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LifeList John

John

Active LifeList Participant

My name is John and I was diagnosed with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia in September of 2023. I was working in EMS full-time while also working on my Associates Degree in paramedicine when all of a sudden I realized something was wrong with my body. I had a lot of unexplainable bruises on my body as well as lots of fatigue, night sweats, loss of appetite and more. I contacted my doctor to be seen and after they did blood work I was quickly referred to a pediatric hematology group and was seen by them a day later. Everything happened so quickly. When I was having my appointment in their office, I got the news nobody ever wants to hear – you have cancer. I was soon to go from the one who took care of patients to becoming one and being treated by others. I was immediately hospitalized to start induction treatment. That lasted about a month and I spent my 19th birthday in the hospital. Throughout treatment I suffered many complications including a thrombosis in my brain, a DVT in my right arm, a pulmonary embolism, COVID, and pancreatitis. Not only that, through all of this during one of my scans a tumor on my liver was incidentally spotted. I would later have to get a biopsy which would come back inconclusive. This tumor is non related to
my current leukemia diagnosis. The decision was made for me to have a partial liver resection alongside having my gallbladder removed so that they can cut the tumor out of me and do further testing on it. Luckily the surgery was a success and the tumor was removed and after further testing, it was revealed to be currently benign, although there were different spots of the tumor that were starting to turn malignant in a form of a primary liver cancer called HCC. Luckily my surgeon got clean margins around the tumor and it was contained locally because it is believed that I was probably less then a year out from the tumor being completely malignant and a new form of a primary malignancy. It’s been one crazy year for me which leads me to today!

John’s LifeList:

  1. Go to a Celtics game and meet the team

LifeList David

David

Active LifeList Participant

In June 2024, at the age of 36, I developed a severe cough that was diagnosed as pneumonia. Despite treatment with oral antibiotics the cough only worsened and it was clear that something much more serious was occurring. I left work early to go to urgent care and they sent me to the ER and then shortly after I was hospitalized. During the hospitalization, I went through every test they could think of. One doctor finally found what it was and I was diagnosed with a rare lung infection, Blastomycosis and transferred to an Infectious Disease unit. During my stay there, doctors noticed that my white blood cell count was abnormally low, which is atypical in cases of Blastomycosis. I started doing more blood tests and they couldn’t find anything, so they did a bone marrow biopsy. It took about a week for them to go over the results and I got a call to schedule an appointment to go to an office visit to go over the results. I honestly was not prepared nor expecting what came next. Turns out my low white blood cell count was due to Hairy Cell Leukemia. With my blastomycosis, I couldn’t start treatment right away because I was prone to infection. It took about a month to have the effects of blasto get better with the medication. After that I started my chemo treatments.

David’s LifeList:

  1. PRS DW CE24 Hardtail Limited-Edition Electric Guitar Jade Smokeburst

LifeList Clayton

Clayton

Active LifeList Participant

I was diagnosed on July 17th, 2023 at 30 years old. I had a major seizure and upon imaging in the emergency department a mass was found in my right frontal lobe. We discovered that I had been having seizures over the year prior to this, the symptoms of which were mistaken as being related to severe anxiety and depression by various doctors at other hospitals and clinics. Upon biopsy and diagnosis of the tumor I was originally given a prognosis of six months and told that because of the size of the tumor surgery would not be an option. We then sent my medical history and documents to the Mayo Clinic in Arizona whose surgeons felt confident they could debulk a portion of the tumor. On October 4th, 2023 I had brain surgery which was successful in debulking a large portion of the tumor. I then went on to do over 20 rounds of radiation therapy and began chemotherapy following that. Unfortunately, in April of 2024, after only completing 3 of the 12 planned rounds of chemotherapy, I had another major seizure while in the shower which resulted in third degree burns to my right calf from the scalding water. I then had a skin graft surgery to repair the burned area. The skin graft was successful and after a long healing process of the donation site on my upper thigh, was given the “all clear” from the plastic surgery team in October 2024. I have not been given an updated prognosis but I am almost a year past the original prognosis of six months. At the end of September of 2024, my wife and I will be celebrating our second anniversary. We had only been married about nine months when I was diagnosed. We have two girls from her previous marriage that we are raising.

Clayton’s LifeList:

  1. Trip to Hawaii

LifeList Bri

Bri

Active LifeList Participant

I am 34 years old and was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer in May of 2024. I’ve received 16 infusions of chemotherapy over the last 20 weeks and will have surgery in the next two months. My mother passed away from a different type of breast cancer at age 56, five years ago, so to say I was shocked to be diagnosed with a different breast cancer is an understatement. I found the lump in my breast by doing a self breast exam and requested a diagnostic mammogram. Two weeks later I was diagnosed. We shared the news with family and friends to spread awareness and encourage them to take their health seriously.

