My Story
Me and my brother Joey/stem cell donor
I am an 8 year Hodgkin’s Lymphoma survivor. I was raised in Elmhurst, Illinois. I graduated from Illinois College located in Jacksonville, Illinois. My Bachelor of Arts was in French with a minor in Business. I returned home and started a career in Human Resources, specializing in benefits.
I was diagnosed in October 2002 at the age of 33. Before my diagnosis, I didn’t experience any out of the ordinary symptoms. In hindsight, there was one symptom – I was exhausted all the time. I was working two jobs so I wasn’t concerned.
After finding a lump on my neck and before I knew it, I was getting ABVD chemotherapy, radiation and an autologous stem cell transplant. None of the treatments were strong enough to kill all of the cancer. Next in line was an allogenic stem cell transplant, but I needed a donor match. I will never forget the “expression” on my physician’s face, the joyous dance around me as he told me that my oldest brother was my perfect match. Joey was a 10 out of 10 match! He was going to be my stem cell donor. I received his stem cells and after 100 days of isolation and fighting with all my strength, a CT scan indicated I still had cancer. My brother’s cells worked with the cancer cells instead of fighting them.
From early 2005 through today, I’m still waiting to hear the acronym “NED” – no evidence of disease. I promise myself, my family and loyal friends that I will hear it one day. I continue to put my body through the test. I have received all chemotherapy known to fight Hodgkin’s cancer, radiation to my spine, clinical trials, and the list goes on and on. I’ve had blood transfusions and/or platelets almost every other week – I wonder where do they go???
As I mentioned I was getting many red blood cell and/or platelet transfusions due to too much chemotherapy to my bone marrow.
Great news is that I was able to use my oldest brother Joey for a stem cell boost. He gave me over 5 million of them to correct my bone marrow on March 9, 2010.
On May 4, 2010, I started a clinical trial called SGN-35. I receive the drug once every three weeks. After 9 treatments, I feel great. My hair is growing back (no more wigs at this time), more energy and feeling like the pre-cancer Michelle.
I keep a positive attitude, stay strong, keep fighting, and use my experiences to help other cancer survivors. I have been very fortunate to have such a wonderful support group in my life – my attentive family, friends and an excellent physician. I have been receiving most of my treatments at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Illinois.
I wore a Hickman catheter for 2-1/2 years and realized that I needed a way to protect it. In addition, I wanted a better way to “hold” it since just hanging there was very uncomfortable and the clamps would irritate my skin. For these reasons, I developed the Joey Pouch, dedicated to my brother and steadfast supporter, Joey.
Sincerely,
Michelle