I am 34 years old and was diagnosed with a grade 3 brain tumor on July 13th of this year. On August 10th, I had surgery that removed half the tumor which was the most they could remove because of its location. I have started chemo and radiation, which I am still in the process of. Four weeks after radiation is finished I’ll have another MRI to see the status of my condition and how effective treatment has been and potentially what future treatments will look like.

Adam’s LifeList:

1. Family trip to CA to see my parents

2. Tour of Henson Studios

3. Meet Adam Savage

My name is Lisa and I am 30 years old. I was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma on January 24, 2022.The doctors were very shocked about where my cancer was found as there have only been ten cases like mine. Ewing sarcoma is normally found in children but it has been found in me as an adult. I have been going through chemotherapy since February of this year. Although my tumor was removed Ewing sarcoma is a very aggressive cancer. I have had a port infection and a few hospitalizations during my chemo treatment. I have completed my radiation which took about six weeks. Right now I have chemotherapy every three weeks.

Lisa’s LifeList:

1. Family trip to Gatlinburg

2. Tickets to Gatlinburg attractions – aquarium, water park, Anakeesta

Hi, my name is Paris. I’m 26 years old and I live in Washington. I was diagnosed with fibrolamellar, a rare liver cancer, on January 11th, 2022. I initially went to the emergency room because of several symptoms including fatigue, unexplained weight loss, blurred vision, and abdominal and shoulder pain. Tests showed a tumor on my liver and enlarged lymph nodes outside my liver and in my chest. I was admitted for a biopsy but told that it was most likely lymphoma and very treatable. Unfortunately, I tested positive for the DNAJB1-PRKACA gene and have fibrolamellar and had to find out via MyChart. I had just gotten married and become a father and this felt like the end of the world to me as I wasn’t sure how long I was going to live.

I started treatment immediately and my tumors were stable until June when scans showed slight growth. I had surgery on August 5th to remove some of the compromised lymph nodes. My team is working to figure out the next steps of my treatment plan. Through all of this, my wife, my mom, and my daughter have been my superheroes. My Mom has been the biggest advocate for my health in all my meetings with oncologists and surgeons. My wife has been my biggest support at home when I feel horrible and my daughter has been a reminder that not everything is all bad and I have a reason to smile every day because I have a beautiful family to wake up to each morning. Without them, I don’t know if I would have the desire to push through. I’m hoping to have N.E.D. within a few years so I can start to have some normalcy in my life. My recent scans showed recurrence and I’m now starting more rounds of chemo.

Paris’ LifeList:

1. Family trip to Hawaii

When I was four years old I was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. I was stage 4 and given a week to live. I, thankfully, managed to beat it and I was finally in remission at nine years old. I was cancer free after that and living the best I could until August of 2022. Just five days before my 22nd birthday I found out I had cancer a second time and I was devastated. Three weeks ago I had surgery to get my tumor removed. I am currently waiting to see an oncologist to decide about chemotherapy.

Brandon’s LifeList:

1. New computer for video editing

I was diagnosed with myxoid liposarcoma in April of 2022 at the age of 31.  Earlier that week, my wife had given me the wonderful news that we would be adding a fourth child to our growing family.  I’d also been promoted to the rank of major in the US Air Force and was working my dream job flying experimental tests in prototype aircraft.  In the midst of all this, my diagnosis seemed impossible.  Since then, my wife suffered a miscarriage, we moved our family twice to seek specialty care, and I’ve been removed from flight status pending a medical review.  The good (and most important) news is that a wide radical resection of the tumor in my left hamstring appears to have gone well!

Kris’ LifeList:

1. Catamaran Sailing Certification course

2. Catamaran captain’s gear

I went in for a voluntary breast reduction surgery in February of 2022. After waking up in recovery, my surgeon informed me that a large (10 cm) mass was found in my right breast during the procedure. My surgeon stated that he could tell by the way it looked that it was cancer. Because of the recent surgery, imaging was not completed until almost a month later. My scans showed a large pleural effusion in my left lung that was causing me problems. Five days in the hospital and three chest tubes later, my lung was collapsed and I had been upgraded to a stage 4 diagnosis. I began chemotherapy in April and am currently receiving treatments every three weeks. My cancer is considered hormone-positive and therefore, I can never have children.

