My name is Emily Benden and I was recently diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. I am 29 years old and living in Los Angeles, California. I was born and raised in Erie, Pennsylvania.

At age 23 I was living in my parents musty basement, jobless, depressed and I had pushed away everyone that ever cared about me. Completely hopeless and alone in my own self-driven misery. I knew I needed to make a change. Depression had taken my life away from me. I was lucky enough to find recovery and a new way of life.

I started living life one day at a time giving back to the community to the best of my ability what was so freely given to me. I worked closely within the recovery community volunteering for many years to follow.

I regained the respect of my friends, family and community. In March 2020 I was presented with an opportunity to leave Erie and start a new life for myself here in Los Angeles. With the support of my recovery community, friends and family I was able to take the leap.

During that time I was able to build a life beyond my wildest dreams. I worked my way up into management for a large corporate company and gain the skills I needed to succeed. I now run my own restaurant in Santa Monica, CA.

About a year ago I noticed a strange bump above my right collar bone and I didn’t think much of it as I was very healthy at the time. It didn’t go away in fact I started to feel more bumps growing. I went to see my family doctor who then referred me to a specialist. On March 3rd, 2023 I had a biopsy done on the lump in my chest. Wednesday March 8th I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

I felt my entire world crumbling beneath me. I was feeling beyond hopeless. All my hard work and time wasted. March 13th I made the decision to stick this out here in LA and have a positive outlook on this situation. I have worked TOO HARD to give up now and let cancer knock me down.

This experience has already cost me the majority of my savings and I know this is going to be hard but I am determined to keep going and to kick cancers butt.

I am so grateful to my friends, family and online support. Any contributions are helpful. Thank you all so much for the genuine love and care I have received.