My diagnosis of Hodgkin’s Disease came days before I was scheduled to return to my senior year of college. I was treated with ABVD chemotherapy and graduated in the spring with my friends. Two years after treatment I moved to Chicago where a fellow survivor told me about the STAR (Survivors Taking Action & Responsibility) program at Northwestern. Each year I met with an amazing nurse and doctor and they assessed my health and ran tests to carefully watch me.
During my 6th year of remission, 2013, I went in for my STAR appointment and was scheduled for a chest x-ray. This x-ray showed something, which led to further testing, which led to the discovery of my relapse. The treatment this time was an autologous stem cell transplant followed by radiation.
It has been over a year since I completed treatment, and I feel terrific! I am thankful to the STAR program for the way they introduced me to doing lifelong follow up care after cancer. Because of their monitoring, my relapse was caught early. And now I am even more committed to taking care of myself and thriving after treatment. This newest journey of wellness and prevention that I currently find myself travelling is exciting, enlightening, and inspiring.
