Hope for Hannah
Our family has always loved Christmastime - it's our favorite time of year! With all of the excitement that Christmas brings, this past holiday was very different than most.
On December 19th, my "little" sister, Hannah, found a large lump in her neck. She woke my mom up in the middle of the night saying that something was seriously wrong. She went to our family doctor the next day who then referred her to a general surgeon to remove the lump. Hannah only had to wait a week for her surgery, even though it felt like a lifetime. As we made our rounds on Christmas eve and our family came to our house on Christmas day, we tried to act like everything was normal. We were hoping for the best, but expecting the worse.
Hannah's surgery on December 28th was long - I remember texting my parents every ten minutes to see if she was doing okay or if they had any news. Little did I know, my parents world (and soon to be mine) was turned upside down. They were discussing what steps would be next for Hannah, and it wasn't going to be as easy as a fix as we thought - she was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma.
Hannah's dream of becoming a registered nurse has also been put on hold. Unfortunately, she had to medically withdraw from Wilkes University and will now be a year behind in her nursing program. For those of you that know Hannah, you know that she takes school so seriously and is so determined to be the best RN there ever was. She truly loves learning and excels in all of her classes at Wilkes. She is more upset about taking a leave of absence from school than she is about fighting cancer.
The funds raised from this page will go to Hannah's chemotherapy costs, doctors visits, hotels, food and other expenses, as well as investing in cold caps. Cold caps are worn by cancer patients to stop the chemotherapy from rising to their heads, in hopes of saving their hair.
For those of you that know Hannah, you know she is a strong woman and a hard worker. She refuses to let this battle stop her dream of becoming a nurse. I ask that you please keep her in your prayers as she continues to fight this demon inside of her. I will post updates here as they come - she starts chemotherapy in Philadelphia on Monday, January 29.
Hannah, it's time to kick some ass! Show 'em who's boss.
Thank you everyone, from the bottom of all of our hearts. We couldn't and wouldn't be able to make it through without your love and support.
Love always,
Sarah Griffiths
