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:
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Family trip to Hawaii