My initial diagnosis was on October 19th, 2018. I was 16 and a junior in high school when I was diagnosed with pre b cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. My biggest stress was my chemistry class which I tried hard in and struggled with and, of course, the SAT. My cancer diagnosis put all that on the back burner. I juggled school and cancer treatment as well as being a normal teenager. I dealt with all the side effects one may experience with cancer from mucositis to methotrexate toxicity which caused me to lose the ability to use the right side of my body and forced me to relearn how to walk and talk. I finally finished intense treatment after 9 harsh months and moved to maintenance chemo. While that was easier, I still had its struggles like when I was in my college dorm room and realized I turned yellow and found out I had chemo-induced hepatitis. Luckily new research came out and I finished chemo a year earlier than expected.
I then spent my sophomore year of college cancer free and happy, studying criminal justice. However, about a year after finishing treatment the first time I noticed my legs slowly becoming weak and hard to control. This was caused by cancer in my spinal fluid and resulted in me being diagnosed with a CNS relapse at the age of 20, only a year and four days after finishing treatment the first time and having to relearn how to walk again. The relapse was rough with treatment causing my port to be infected and causing me to get a blood clot in my lung. After recovering from that process my port was infected again causing me to go into septic shock. I was given the good news that I qualified for a newer treatment called car t-cell therapy which is where my own cells are modified to kill cancer and this treatment was far less harsh than chemo. However, this was unsuccessful and my medical team decided a bone marrow transplant would be the best option for me. My brother is my donor and I am currently in the prep stages of the transplant process.
Jack’s LifeList:
- Xbox X
- Lego AT-AT
- Lego Ferrari Daytona SP3