In January of this year, my sister, Iman was diagnosed with (Stage Four) Hodgkin’s Lymphoma at 19 years old (a form of blood cancer that develops in the lymphatic system) that spread fast and to her bones leading to begin chemotherapy immediately.

Her Diagnosis story:

Starting from her Freshman Year of college (2022) she had been experiencing many different symptoms in her lungs, random but constant nose bleeds, coughing and wheezing constantly, getting sick often from a weak immune system, coughing up blood, skin rashes. And after many months she was constantly dismissed or misdiagnosed for all of these symptoms. Eventually, in December 2023, she noticed two new symptoms. Enlarged lymph nodes on both sides of her neck protruding out and an itch all over her body that had no remedy. Again, she was told the lymph nodes happen when you have an infection in the body and told her they will just swell down with time. And the constant itching was ruled to be a skin sensitivity despite all medication and topical being useless for it.

January 2024, everything became much worse very fast and she was diagnosed with insomnia because of how terrible the itching and coughing was. She’d spend hours clawing at her skin to find any relief that never came. She became persistent at her general providers office and asked for blood tests and an x ray to finally get things figured out.

The XRAY showed enlarged lymph nodes in her lungs and later were confirmed through a CT and PET scan finding a mass on her chest and multiple cancerous nodes in the lower neck, chest, and upper abdomen region. They performed a biopsy on her a few days later and diagnosed it to be Stage Four Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

After seven extremely difficult months she now has one more month of treatment. This diagnosis has impacted her life in unthinkable ways. Everything she knew was constantly changing and things she never knew became her new normal and acceptance of the unknown was hard to digest. It was all a very tiring and scary process constantly dealing with your worst fears, surgeries, uncomfortable situations, and major vulnerability. She was forced to quit her job and with draw from school to give her all to chemotherapy creating a huge financial burden on herself and our single mother of two. Being a family of three in a state with no other family around to help, I also had to take time off of my senior year of high school to help take care of her during treatments while our mom worked a full time job to provide everything she could while also giving all her care to Iman.

Iman moved to North Carolina temporarily to

try and save up money to eventually move back to Gainesville, Florida. A few months following her move to NC she was diagnosed. Her original plan of working constantly and doing school online was completely taken away, as well as her goal to move back to FL.

She still has hopes to continue her education and return back to Gainesville when she can finally sort out her finances and go through this time of healing.

Life After Cancer:

Following Iman’s very last treatment she will still be unable to work while she does intense physical therapy to regain her strength. She will also have to continue with procedures on other health issues that have affected her due to the intense chemo regimen. She’s has done and is actively doing countless PET, ct, and xray scans. Soon she will be doing a nerve study to see how her hands have regressed due to neuropathy and nerve damage from hospital visits. She’s had multiple surgeries, procedures, and hospitalization and will eventually need to do another surgery after her last treatment. The bills are never ending and the urgency to treat her is very time sensitive.

The financial debt, burden, and losses shes experiencing at 20 has been extremely difficult to navigate and remedy while still actively being sick.

Your donations will go to:

Funding for treatments and recovery:

To avoid going into collections she’ll have to pay off her debts from procedures and studies. The after care of chemotherapy is one filled with countless doctors appointments and treatments.

Transportation:

Following Iman’s last chemo treatment she will still need to keep up with appointments while in remission. Blood tests, fluids, check ups, and specialty appointments to repair the damage chemo has caused in the process. Because of all the medications she is on constantly she is visually impaired even with glasses and also not in a safe position to operate a vehicle and will need assistance with getting to these appointments.

Physical training and repairing muscle atrophy: Due to living such a sedentary life style because of cancer she has lost a great deal of muscle mass and balance that will take a lot of work to return back to normal. The after care of post chemo life will consist of physical therapy, yoga, and returning to the gym once she feels safe to do so.

Personal:

Iman lost all the hair on her head as well as eyebrows and eyelashes. This has become a really difficult thing for her to try and get used to and a large expense within itself. It takes her a lot to feel almost normal these days and having access to the right materials to make that process easier and more enjoyable is so extremely helpful and relieving.

How You Can Help:

This situation has changed our lives in ways you can never prepare for and we hope you can consider leaving a donation that will go directly to Iman’s current treatment and remission. Sharing the campaign and donating any type of contribution will make a significant difference.

Thank you for taking the time to read and support, your generosity does not go unnoticed.

With Love, R