As many of you all already know I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma 15 years ago! For those of you who are just learning this for the first time let me give you a little background. I had just had Nicholas and caught a cold in the hospital. Tyler was just 3 1/2, Matt was turning two so being under the weather was just not what I needed. At the request of my mother I went to see the doctor because we thought it was bronchitis. To my surprise she ordered a chest xray just to confirm it was just in deed that and not pneumonia. The chest xray reviled that I had a large mass right in front of my lungs but thankfully not attached. When called to her office I had no idea that my life was going to change in just seconds but it did just that when she said that I more than likely had Lymphoma. I lived in a bubble and honestly thought that was some type of flu and she said no "you have cancer" and then the world went dark. I remember looking at her and saying but I just had a baby there was no way being high risk that this wasn't caught in any of the bloodwork that I was routinely having.
The next days and weeks were filled with a flury of doctors appointments, biopsies and a surgery to confirm that it was in fact lymphoma. I was thankfully in the right place at the right time and was introduced to a nurse who just happened to work with the top hemotology oncologist at Mt. Sinai. I was quickly given an appointment went in for the consultation, had 29 viles of blood drawn and a bone marrow biopsy. A week later I was back there to learn my fate where I was in fact told I had Hodgkin's Stage 2B. The odds were in my favor but I would still need to fight go through round of chemo followed by radiation. When asked what my chances of survival were she said "if she doesn't think she's sick then she won't be" those words stick to me today and from that day forward I wasn't treated like I had cancer.
I went through six rounds of ABDV chemo and then 20 hours of radiation. The chemo while at first was okay I quickly learned that as time went on the treatments worsened. It made me extremly tired and I did loose my hair as well as being sick. The radiation was brutal I lost all of my taste buds and experienced third degree burns but in the grand scheme of things I was fighting this and I was going to win becuase I had an almost 4 year old, 2 year old and a newborn that I was was determined to see grow up!
All while this was going on my almost 4 year old, my Tyler the one who made me a mom was going through his own private battle and thankfully his pre school teacher picked up on it pretty quickly. Tyler while very smart was withdrawn didn't like to play with the other children and would pick up on conversations that were in a whisper that happened down the hall. Something was off which at first everyone attributed to the fact that well mom is sick this is how he's reacting. Well a very long story short it wasn't. Tyler at the age of 2 1/2 started stool withholding which we didn't think anything of but after having going through many tests found out that at that point in his little life that was the only thing he could control and did just that. Still amazes me still to this day that he was so smart to even realize that!
After many consultations, doctor visits, etc. Tyler was diagnosed as being OHI (other health impared) and PDD (pervasive developmental disorder) which meant he was two years smarter on paper but two years delayed. So at 4 he was as smart as a 6 year old but acted more like a 2 year old.
We quickly got him all the help he needed, fought with anyone who would come our way with why he shouldn't have gotten a service he needed on the pre school level. When it was time for kindergarten we knew he wouldn't be a "regular" kid and was put in a 12:1:1 class enviroment which he after he was put into a inclusion class for the first grade. While this was huge news it also came with a lot of changes which Tyler never was good at. It meant a new school, new friends, new surroundings all which were very scary. After the second grade we were told that he would once again have to move schools because our home school was finally getting inclusion classes. Once again a huge change for Tyler but he thankfully had a great teacher to which this day he will tell you she was his favorite. She made him feel included which was really hard becuase by thrid grade your friendships are already made and it's hard for an outsider to come in and be welcomed never mind an outsider who has "issues".
I am so happy to say that Tyler is now 18 years old he graduated high school being in regular classes and a part of the business honor society. Tyer now attends Nassau Community College where he was part of the football team with aspirations of a career in sports marketing. We are so proud of him and wanted to do something to celebrate this huge accomplishment so why now run a half marathon as a family!
Thank you for those who read this fully through as it was very long, I do thank you from the bottom of my heart and hope that you will consider donating to this most well deserved cause!!