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Hi, everyone. My name is Kaitlyn and this is some brief background on the past two years of my life.
In April of 2021, something did not feel right with my body. I went to countless doctors and had my insurance turn down the requests for many scans as I was “seemingly healthy”.
After finding some very pushy doctors (in the best way), I got the care I needed which led to my diagnosis of Hodgkin’s lymphoma. I was told this was “the cancer to have”. It was very treatable and unlikely to come back. So I began my course of chemotherapy for six months. It was grueling but I was determined. I had a three year old who not only needed me but I was desperate to keep things “normal”. In fear of losing my job, I told one person at the company. I worked through all of my treatment, wore the wigs, kept the whole thing up.
In February of 2022 I was declared in remission. My husband and I cried tears of happiness the whole way home. We started our path back to actual normalcy. No more pretending.
But, that was short lived. In August of 2022, my instinct told me something wasn’t right and this time I was loud about it. Less than six months after being declared in remission, the cancer had returned. I wasn’t going to be able to “fake it” this time.
We started with an expedited egg freezing process, straight into port placement , into salvage chemo, into catheter placement, into stem collection. The final blow? We would have to leave our now four year old for an entire month…missing Christmas. Transplant timing could not be manipulated and we needed to move fast.
December of 2022 was the hardest month of my life. Could we finally move on? I knew recovery was going to be long and hard, but once again I was determined.
I am considered a high risk case and my best chances of survival is maintenance immunotherapy. This is a treatment many people have to stop because of its cost and wow do I understand it.
The financial toxicity of cancer is so much more than many realize. It’s so much more than the treatment. It’s treatment, doctor visits, labs, scans after scans especially post transplant. It’s maintaining the home in a special way for my “newborn” immune system. While there are many organizations that offer help there are SO many guidelines that immediately disqualify you.
We had asked for help upon the second diagnosis and were overwhelmed by the support. But we are almost a year post transplant and we are trying to gasp for air from the two years of medical bills while they continue to come in. My husband is a pre-k teacher and I work admin. I just want to be able to continue this maintenance treatment while no longer sacrificing normalcy for my now five year old. She has suffered so much due to my illness and I can’t let it continue.
It is not very easy for me to ask for help. Especially not from strangers. But I truly appreciate the push I was given to do this and my family is grateful there are still very very
Kind people in this world.
After finding some very pushy doctors (in the best way), I got the care I needed which led to my diagnosis of Hodgkin’s lymphoma. I was told this was “the cancer to have”. It was very treatable and unlikely to come back. So I began my course of chemotherapy for six months. It was grueling but I was determined. I had a three year old who not only needed me but I was desperate to keep things “normal”. In fear of losing my job, I told one person at the company. I worked through all of my treatment, wore the wigs, kept the whole thing up.
In February of 2022 I was declared in remission. My husband and I cried tears of happiness the whole way home. We started our path back to actual normalcy. No more pretending.
But, that was short lived. In August of 2022, my instinct told me something wasn’t right and this time I was loud about it. Less than six months after being declared in remission, the cancer had returned. I wasn’t going to be able to “fake it” this time.
We started with an expedited egg freezing process, straight into port placement , into salvage chemo, into catheter placement, into stem collection. The final blow? We would have to leave our now four year old for an entire month…missing Christmas. Transplant timing could not be manipulated and we needed to move fast.
December of 2022 was the hardest month of my life. Could we finally move on? I knew recovery was going to be long and hard, but once again I was determined.
I am considered a high risk case and my best chances of survival is maintenance immunotherapy. This is a treatment many people have to stop because of its cost and wow do I understand it.
The financial toxicity of cancer is so much more than many realize. It’s so much more than the treatment. It’s treatment, doctor visits, labs, scans after scans especially post transplant. It’s maintaining the home in a special way for my “newborn” immune system. While there are many organizations that offer help there are SO many guidelines that immediately disqualify you.
We had asked for help upon the second diagnosis and were overwhelmed by the support. But we are almost a year post transplant and we are trying to gasp for air from the two years of medical bills while they continue to come in. My husband is a pre-k teacher and I work admin. I just want to be able to continue this maintenance treatment while no longer sacrificing normalcy for my now five year old. She has suffered so much due to my illness and I can’t let it continue.
It is not very easy for me to ask for help. Especially not from strangers. But I truly appreciate the push I was given to do this and my family is grateful there are still very very
Kind people in this world.