Support Tasia's Fight Against Hodgkin's Lymphoma

As we navigate through life on a daily basis, as humans we often tell ourselves “ it won’t happen to me”, “ it’s not gonna happen to us”, “ we don’t have to deal with it” And until the moment comes-we will have that mindset, that perspective on how we see and understand things in life. Then when it does happen to you or a family member it’s becomes a part of you and you see things in a different perspective.

My sister Tasia was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma on May 14, Hodgkin lymphoma is a type of cancer that affects the lymphatic system, which is part of the immune system. She is currently is stage 2, however is the bone marrow biopsy come back positive, she will then jump to stage 4.

Tasia will be going through a procedure to collect her eggs and have them frozen so at later time in life, she’s still able to have the chance to become a mother (one of her many dreams) After this, she’ll be going through chemo treatments and possibly radiation or both.

Here is my sister’s perspective-

“On May 14th I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Cancer. It was the worst day to receive the news because it was also mom’s birthday. My day started off with work. As soon as I got off I took mom her favorite drink and her new favorite snack from Starbucks (pineapple cloud cake). That’s when we received the call. I just laughed it off as a response. Everyone kept asking me how I was feeling. My honest response was that I will start crying when I lose my hair. Some of you may know that my hair means everything to me. To me, my hair identifies who I am as a person. My hair makes up my personality, my face, and is one of my most prized possessions. I could not ever imagine life without my hair.

I knew something was wrong in the beginning of March. I had a lump on the right side of my neck, I was more tired than usual, I had no appetite, I couldn’t keep food down, and I was in more pain than usual. That is when we decided to go to the doctor. We all thought it was an infection and tried treating it with medication and steroids. All of which did not make a difference. We had a biopsy done on my neck in April. The biopsy came back negative so they wanted to go ahead and just do surgery on the lump and take it out. So that’s what we did. They did another biopsy on the tissue they took out from my surgery and found out about the cancer.

we had many appointments to attend to in Sioux Falls. One of them was to tell me what stage I was in and what to do as of course of treatment. No matter what, I would have to do some sort of chemo. Unfortunately, that means losing my hair but at this point I don’t really have a choice.

So far, what we know, there is cancer on both sides of my neck, a spot in my chest, and possibly some in my bone marrow on the lower left side of my back. My appetite is still not up to par, I am exhausted all the time, and sometimes I just want to lay in bed all day. It does not mean I’m lazy. It just means I’ve been fighting since March and just want a break sometimes. And that’s okay.

One question I get asked a lot is “how are you doing with all of this so far?” Or “how are you feeling?” So for the new people that just found out through this post, I’m okay. I’m tired. But I’m okay. My hair is still on my head. I am still living life. I am still my normal self just less motivated. For the people that are not new to the news, thank you. Thank you for being my #1 supporters. Thank you to all my friends that constantly text me over and over asking if there’s any updates yet. My high school friends. My college friends. Just thank you. But I’m okay. And I’m going to continue to say that I’m okay.

Something that people do sometimes is treat you as your diagnosis. And I have made it clear that I just want to be treated like a normal human being. My diagnosis does not control who I am. I’m still the fun, silly, bubbly, hard headed Tasia. Nothing has changed about me. So let’s go on with this summer just having fun! Not worry about how bad I may feel or how tired I will be. Let’s just focus on a fun and exciting summer!”

My sister is a rockstar, and she is so tough. This news is hard to handle, and there’s many of us still processing all the information we get at new appointments, we are doing our best and being very optimistic.

The reason for this campaign, is because my sister lost her job, I won’t go into detail on this one. She currently has insurance through our mother employment. However, her employment is due to shut their doors anytime between now-December.

My sister has her financial responsibilities, plus there will be some medical bills coming in. We are doing everything we can to try and get her financial support she needs so as many as you know, bills will start to add up quickly. Therefore any donation you are able to contribute is truly appreciated. No small jester is too small. I truly appreciate all her supporters out there. My sister deserves the world.

I’m gonna do my best to keep everyone updated with all who wants to follow Tasia on her journey.

Thank you for your support! ✨