

Sonny

The last conversation I had with my daughter Sonny was one that I will never forget.  As she sat there exhausted from the leukemia and CDiff and sepsis that was ravaging her body; we talked about how much of a fight she put up.  She could only respond with a short, “I know Momma”.  To which I replied, “You don’t have to fight anymore baby.” Again, “I know Momma”. I told her that her Poppa was waiting in Heaven on his tractor to take her for a ride like she used to love when she was little.

Dave

It all started for me the day our first child turned two months old. She was extremely colicky, and we would spend hours every night trying to get her to sleep. This particular night, I bounced on our exercise ball to try to get her down, and that caused some extremely bad back pain. I could tell something was seriously wrong. When I woke up the following day, the pain was significantly worse, and there was no way that I could even work.

Tim

I knew multiple myeloma (MM) was a blood cancer. After all, my mom was diagnosed with myeloma at 62 years old in 2005. It’s extremely rare that I should also be diagnosed in 2021, but it happened. There’s no strong data that shows that it’s hereditary at this point. But more doctors are seeing family members being diagnosed. It's also becoming one of the most diagnosed cancers among African Americans.

Fundraise for LLS

Fundraise for LLS

Make an impact in the fight to cure cancer.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society® (LLS) is a global leader in the fight against cancer. LLS does more to advance science and support patients than any other cancer organization.

Join the fight against cancer by participating in one of our fundraising events: Light The Night, Team In Training, Big Climb, Visionaries of The Year, Student Visionaries of The Year, Ski, Scenic Shore, USA BMX, and more.

NHL Staging

Once your doctor confirms an NHL diagnosis, he or she will determine the extent of your disease's progression by staging. Staging helps your doctor predict the disease's progression and develop a treatment plan.

Imaging Tests

Your doctor conducts one or more imaging tests along with a physical exam, to evaluate:

Treatment

There is not one treatment that is effective for all myelofibrosis (MF) patients. Patients have varying symptoms and circumstances that require different treatment options. Some MF patients remain symptom-free for many years and do not require immediate treatment. All MF patients, however, need to be closely monitored.

Diagnosis

While certain signs and symptoms may indicate that a person has PV, a series of tests are needed to confirm the diagnosis. It is important to have an accurate diagnosis, as it helps the doctor to: 

• Estimate how the disease will progress
• Determine the appropriate treatment

Evaluation of an individual with suspected PV should start with a detailed medical history and a physical examination.

The medical history should include information about the patient’s:

Methods to Administer Drugs

Chemotherapy and other drugs are often given in combination with each other and can be given in different ways. The method of administering the drug is based on the actual disease diagnosed and the agent's effectiveness. Common methods include:

Family Planning Options

Many patients will be able to conceive naturally after cancer treatment. Patients are generally counseled to wait at least 2 years after treatment is completed before attempting conception. Check with your doctor to find out how long after treatment you should wait. If you are not able to conceive naturally, there are a number of other ways to build a family.