After feeling some moderate chest pain in August of 2022 at 21 years old, my girlfriend convinced me to see a doctor. Both of us thought it was asthma related, a condition I had been diagnosed with following a COVID infection earlier that year. My doctor decided to do a chest x-ray since my symptoms were somewhat consistent with having a rib out of place, and it was only by comparing this image with an x-ray from a previous appointment that he was able to point out a growing mass in my
mediastinum area. He immediately ordered a CT scan which indicated lymphoma of some sort, and after a biopsy later that month I was diagnosed with classical Hodgkin’s lymphoma. A PET scan revealed my disease was classified as stage 2 unfavorable,
which allowed me to enroll in a clinical trial for a drug, in addition to chemo. Over the past 8 months, I have received 4 cycles of
chemo, and have recently begun immunotherapy in order to avoid the side effects of radiation at such a young age.
Ellie’s LifeList:
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Plane tickets or hotel room for honeymoon