Bri’s LifeList:

  1. Trip to Acadia National Park

LifeList A

A

Active LifeList Participant

I’m 33 years old. I was diagnosed with triple negative stage 2 Invasive Ductal Carcinoma Breast Cancer in July of 2024. I had never had any type of cancer, surgery or illness before. I’d never even so much as broken a bone. Before I was diagnosed with cancer, I was graduating from medical school just one month prior. I went from the happiest moment in my life walking across that stage to what I would say has been the saddest moment. I spent several years studying and working toward obtaining my medical degree and after I finally did, I discovered the lump in my breast. Unfortunately, I knew the gravity of the situation all too well as my older sister passed away from stage 4 triple negative breast cancer at the young age of 32. After I found the lump myself, I followed up by making an appointment to get it checked out. I can say that I was at least able to find the silver lining in that it was detected early and is very treatable.

A’s LifeList:

  1. Trip to Italy

LifeList Shameika

Shameika

Active LifeList Participant

Doing my monthly home checks, I noticed a lump about the size of a marble. It didn’t hurt but then I also had blood in my breast discharge. I went to get it checked out and due to only being 35 I had never had a mammogram. Fast forward, I was thrown into a whirlwind of appointments ranging from mammogram, ultrasound, biopsies, a PET scan, bone scan and MRI. After it was all completed I was diagnosed with stage 2a invasive ductal carcinoma, HER2+ that had also spread into my lymph nodes. I could only feel one tumor but it was determined that I had a total of eight cancerous spots.I have undergone six rounds of chemotherapy which put me in the hospital. It was very tough, especially while still being a mother to five children (ages 16, 12, 10, 8, 3) and also a wife. After completing chemo, I had a double mastectomy and am currently completing thirty rounds of radiation along with immunotherapy every three weeks for a year. If it all lines up correctly, I will be eligible for reconstruction six months after radiation. I will also have to take medicine for five years, along with an estrogen blocker.

Shameika’s LifeList:

  1. Family vacation

LifeList Natalie

Natalie

Active LifeList Participant

I was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in 2020, at the age of 33. I was told at the time of my diagnosis that there was no cure for my disease and that I would never go into remission. I have been on three different types of chemo, immunotherapy and two clinical trials. Unfortunately I did experience progression throughout the course of this time. I am currently on my last line of chemo and was about ready to give up. One day my pulmonologist told me that she thought that I would be a good candidate for a double lung transplant. I had never heard of this before, and although I was afraid, I was excited at a chance for new lungs. I am currently a candidate for a double lung transplant and will soon begin evaluations for this procedure. If this life-changing procedure goes through it will provide me with a cure and an opportunity to educate and advocate for others.

Natalie’s LifeList:

  1. Flights for her family to go to treatment with her

LifeList Kaylie

Kaylie

Active LifeList Participant

I was diagnosed in 2022 at age 31 de novo with Metastatic Breast Cancer. What I previously thought was a slipped disc that had been plaguing me for months was really a tumor on my spine that needed surgery – IMMEDIATELY. In a split second, my life as I knew it crumbled, and I went from being a driven marketing manager working in the music industry in Manhattan (my literal dream) to someone whose entire existence was defined by the dreaded “C” word. With bone metastases and a breast tumor lighting up my PET scans, these past years have been a struggle running the gamut from radiation, to hormone therapy and hot flashes, losing jobs, friends, and apartments, while gaining chemo brain, chronic fatigue, and depression. While I don’t enjoy every day, and heavily rely on dark humor as a coping strategy, I am so incredibly grateful to still be here, trying to live life and even more so to ENJOY it.

Kaylie’s LifeList:

  1. Help with a trip to Amsterdam with her best friend.

LifeList Brittney

Brittney

Active LifeList Participant

My name is Brittney, I am 36 years young and was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer at the age of 31 in 2019. I have no family history of colon cancer. I was working for the school district for years up until my diagnosis and on Sept 4th, 2019, my whole life changed for the worse. Since then, I’ve been through many chemotherapy treatments, many surgeries (around 8), radiation treatments, and toward the end of October, I’ll be trying a new chemotherapy regimen. My cancer is not responding well to treatments anymore, and my body is very tired. I have a lot to fight for, and three amazing teens and a partner who all still need me, so I’m still trying to get through this with the HOPE for a cure.

Brittney’s LifeList:

  1. Family trip to Sunriver Resort

  2. Ice skating and a horse and carriage ride at the resort
LifeList Taylor

Taylor

Active LifeList Participant

I’m 27 and was diagnosed in March of 2024. I came into the ER with a heart rate of 230 and my oxygen levels were in the low 80s so I was intubated. They found a mass on my adrenal gland which is how I was diagnosed. I made it through six chemo cycles before my tumor started growing around the chemo. I have now begun a new treatment and am scheduled for surgery to have part of the mass removed.

Taylor’s LifeList:

  1. VIP Family trip to the beach