Since my initial diagnosis, I have struggled with anxiety and depression. My quality of life has changed as well, which makes doing many things difficult. One of the only things that has kept me smiling is keeping up with the bloat of hippos at the Cincinnati Zoo! I would love to see them in person and learn more about them!

Savannah’s LifeList:

1. Trip to the Cincinnati Zoo to see the hippos

2. VIP experience with Fiona the hippo

My name is Dallas and I am 38 years old. I was diagnosed on August 20th of 2022 with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. I went into the ER on Friday August 5th with abdominal pain. They did a CT scan that showed that I had pancreatitis. The doctor also informed me that I had multiple masses all over my organs. They transferred me to The James Cancer Hospital where I was inpatient for over two weeks. My test results led to me being diagnosed with aggressive b-cell lymphoma. My doctor started me right away on chemotherapy and I am just now starting my third round.

Dallas’ LifeList:

1. Laptop

2. iPad for my daughter

I was diagnosed with breast cancer at 33 years old in January of 2020. I received six months of chemotherapy, a double mastectomy, multiple surgeries due to infections, and radiation. I had to navigate chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation during the height of COVID, which means I did everything alone – every hospital stay, chemotherapy infusion, etc were done alone.

In 2021, it was determined that the cancer had spread to my bones and I had radiation on my hip. Another PET scan in 2022 determined it had spread to my sternum, hip, and shoulder. I had chemotherapy for eight months. It’s been an insanely hard battle and I thought I beat cancer in 2020, but I am officially stage IV breast cancer and I will forever be in treatment until my body no longer responds to the chemotherapy.

Karen’s LifeList:

1. Family portraits

2. Family trip to Great Wolf Lodge

3. iPad

I am 33-years-old and was diagnosed on August 31st of 2022 with stage 4 breast cancer (HER2 positive). I have gotten one treatment so far and have them every three weeks.

Kendra’s LifeList:

1. Trip to Texas

2. One night stay at Longneck Manor

I was diagnosed in January 2021, four days after setting a New Year’s goal of having the best year yet. I initially wasn’t going to get a Pap smear, because I’d had a baby a year before and wasn’t supposed to have one for another two years. But following a gut feeling, I went. I was diagnosed with neuroendocrine small cell carcinoma of the cervix. Following my diagnosis, I was put into treatment within two weeks because of the aggressive nature of neuroendocrine. The oncologist was very optimistic that we’d be able to treat and heal this cancer, because it was found in stage one. I immediately started external radiation in conjunction with chemotherapy. After 25 rounds of radiation, I did three treatments of brachial-therapy (internal radiation aka HELL)!

I was given a few weeks to heal and then had to have a hysterectomy, removing my uterus, cervix, and parts of my vaginal canal. After another couple weeks of healing, I began more chemo to kill any lingering cancer that could be hanging about in my system. By August, the doctor felt sure I was cured and cleared me from any further treatments. By October, I started having some pain in my spine, feeling that a rib was out of place and yet wouldn’t ever go by in place. In November, I had a followup scan and in December was re-diagnosed with metastasized cancer to my liver, spine,  and rib.The doctor said I have maybe three years to live if I react to treatment. One year if I don’t. Right away, I started chemo and radiation, again. February showed a lesion on my brain. This was treated with radiation.

In March, the scans showed the cancer was cleared from my bones and liver. Yet June showed more growths in my liver and lungs. August showed more growths on my liver and lungs, and new growths in my bones. I heard of a clinical trial of immunotherapy happening at MD Anderson with an oncologist who studies and treats my exact cancer. I presented this to my oncologist and he agreed I should do the treatment to give me more time to live.

Jesi’s LifeList:

1. A trip to create memories